Angela and I have a conversation with Dale K. about the ” We Agnostics” chapter in Big Book. Dale wrote a secular version of the first 164 pages in the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, and in this episode, he explains why.
Angela and I have a conversation with Dale K. about the ” We Agnostics” chapter in Big Book. Dale wrote a secular version of the first 164 pages in the Big Book Alcoholics Anonymous, and in this episode, he explains why.
Episode Summary
- Angela explains how she works Step Two with people she sponsors.
- I talk about my rewrite of We Agnostics
- Dale tells the story behind his writing A Secular Sobriety
Memorable Quotes
I found the pamphlet “For the Newcomer” and it said that AA is open to everyone, to people of all beliefs and nonbelief. I said “whoo hoo, they progressed!” Then I wen tot a meeting and they were godding all over the place, so I left. —Angela B.
I rewrote the chapter fo my own benefit. I was reinterpreting it in my own way, my own secular way. I think Bill Wilson missed the boat when he wrote this chapter. He had an opportunity to bring people together rather than to divide them into camps of believers and nonbelievers, with one side being right. —John S.
The truth is, I think we all do the same sort of things, but we just label it differently. I find it confusing when someone says that if you do it right, you will stay sober, and if you do it wrong, you won’t. Well, I know plenty of people who did it wrong who have been sober for years, and people who did it right who aren’t. —Dale K.
Resources
A Secular Sobriety, by Dale K.
Staying Sober Without God, by Jeffrey Munn
John’s version of “We Agnostics.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
