Cults and A.A. Conventions

An A.A. member’s escape from the clutches of a cult… 


“The Recovery Alliance Inc. (RAI), bills itself as a self-help organization dedicated to the advancement of recovery for what the group refers to as “obsessive-compulsive” persons, such as alcoholics, compulsive eaters, and compulsive gamblers. RAI practices the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), but claims to do it in a way that is more “pure” than AA and other “Anonymous” fellowships. RAI believes that the 12-step programs have been watered down over the years and no longer practice the true program of recovery as it was intended by its founders.

RAI is structured as a non-profit organization, with a board of directors and an organizational charter. Although the board elects a chairman, all the members’ activities, beliefs, and direction evolve from the founding member, Donald Gilroy. Gilroy teaches that the “illness” that members are recovering from is centered in selfishness and self-centeredness. To recover, members must commit their lives to selfless self-sacrifice. They are subjected to, among other things, rigorous and tiresome fund-raising, schedules, public humiliation, rigidly controlled diets, and other abusive conduct.

I wrote the following letter to RAI members two years after leaving the group.

March 7, 1992

Hi!

This week has marked two years since I left the Recovery Alliance, Inc. (RAI). I am writing this letter just to let you know what it’s like on this side. I have so much to say that I could go on for pages, but I will try to keep this as brief as possible.

I have seen you guys several times – fund-raising, of course. I saw you selling T-shirts in Seattle and raffle tickets at the Durham Fair. I have seen you at car shows, department stores, and at the fireworks. My first reaction when I see you is repulsion, but it is quickly followed by sorrow. I know what it is like for you, since you are all victims (yes victims do exist), just as I was.

It is interesting what I am able to see now that I couldn’t see then. For as long as I was there I knew that I was unhappy, but I was told that the problem was with my recovery, not my environment.

I remember making the decision to leave. It was like all of a sudden being struck with a bolt of sanity. I’m sure you all think it was because I had a boyfriend. Well, I made my decision a couple of months before I met him. After having been placed on probation, I remember standing in my room and thinking, “I can’t do this anymore. I want to leave.” It was not the first time I had ever had that thought, but this time it was different. This time it was followed by another thought, which was “I don’t care what the consequences will be.” As you observed, I made no attempt to meet the terms of my probation.

When I first left, I was quite confused. Fortunately, I quickly got help from some professionals who have experience with working with former members of RAI and other similarly destructive groups. They helped me see the insanity of the situation. The loss of freethinking. The emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse we were all suffering. The psychopathology of Donald. I was helped by some books – Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steve Hassan and People of the Lie by Scot Peck.

Well, the consequences of my leaving were nothing like I expected. What am I like today? I’m basically a happy person. I have a good job in my field with a Fortune 500 company. I have a nice apartment (yes, with off-street parking) and a decent car. I have a handful of close friends and many acquaintances. Most of my friends are in 12-step programs, but some aren’t. I have good relationships with my family.

Most of all I have freedom. I probably average three AA meetings a week – sometimes more, sometimes less. If I’m tired or just don’t feel like going to a meeting, I stay home. Or I go somewhere else. I keep busy, but make time for myself too. I clean my apartment every week. I just finished reading a 1,000 page novel. On weekends I frequently get together with friends and go dancing, hiking, or on day trips. I have dated several guys in the last two years, and have had a couple of steady relationship, too.

How’s my relationship with God? Fine. I worship the god of my own understanding.

I am not overweight, nor am I underweight. I eat two or three meals a day, and sometimes, if I feel like it, I have a snack in between.

I am able to express whatever is on my mind, and I don’t have to follow any formula. I attend fairs and festivals as a participant, not as a vendor. I attend AA conventions as an AA member, not as a vendor – and not as a person with superior knowledge.

Not a Friday has gone by when I haven’t come home from a long work week and said to myself, “Thank God I don’t have to go to that awful meeting.”

I feel sorry for other former members who haven’t received the help they need. Many of them end up with tremendous guilt as a result of RAI’s teachings. Some have joined other destructive groups. One has died. Fortunately, however, most of us have been helped by the proper professionals and have been able to live happy lives.

I wish you all the best, and hope that you will soon realize the amount of control and deception taking place in your surroundings.

Sincerely,

Holly”

(Extract from “Captive Hearts, Captive Minds –Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Abusive Relationships” (Hunter House, 1994) pp. 8-10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_Hearts,_Captive_Minds 

Comment: A book by one of the world's leading cult experts, J. Lalich, Professor of Sociology at California State University. Forward by M. Langone, Executive Director of the International Cul;tic Studies Association (ICSA)  http://www.icsahome.com/home  So, read all about it, cults have been targeting A.A. for some time.  Like the Primary Purpose cult, Back to Basics mob, Clancy I and the Pacific Group, RAI replays the same record, albeit stuck in a groove… “RAI practices the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), but claims to do it in a way that is more “pure” than AA and other “Anonymous” fellowships. RAI believes that the 12-step programs have been watered down over the years and no longer practice the true program of recovery as it was intended by its founders...” … Blah, blah, blah…

Watch out for those T-shirt vendors and lecturers at A.A. conventions - they may be victims in need of specialist counselling!

Cheerio, 

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)