The Lord's Prayer …. revisited!

“A Letter From Bill W. Regarding The Lord's Prayer In A.A.
From the A.A. Archives in New York April 14, 1959

Dear Russ, Am right sorry for my delay in answering. Lois and I were a long time out of the country and this was followed by an attack of the marathon type of flu that has been around here in New York. We are okay now, however, but I did want to explain my delay.

Now about the business of adding the Lord's Prayer to each A.A. meeting.

This practice probably came from the Oxford Groups who were influential in the early days of A.A. You have probably noted in AA. Comes of Age what the connection of these people in A.A. really was. I think saying the Lord's Prayer was a custom of theirs following the close of each meeting. Therefore it quite easily got shifted into a general custom among us.

Of course there will always be those who seem to be offended by the introduction of any prayer whatever into an ordinary A.A. gathering. Also, it is sometimes complained that the Lord's Prayer is a Christian document. Nevertheless this Prayer is of such widespread use and recognition that the arguments of its Christian origin seems to be a little farfetched. It is also true that most A.A.s believe in some kind of God and that communication and strength is obtainable through His grace. Since this is the general consensus it seems only right that at least the Serenity Prayer and the Lord's Prayer be used in connection with our meetings. It does not seem necessary to defer to the feelings of our agnostic and atheist newcomers to the extent of completely hiding our light under a bushel.

However, around here, the leader of the meeting usually asks those to join him in the Lord's Prayer who feel that they would care to do so. The worst that happens to the objectors is that they have to listen to it This is doubtless a salutary exercise in tolerance at their stage of progress.

So that's the sum of the Lord's Prayer business as I recall it. Your letter made me wonder in just what connection you raise the question.

Meanwhile, please know just how much Lois and I treasure the friendship of you both. May Providence let our paths presently cross one of these days.

Devotedly yours,

Bill Wilson”

Comment: Bill Wilson wrote some very insightful and useful observations in his time but this wasn't one of them! The practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer may very well derive from the Oxford Groups from which as Bill observes AA detached itself early on in its development (too many 'absolute' this and 'absolute' that for AA tastes). And again it would be quite natural for Christian AA members to want to continue with the practice or at least right up to the point where AA pronounced that it was “not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organisation or institution” etc (or as specified in Traditions 3 and 10):

3.—Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation”.

“Tradition 10.—No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues—particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever.”

(our emphases)

Bill Wilson's argument as to the acceptability of the aforementioned prayer seems to rest on a type of logic with which we are entirely unfamiliar. Apparently, or so he argues, its widespread use somehow negates its origins. Indeed he even claims that the notion that it is a Christian prayer is therefore a “little farfetched”. We refer you to the following in this connection:

“The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father and the Pater Noster,[1] is a venerated Christian prayer that, according to the New Testament, was taught by Jesus to his disciples. Two forms of it are recorded in the New Testament: a longer form in the Gospel of Matthew[6:5–13] as part of the Sermon on the Mount, and a shorter form in the Gospel of Luke[11:1–4] as a response by Jesus to a request by "one of his disciples" to teach them "to pray as John taught his disciples". The prayer concludes with "deliver us from evil" in Matthew, and with "lead us not into temptation" in Luke. The first three of the seven petitions in Matthew address God; the other four are related to our needs and concerns. The liturgical form is the Matthean. Some Christians, particularly Protestants, conclude the prayer with a doxology, a later addendum appearing in some manuscripts of Matthew.”

(Source: Wikipedia entry – Lord's Prayer)

We would argue that Bill's assertion that the prayer is not of Christian origin is not only itself more than a “little farfetched” - it is utterly farcical! But he then goes on to compound his error by assuming belief in a divine being of some kind must somehow necessarily (and legitimately) find its expression solely in a Christian prayer ignoring altogether the fact that other (non-Christian) religions place belief in a Supreme Being at their centre but do not see fit to employ that self-same prayer. This is a form of liturgical 'centricity' which almost beggars belief in its arrogance. Moreover the argument that avoidance of the prayer has something to do with “defer[ring] to the feelings of our agnostic and atheist newcomers” is no more than a distraction (as well as somewhat insulting) as he seeks to place the blame on the latter for the prayer's omission. Bill concludes with the injunction that somehow the 'objectors' (ie. those who believe we should abide by our traditions rather than merely pay lip-service to them) will benefit greatly from being obliged to listen to a Christian prayer in a supposedly non-sectarian meeting, that this represents “a salutary exercise in tolerance at their [ie. AA members] stage of progress.” Presumably this principle would operate equally well in reverse ie. that the absence of the recital of a Christian prayer would serve as a “salutary exercise in tolerance* to those adherents of a religion which is after all only a minority sectarian belief system itself. Tolerance would seem to cut both ways!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous … and of all religions and NO religions everywhere!)

The use of the Lord's Prayer in AA meetings

Extracts from the aacultwatch forum (old):

“To my knowledge there are no meetings here in England that use the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s prayer is a specifically Christian prayer and is found in the Bible in the Gospel according to St Matthew. The words are from Christ where, during the sermon on the mount, he instructs his followers what words to use when praying. There can really be no argument about the Christian religious nature of the Lord’s Prayer, coming from Christ himself!

I have visited the USA on a number of occasions and I did encounter this prayer used to conclude meetings I attended in the American deep south...... I don’t really have a problem personally with the Lord’s Prayer. The sentiments expressed in the prayer itself seem fairly admirable, expressing transcendence, requesting our daily needs (“daily bread”), and the desire to not be a hypocrite (forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us). Deliverance from evil seems a sensible notion. However the fact remains that this prayer belongs to a specific religion and is therefore sectarian. It is my understanding that Muslims are forbidden to call God “Father”, and many pagan “wiccans” ….... believe in a Goddess (earth mother) not a male God, so the use of this prayer at AA meetings is sectarian, exclusive and goes against Tradition 3.

I would also like to say that there are other prayers used in AA that really stretch this Tradition, perhaps to breaking point. For example there is a meeting in Twickenham on Monday that uses the St Francis Prayer. “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace” - the so-called “Step 11 prayer”. Again the sentiments expressed in the prayer are admirable. However the “Lord” referred to at the very beginning of the prayer is Jesus Christ, and is a reflection of Christ’s words – “peace I leave you, my peace I give you”. Also the prayer itself was most certainly NOT composed by St. Francis of Assisi (a 13^th century catholic saint). The prayer does not date further back than the 20^th century and was promoted in catholic mass books having been approved by Pope Benedict XV, Pope from 3 September 1914 to 22 January 1922. For more information about this prayer use the following link,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_of_Saint_Francis

In my opinion, considering the catholic Christian origins of this prayer , it should not be imposed on any AA member by a group or a sponsor, although individual AA members are free to use the prayer or not, each according to his or her own conscience.  The fact that it is contained in the 12x12 does not mean that it is mandatory for all AA members working Step 11, as the prayer is used in the essay on Step 11 as an EXAMPLE of reflective meditation. It is not exclusive or mandatory. Other prayers could be used . Again, as the AA literature says – each one of us has our own individual journey in spiritual matters. Let each AA member deicide for his/her self what prayers to use, or not to use, and not have groups/meetings/sponsors imposing denominational prayers upon us.”

(edited to preserve anonymity)

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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The use of the Lord's Prayer in AA meetings.....

“…... or why should we be so surprised when cult groups fail to abide by the traditions (which they largely do) when we ourselves so blithely ignore them?

“Tradition 3. Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.”

The AA Preamble:

“Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

Copyright © The AA Grapevine, Inc.”

(our emphases)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_lords_prayer

Whilst not claiming that a Wikipedia entry may be regarded necessarily as a definitive source it does seem quite evident that the Lord's Prayer is in fact Christian in origin and forms a central part of Christian practice. From this there follow some quite serious implications (if taken together with the above tradition and preamble), which suggest that any group that uses such a prayer demonstrates an outside affiliation and therefore (and according to that tradition) may not even call itself an AA group. Its members may hold whatever views, beliefs etc they like (individually) but even if every member of the group were a practising Christian (of whatever denomination) this group would still be in breach of this tradition. Moreover the prayer presents a set of ethical precepts (and concepts) which may be quite alien to any non-Christian attendees and although a moral review is a central component of the recovery programme (together with some indicated categories) there is no suggestion that such an appraisal should necessarily comply with a particular religious tradition (eg. as outlined in this prayer). Finally, although AA and its programme are undeniably derived (in part) from this tradition it could equally be argued that Christianity itself is based upon necessarily “pagan” origins. Whereabouts in the time line therefore does AA establish finally its foundations? In practical terms, and given the present public debate about the supposed “religiosity” of AA (and its possible negative impact on AA attendance), it is probably not very helpful for the membership (collectively) to engage in any practices which clearly have a primarily “religious” (and denominational) component - rather it would be better to focus on those that may be regarded as essentially “spiritual” (and which would be inclusive of all religions and philosophies).

Again referring to the above source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

and in particular the following:

“Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality;[1] an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.”[2] Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life; spiritual experience includes that of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; with other individuals or the human community; with nature or the cosmos; or with the divine realm.[3] Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life.[4] It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent or transcendent nature of the world.”

None of the above definitions come into conflict with AA's traditions and taken together form an inclusive approach which avoids altogether any problems of affiliation (religious or otherwise).”

Think on that!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

(PS Our usual thanks to this correspondent)