Is AA a Cult?

Extracts:

"Groups such as The Atlantic Group are altering the AA message and affecting the principle of the 12th Step."

"According to these Traditions, the organization as a whole is only concerned with recovery from alcoholism, but individual groups run autonomously. “This allows them to form hidden agendas,” says Philip S., formerly a homeless heroin addict, now a small business owner with more than 31 years in AA. “I sometimes wish we did have a governing body.”

These “agendas” can make any concern for recovery almost unrecognisable. The Pacific Group and Atlantic Groups—big on the alternate coasts—dictate dress and language codes. One Atlantic Group member told me she was advised to date from within the group, and when she started seeing someone from an “outside” meeting, she was encouraged to bring him into the fold. She complied, and when they broke up she stopped going to AA altogether, because the ex was attending with his new girlfriend."

Source: Lisa Kirchner, The Fix, 23/02/16