Sponsorship – or co-dependency?

Extracts from the aacultwatch forum (old): 

“........

I recently attended a meeting where the speaker, a nice guy and by no means a cult fanatic, shared incessantly about his sponsor. It was noticeable to me (perhaps because I was looking for it) that he did not mention the word God or Higher Power once. His sponsor was the source of this sobriety, so it seemed. What really surprised me about all this was that I know his sponsor, and he is not a cult clone by any reckoning. But here was a clear case of sponsor idolatry and co-dependency.

However, I realised later that the poor guy is listening to local cult members who regularly attend meetings in my area and who bang on and on about sponsorship and "my sponsor said this.. blah blah bah." This has the effect of making even non cult members feel that they have to do the same thing in order to "fit in" with the sharing. In order to appear that they are "on the program". Hence even non cult members, who are not connected to the cult by sponsorship, become affected by the cult presence and their warped message.

I heard one cult member say recently that if his sponsor said one thing and AA said another, then he would do what his sponsor said. This is how distorted things are getting in my area.  Personalities are put firmly before principles. Who your sponsor is and who he is connected to - is the all important issue of whether you are accepted in meetings or taken seriously.

Meanwhile the real message of AA, as found in the Big Book and other AA literature is lost to the newcomer.”

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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