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“Newcomers are approaching AA at the rate often of thousands yearly. They represent almost every belief and attitude imaginable. We have atheists and agnostics. We have people of nearly every race, culture and religion. In AA we are supposed to be bound together in the kinship of a common suffering. Consequently, the full individual liberty to practice any creed or principle or therapy whatever should be a first consideration for us all. Let us not, therefore, pressure anyone with our individual or even our collective views. Let us instead accord each other the respect and love that is due to every human being as he tries to make his way toward the light. Let us always try to be inclusive rather than exclusive; let us remember that each alcoholic among us is a member of AA, so long as he or she so declares.”

—Bill W., Grapevine, July 1965

The stories in this book, originally published in Grapevine, represent the shared experience of AA members who are atheists, agnostics, freethinkers or nonbelievers, who have struggled with alcoholism, yet ultimately found a common solution in AA.

Pushed to the edge of desperation by their inability to stop drinking, each finally has taken the plunge into AA—often as a last resort. Their entries into the program weren’t always graceful, as a number of the stories in this volume can attest. Yet once arrived, they generally found a warm welcome—something unexpected after years of drinking and despair.

As each came to know more about AA and its spiritual program of recovery, deep reservations surfaced, with a sense that the Fellowship might not be for them.

Chapter One explores some of these reservations and how members worked through them to keep the focus on sobriety—recognizing that without sobriety all would be lost. In the book’s first story, the writer of “The Transformation” asks a pivotal question often considered by many atheists and agnostics in AA: “Was a spiritual awakening necessary for lifelong sobriety? If I didn’t have one, was I going to drink again?” The experience shared in this chapter puts that notion to rest, as nonbelievers of varying experience share how they are able to work the program successfully, one day at a time, as reflected in the words of Bill M. in “Sober With No God”: “I know firsthand that the program of action outlined in our textbook can be effectively taken even without a belief in a god.”

Secular AA members have been a part of the Fellowship since its earliest days, making significant contributions to the development of the AA program, helping to swing the doors of AA ever-wider for the steady stream of newcomers looking to AA for help. Recognizing the amazing flexibility and inclusivity of the program, in Chapter Two Carmen C. shares that “Religious and agnostic alike love Alcoholics Anonymous. It is proof that the program is spiritual and not a religion—and it does not interfere with religious or agnostic beliefs. It just lets us recover from alcoholism’s misery and be well.”

Still, some atheists, agnostics and nonbelievers can feel like outsiders. “It’s unpopular to be an atheist,” writes C.C. in Chapter Three’s story “Closet Atheist,” “and not every atheist admits it openly. So let’s not run the agnostic or the rationalist off, back to the world of drinking.”

Working together within an AA group provides the solution for many alcoholics—whatever their beliefs—leading the way to sobriety. “I’ve met opposition for my beliefs,” writes Cara A. in the story “My Search” in Chapter Four. “I’ve also had people have the utmost gratitude to know they’re not alone and that we can stay sober regardless of what we believe or don’t believe. I’ve sponsored Buddhists, Christians, agnostics and those who are in the process of discovering. … For me, the beauty of sobriety is that I can learn from everyone and anyone.”

Chapter Five focuses on the many elements of AA that hold us together in unity. “As I went through the Steps, I came to believe in a higher purpose, not a higher being,” writes Alex M. in “God On Every Page.” “My higher purpose is to live by the principles of the Steps. The power I draw on is that unsuspected inner resource which makes me willing on a daily basis to strive for honesty, integrity, compassion, tolerance, humility, love and service.” These are the hallmarks of sobriety, available to each of us in AA as we recognize our common suffering and pursue, ever more fully, our common solution.