Recovering From Religion Fayetteville Arkansas Chapter

[Aias33]

Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow freethinkers. It is with great excitement that I announce the founding of the Recovering From Religion Fayetteville Arkansas Chapter!

The Recovery from Religion organization was founded by Dr. Darrel Ray, author of The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture, and is the current President. He has elected Jerry DeWitt to be the Executive Director, who is currently working diligently to promote the organization, with help from Sarah Morehead; Deputy Executive Director.

Recovery From Religion, “is made up of people who have all given religion our best shot, but we can't bring ourselves to accept the unacceptable any longer. If you've ever questioned the archaic edicts and laws of holy books, the inconsistent morality and questionable motive of ancient teachings (along with their many modern interpretations); if you've raised an eyebrow to virgin births, or found the flaws in resurrections, bronze age ‘miracles’ and the ridiculously misguided ‘power of prayer;’ then Recovering From Religion is the place for you. We are recovering from every imaginable religion: Baptists, Mormons, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Hindus, Muslims, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and many more. We are happy, we are healthy, and we warmly welcome you to a life free of the confines of faith, http://recoveringfromreligion.org/.”

This chapter is free and open to any Individual who is questioning, doubting, or in transition from religious life to non-religious life. We are not here to enforce change, but to aid individuals who feel they are either in need of assistance, and desire to make their transition as easy as possible, or are unsure of what to make of religion in general.

Anyone from any religious ideology or background is welcome to attend without fear of persecution, and is welcome to remain anonymous. Above all, we are here to help individuals with their difficult transition from religious life to non-religious life, and provide a place where anyone may express their thoughts, and ask questions, without being told that you simply need more faith.

We will be providing advice and assistance on a variety of topics, such as: How to tell your loved ones; parents, children, extended family, and friends? How to raise your children without religion? How to deal with your employers? What the consequences of telling someone may be and how to deal with them should they react poorly? And many more.

Anyone who attends is welcome to remain anonymous. We are currently working on a time and place to hold our meetings, but they will begin shortly. In the meantime, the facebook page is available at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Recoveri ... 6213154463. Like us to receive updates and be informed of when and where our meetings will be held.

If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see at the meetings, please feel free to share your ideas, we would love to hear them! For more information visit: http://recoveringfromreligion.org/. We will look forward to seeing you there!

[Aias33]

The Recovery From Religion Fayetteville Arkansas Chapter had its first meeting on March 25th, and it was a great success! There were thirteen in attendance, all of whom participated, a couple of questions were asked and answered, and the recovering was good. Many people have expressed gratitude for their now being a religious recovery group available to them; so, I would like to thank you all, The Fayetteville Freethinkers, for your support of RR!

The next meeting will be Saturday, April 21, 2:30pm at the Fayetteville Public Library in the Henry Board Room: https://www.facebook.com/events/360134224025507/.

[L.Wood]

Likely religion is one the most difficult addictions to overcome.

I say this after becoming good friends with a man a few years my senior. He is a 25 yr sober fellow who is very active in a local AA chapter. He once mentioned
that they work with new AA arrivals pretty closely but for him the first thing he did was query a new person about church, religion and how much of a "believer" the
person was. I wondered why. He said they could work with a new AA arrival for a year and make much progress but if the person slipped back into a religion all their
efforts, time and energy were usually lost. The alcoholic would hook up with their religion again and before long be back to drunkenness. Religions override any progress 10-Step program can achieve and sometime religions can be a source or underlying cause of alcohol addiction.

[RobertMadewell]

AA itself is a religious group. They deny it, but the steps lay it out. You have to believe in a god of some sorts for the program to even work. There's even a section of the "big book" that tell atheists and agnostics that even if they don't believe in a traditional god, they still have to believe in some kind of "higher power" outside of themselves.

Chapter 4 of Alcoholics Anonymous AKA "The Big Book"

[L.Wood]

.

they still have to believe in some kind of "higher power" outside of themselves.

I don't think that's true Robert. What my AA friend told me is they insist a person find their higher power.
I took this to mean one's will.

[Doug]

.

they still have to believe in some kind of "higher power" outside of themselves.

I don't think that's true Robert. What my AA friend told me is they insist a person find their higher power.
I took this to mean one's will.

The official AA website says that you define a "higher power" as something outside yourself, but it also adds that there is room for all shades of "belief and nonbelief." Whether this is true in practice, at meetings, is another matter.

[RobertMadewell]

Read Chapter 4 of The Big Book.

Also, take a look at The Twelve Steps.
(steps 2,3,5,6,7,11, and 12)

EDIT:
I'm going to start a new discussion about twelve step organizations and religion.