Can atheists belong to A.A. if they don believe in a higher power?
They can I guess, but they won’t be able to complete the 12 steps as one is the acceptance of a higher power. AA is a religous organization, so they would probably seek to convert the atheist, seeing the lack of faith as part of their sickness. My uncle became born again after being in AA. There are however, other secular rehab programs and support groups.
There are secular alternatives like SOS, but yes, atheists can certainly join AA…AA doesn’t care who or what you are – they only care whether you have a drinking problem and want to stop drinking. @Everard, darling, that is great! My father, a sort of deist, has been in AA for 30 some-odd years, and he makes a point of welcoming and helping atheist/agnostic members so that they don’t get turned off by the higher power stuff. He’s pretty sensitive to the atheist response to the overt religiousness of the program partially because of my response to the endless “let go and let god” crap of his early days.
