I, too, must object to the hating AA. Why be so averse to something that really does help people? It's odd to find AA members "annoying". Why are they annoying? Overzealous perhaps, but how do they even affect you unless you go to AA?

About six or seven years ago, before I was of legal drinking age, I was caught with a drink at a party and cited. I had to go to a few AA meetings, and it did drive me crazy that everyone there did not believe that I wasn't an alcoholic. But then I had to keep in mind that so many people initially go to AA meetings because they're mandated to, and lots of them really, really need help. So these AA folks were just thinking I might be one of those people, and genuinely trying to help me. Yeah, at times I felt that they were a bit pushy, but whatever. I can handle someone being a bit pushy if they are doing it from such a good place.

The AA as a cult thing is tired and inaccurate. First of all, you can go to AA as much or as little as you need. They encourage you to keep coming back, but that's because they don't want you to relapse. If you're good and sober, being strong, you're not going to get punished for not attending meetings. In David Foster Wallace's book Infinite Jest, he goes really in depth in regards to AA, based on many many interviews with members. The whole God thing, which I found really objectionable at first, is sort of a conduit for admitting that certain things are out of our hands. It's not open-ended in terms of the prayers at meetings, but in terms of what members actually believe, it's quite open-ended. ...These are just a few reasons why AA is so far from being a cult. Yeah, your link is numbered and all, but I do agree with Helen that to say AA is a cult means you don't really understand cults.

I don't often post on here, and I'm not an alcoholic or in AA, but for some reason that really offended me. I do'nt see why anyone would degrade an organization that helps a lot of people and has literally no effect on anyone else. It's mean spirited and pointlessly argumentative.