Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Twelve-step program" in English language version.
At some stage of his drinking career, he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink.
These observations would be academic and pointless if [he] never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in motion. Therefore, the main problem...centers in his mind....The fact is that most alcoholics...have lost the power of choice in drink...unable, at certain times, to bring into [his] consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of a month or even a week ago. [He] is without defense against the first drink.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him
The upside of Step Three - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand Him - is that the Step explicitly says that it is our own understanding of God that's required. The language does seem to assume a deity, a Him, of some kind, but if our understanding of spiritual sustenance is other than theistic, there is still room for us, and our beliefs, in this program.
Many people [...] consider prayer just a way of talking to their higher power - even if they're still not very comfortable with the higher power concept. [...] 'I tell my higher power how I'm feeling that day,' says Janine. 'I tell HP first how my body is feeling. [...] Then I ask HP to lift all the barriers that keep me from feeling really good, and then I ask HP to help me and everyone else. Sometimes, just before I meditate, I ask HP to let me see myself and others through Her eyes rather than my own. [...]'
The 12 Steps of Crystal Meth Anonymous[:] We [...] made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a God of our understanding.
The Twelve Steps of Marijuana Anonymous{:] We [...] made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood God.
1953: ... this committee met regularly ... From the beginning ... 12 Steps ... 12 Traditions ... All Steps had 'We'
[...] Bill W. frequently wrote and spoke about [...] what he called the 'tenstrike' of AA - the wording of the Third and Eleventh Steps. The whole area of spirituality versus religion was as perplexing for [AA] as unity was for [Narcotics Anonymous]. Bill liked to recount that the simple addition of the words 'as we understand Him' after the word 'God' killed that controversy in one chop. An issue that had the potential to divide and destroy AA was converted into the cornerstone of the program by that simple turn of phrase.
[...] Bill W. frequently wrote and spoke about [...] what he called the 'tenstrike' of AA - the wording of the Third and Eleventh Steps. The whole area of spirituality versus religion was as perplexing for [AA] as unity was for [Narcotics Anonymous]. Bill liked to recount that the simple addition of the words 'as we understand Him' after the word 'God' killed that controversy in one chop. An issue that had the potential to divide and destroy AA was converted into the cornerstone of the program by that simple turn of phrase.
1953: ... this committee met regularly ... From the beginning ... 12 Steps ... 12 Traditions ... All Steps had 'We'
The 12 Steps of Crystal Meth Anonymous[:] We [...] made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of a God of our understanding.
At some stage of his drinking career, he begins to lose all control of his liquor consumption, once he starts to drink.
These observations would be academic and pointless if [he] never took the first drink, thereby setting the terrible cycle in motion. Therefore, the main problem...centers in his mind....The fact is that most alcoholics...have lost the power of choice in drink...unable, at certain times, to bring into [his] consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of a month or even a week ago. [He] is without defense against the first drink.
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