I am offended by the theistic nature of the AA “12 step program”.  I think it would be both fun and diaboloical to overturn the theistic 12 step program to a “12 Step Program For Overcoming Theism.”  Oh, the irony…

FIRST, look at the AA 12 step program:

1.  We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2.  Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3.  Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4.  Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5.  Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6.  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8.  Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9.  Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10.  Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11.  Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12.  Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

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12 STEPS FOR OVERCOMING THEISM

1.  We admit that theism is a powerful form of mental illness that is very difficult to overcome.  We admit that the world has become unmanageable due to the mind virus of theism.

2.  We come to believe that the human race has the power within ourselves to solve all problems.  We determine all actions we may take to improve our situations.  Any anxiety over that which is not alterable by our actions is not rational.  We realize that we must face hard truths about the world and ACCEPT them.

“We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages.” --Bertrand Russell

3.  We make a decision to turn our will and our lives to reason.

4.  We make an inventory of all of life’s questions that theism conveniently solves.  We make an inventory of all aspects of life that theism supposedly provides a comforting view on.

5.  We admit the wrongs of theism and decide to systematically answer all of life’s questions with reason without the theistic worldview.  We take NO easy outs to any of life’s questions.  Our desire for certainty must be overcome.  Embrace uncertainty and rational discussion.

6.  We are entirely ready to remove ourselves of all irrational beliefs that we have REGARDLESS of the consequences.  If our family members or society upholds irrational beliefs, we place ourselves outside of these environments, if only in our own minds.  Your mind and all rational thoughts contained therein have NO connection to the pragmatism of your comfortable life.  Although it may be useful for you to hold irrational beliefs to “fit in,” you accept that you will change your beliefs if faced with strong evidence that overturns your previous positions.

7.  Look inside ourselves for the strength to confront all of these supposedly terrifying questions.

8.  Make a list of all people in your current life who will react negatively if you change your beliefs.  Determine if you will pretend to hold your prior beliefs for their sake or treat their disapproval with indifference.  Overcome the anxiety of confronting social harm should you transform your belief system.

9.  Make amends with our prior selves.  Although we may have held irrational beliefs in the past, we must look forward to the wonder and awe of attaining rational beliefs that are actually true, rather than comforting beliefs that are false.

10.  Engage in a life long journey of thought and study.  Read.  Discuss.  Never give up the search for truth and better understanding.

11.  Seek through the practice of rational thought the power and strength to overcome our previously held opinions that were false.

12.  Having had a rational awakening as the result of these steps, we seek to spread our awareness to others and practice the principles of reason in all our affairs.  We open ourselves to any evidence that will overturn our new opinions and beliefs.  We embrace both proof and disproof of our beliefs.

Full Bertrand Russell Quote (extended from up above)

“We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world — its good facts, its bad facts, its beauties, and its ugliness; see the world as it is and be not afraid of it. Conquer the world by intelligence and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. ... It is a conception quite unworthy of free men. When you hear people in church debasing themselves and saying that they are miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptible and not worthy of self-respecting human beings. We ought to stand up and look the world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time toward a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create.”  --From “Why I Am Not A Christian”

(Any contributions or alternative 12 step programs for overcoming theism are welcome!)