I Got Turned Down for a Gig for Being an Atheist in AA
You read that title correctly. I was turned down for a freelance writing gig for being an atheist in AA. What’s even wilder is that it was for a skeptic publication. The publication is rooted in science and has written criticism of AA as well, so they also mentioned they didn’t think it’d be a good fit for their brand. So, today, I just shed some light for my readers about how silly this entire situation is.
A couple quick disclaimers though.
I’m not going to mention the publication by name. They’re a great publication, and although I disagree with their decision, I respect it. I work in marketing and branding, so I understand the importance of being “on brand” (to an extent).
Next, it’s definitely possible this wasn’t the true reason and they were letting me down easy. Maybe it’s because I was canceled in 2019, and they’re worried about that. Or maybe they took another look at my writing and think I suck. Who knows.
Lastly, I know this is going to sound like the good ol’ “those grapes were probably sour anyways”, but here goes. As many of you loyal podcast listeners know, I started a new job at the beginning of the month. I’ve been extremely busy, and I write during my day job where I make decent money. So, I’m not exactly heartbroken that I didn’t have to add another task to my plate by committing to another freelance gig. Also, that’s why I haven’t been writing here as often, either.
But anywho, let’s get started.
All Media is Biased
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. And I’ll keep saying it until you all understand. All media is biased. You think it’s just CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and the other mainstream organizations. That’s incorrect. All media is biased.
This skeptic publication has a brand, and their brand has written pieces saying that AA’s methods aren’t scientifically valid. A balanced publication argues with itself. Not in a false balance sense, but if someone has a good counter-argument to a previous piece, it’d be published if the publication was balanced. But, if you’re only writing pieces that agree with every past piece, that’s a form of bias.
If you think about it, if any publication were going to do this, it’d be a skeptic publication. Being a skeptic is about questioning things in pursuit of truth and making truth the highest ideal. As Jonathan Rauch explains in his phenomenal book The Constitution of Knowledge, there is no and should never be a “philosopher king” who decides truth. Truth is something we find as a collective, and it comes through debate and discussion.
Let’s Talk About AA
The main purpose of this piece is to talk about AA. As a skeptic who is regularly seeking truth and does my best to think scientifically, I have to talk to you about all of the misconceptions of AA. Is it perfect? Hell no. But it saves lives. And the ivory-tower perspective of “AA bad” is so ridiculous and lacks critical thinking that it drives me nuts.
You or someone you know might be struggling with addiction, and the fact that there’s so much bullshit out there about AA is awful.
I’m also using the Harry Frankfurt definition of “bullshit” when I say that there’s so much bullshit out there about AA. Bullshit is a disregard for truth, and that’s 99% of what you hear about AA.
AA Success Rates
Do a quick Google search of AA success rates.
Whatever you just found is bullshit.
AA stands for Alcoholics Anonymous. There is no accurate data about AA success rates because it’s an anonymous program. I have been to thousands of meetings and never once seen someone collecting data about who is or isn’t sober.
And if we’re talking about proper scientific data, you can immediately figure out the issues with even attempting to gather this type of data.
Let’s say tomorrow AA broke their traditions and the millions of members around the world all agreed to participate in the research. Starting tomorrow, researchers come to every meeting and ask the people in there who is or isn’t sober, if they’ve done the 12 steps and blah blah blah.
Well, it’d still be extremely flawed data.
Research has shown that even in anonymous surveys people lie. It’s one of the reasons polling data is often no better than guessing. Relapse comes with a lot of shame, so even if a complete stranger is asking someone if they stayed sober, a person is likely to lie if they relapsed because of the stigma of relapse. So, rather than having some random asshole judge them for relapse, there are many people who will just lie.
The only way to get accurate data would be to regularly drug test people who go to AA, and since alcohol only stays in your urine for about 24 hours, you’d have to test people daily. Even heroin only lasts a few days.
Now, tell me. Do you think anyone is doing this? Of course not. Because, again, it’s an anonymous program.
Rehab Success Rates are Bullshit
Well, now you’re probably thinking, “But Chris, we can get more accurate data from rehabs because they can test people and follow up with people.”
Not so fast.
See, I worked for a rehab for over three years. A small part of my job was collecting this data. I stayed in touch with people after treatment, and it’s all bullshit for the same reason I listed above about honest reporting. I knew for a fact through social media evidence that clients relapsed after treatment, but when I’d call them, they’d tell me they were still sober.
Much like how pharmaceutical companies do in-house research about drug efficacy, rehabs do the same thing. It’s biased, flawed, and pretty much unethical what they’re doing. When you see rehab success rates, just know that there’s a good chance the source has some sort of financial incentive.
AA Bragging About Success Rates
In the email I received, it said, “[the program makes] success claims that we don't believe are empirically valid.”
I haven’t looked into their previous pieces on this topic, but I have no clue what they’re talking about. This infers that the organization has made claims of success rates, and I find this hard to believe.
AA’s 11th tradition states:
11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films.
My best guest is my next talking point.
Anecdotal Nonsense
If I’m being generous, I’d say maybe there’s some jackass out there talking about AA’s success rates. But that’s not the organization as a whole. Do you know who the president of AA is? Do you know any of the board members? Do you know who handles their PR and marketing?
Of course you don’t. And why is that? Well, it’s AA’s 8th tradition, of course:
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
(and don’t worry, I’ll get to that God thing next)
AA doesn’t have any president, board members, or anyone doing those things. So, other than someone speaking on behalf of AA, it’s not a thing that happens. Even me writing in defense of AA can be perceived as a “no no” by some interpretations of the traditions, but I stopped giving a shit about that a long time ago to combat some of the ridiculous speculation about the program.
But now, let’s discuss the other side of the anecdotal nonsense.
If you type “AA success rates” into Google, you’ll also find a ton of personal stories who tell you AA didn’t work for them.
And?
No form of treatment has a 100% success rate. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works for a ton of people but doesn’t work for some. Antidepressants work for a lot of people, but sometimes they don’t.
Each person is different and every 12-step meeting is different with different people. If you’re listening to anecdotal evidence about how terrible AA is, you’re falling into confirmation bias, and that’s far from scientific.
The “God thing”
You saw tradition 8 and are now like, “SEE! THEY MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN GOD!”
Well, obviously that’s not true because I’m an atheist who got sober in AA. And the only reason I stayed with AA was because I met an atheist when I first got sober who explained you could not believe in “God” and work the program.
I’m not going to get into all of the explanation of it, but I made a video about this years ago if you’re interested:
When I’ll Finally Shut Up About AA
As mentioned, there’s a big grey area that I’m on the wrong side of when it comes to me defending AA publicly based on the traditions. But I don’t care. As long as people are going to inaccurately explain AA, I’m going to correct that information for one really important reason: it’s FREE.
In 2012, I had less than 20% chance of living. I had no money and no health insurance, and I would have died if it wasn’t for AA.
Until we get universal healthcare in the United States, AA is the best and often only option for many addicts and alcoholics out there. And not just AA but any 12-step program.
It’s not the best program, but it’s free. I’d love if every addict and alcoholic could go to a quality, evidence-based rehab center and work with licensed therapists and psychologists. It’d be amazing if they could all do CBT, receive medically assisted treatment, and maybe even do some transcranial magnetic brain stimulation. That’d be awesome!
But the reality is that these treatments cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. And I don’t know if you got the memo, but we addicts destroy our lives and spend all of our money on drugs and alcohol. We lose our jobs and ruin relationships with our family members. This means that many of us don’t have health insurance to even attempt to go to rehab.
And even with insurance, some people have such high deductibles that they still can’t afford to go to rehab.
So, until people can get evidence-based treatment for free, I’m going to keep combating misinformation about 12-step programs. But until then, you’re going to have to listen to my loud moth because we’re losing countless lives to addiction, and I can’t even imagine how many die because of some BS they heard about the potentially life-saving free 12-step programs out there.
If I got through to just one of you reading this to start re-thinking what you hear about 12-step programs, I’ve done my job.
If you enjoyed this post, it’d mean a lot to me if you shared it. Forward it in an email, share it on social media, or whatever suits your fancy.
To stay updated follow me on Twitter and Instagram @TheRewiredSoul and subscribe to the Substack.