Dear Daniel,

Again, let me say that if AA keeps you sober and happy--keep doing it. I would never tell you otherwise.

My concern isn't for people who've found success in AA--it's for the overwhelming majority who don't--and don't know where else to turn.

I agree with you that sobriety is about more than just "not drinking,"--or at least it should be--but AA has no monopoly on what it takes to live a balanced life. Every support group I've come across offers more life tools than just not drinking. Otherwise, I could make my own 1 step program:

1. Don't drink

But you also brought up a well known, often used, and just as often misused cliche from AA.....

"Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path."

That was Bill Wilson referring to the first 100 people who joined AA in 1935-1939.

100 people. That's it.

Even if it was true with the first 100 people, there's still no evidence that the claim is accurate. There's no data to back it up. How many people is "rarely" anyway?

That cliche is still repeated today at meetings, ad nauseum, and many (if not most) AA members still think it's the gospel and applies to current AA membership.

It does not.

Millions of people have tried AA and it did not work for them.

Personally, I couldn't have been any more thorough "following the path."

Sometimes you just have to realize when you are on the wrong path and look for a new one.