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> You can imagine your higher power is Gandalf, Sauron, elves at the bottom of the garden That's quite cheeky. Telling people to believe in a "higher power" s

> You can imagine your higher power is Gandalf, Sauron, elves at the bottom of the garden That's quite cheeky. Telling people to believe in a "higher power" simply translates into the gods in the mainstream religion in the society they live in.

billjings 7y ago
I mean, if we're talking about people who actually do imagine that their higher power is Gandalf, then we're talking about some pretty cheeky people here.
ragona 7y ago
Huh? I’ve known plenty of AA members who found the program very helpful and didn’t believe in anything even resembling a mainstream deity.
egypturnash 7y ago
There are people who have gotten “Jedi” on the official lists of religion. I would presume that one of them going through AA would simply surrender to the Force. Seriously or ha-ha-only-seriously, it doesn’t matter. Sure, you can surrender to the top name of whatever religion dominates your surroundings. Or you can surrender to the top name of the one your parents raised you in counter to the surroundings, or the top name of the one you found yourself drawn to as you grown up. Or you could surrender to the Invisible Pink Unicorn, blessed be Her invisible mane. Or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or anything else made up to mock the idea of religion. I wouldn’t recommend surrendering to Cthulhu for healing via the AA but if you think that sounds like a good idea then go for it. Whichever deity works. If all you know is the default for your culture and you’re not down with that one, then it’s time to do some research.
komali2 7y ago
I'm with you - whenever a non-demoninational event goes down, or when someone says "take the higher power of your choice, could be Gandalf, it doesn't matter!" I can't help roll my eyes. It's an ignorant thing to say. Assuming a religion is "invalid" or not a "religion" if it doesn't have a godhead at all. Many don't, named or otherwise. "Higher Power." And lord forbid your chosen godhead is someone else's religion fallman. When I was growing up in SC and we'd do these school classroom prayers (public school, unconstitutional, but who's keeping score?), me being a cringy little 13 year old atheist would say shit like "hail satan" and raise ire of pretty much the entire school. So no, they don't really mean "your higher power of choice," they mean "your given godhead that I can convince myself is actually mine just under a different name."

billjings 7y ago

I mean, if we're talking about people who actually do imagine that their higher power is Gandalf, then we're talking about some pretty cheeky people here.

ragona 7y ago

Huh? I’ve known plenty of AA members who found the program very helpful and didn’t believe in anything even resembling a mainstream deity.

egypturnash 7y ago

There are people who have gotten “Jedi” on the official lists of religion. I would presume that one of them going through AA would simply surrender to the Force. Seriously or ha-ha-only-seriously, it doesn’t matter. Sure, you can surrender to the top name of whatever religion dominates your surroundings. Or you can surrender to the top name of the one your parents raised you in counter to the surroundings, or the top name of the one you found yourself drawn to as you grown up. Or you could surrender to the Invisible Pink Unicorn, blessed be Her invisible mane. Or the Flying Spaghetti Monster or anything else made up to mock the idea of religion. I wouldn’t recommend surrendering to Cthulhu for healing via the AA but if you think that sounds like a good idea then go for it. Whichever deity works. If all you know is the default for your culture and you’re not down with that one, then it’s time to do some research.

komali2 7y ago

I'm with you - whenever a non-demoninational event goes down, or when someone says "take the higher power of your choice, could be Gandalf, it doesn't matter!" I can't help roll my eyes. It's an ignorant thing to say. Assuming a religion is "invalid" or not a "religion" if it doesn't have a godhead at all. Many don't, named or otherwise. "Higher Power." And lord forbid your chosen godhead is someone else's religion fallman. When I was growing up in SC and we'd do these school classroom prayers (public school, unconstitutional, but who's keeping score?), me being a cringy little 13 year old atheist would say shit like "hail satan" and raise ire of pretty much the entire school. So no, they don't really mean "your higher power of choice," they mean "your given godhead that I can convince myself is actually mine just under a different name."