Hello! My name is Andy and I am a 58 year old male that apparently gets to deal with not only RTS but also other addictions. The two most prominent are alcohol and my own opinion. The three together often leave me restless, irritable and discontent, sometimes just because I woke up this morning. Alcoholism dominated my life from 17-42 years of age. Getting sober was also the time I found myself drifting from beliver in any form of theistic world view to an atheist. Not an easy or acceptable path in the rooms. I haven’t had a drink in over 16 years and AA has been very helpful with continued sobriety. That being said, though I still attend a few meetings (mainly Freethinkers meetings) I find the god-shouting distatsteful and the groupthink cultish. Having been born and raised a Baptist and subsequently in and out of cults of both the Christian variety and non-Christian, I (usually) can smell a cult a mile off. Cults are legion and very subtle in their mind-fuck of devotees. But I digress.
Atheism came about through reading and researching and after awhile daring to doubt. it was not easy, but numerous voices from the Atheist blog/youtube community and just reading what scientist’s had to say about this bizarre and inexplicable universe (a grateful nod to the late Douglas Adams for that handy quote) have eased me into a life that I get to give meaning and purpose to. No longer from a book purportedly authored by a genocidal diety whose adherents really are no different in behavior from the rest of us, no matter the chant, spell or ritual they claim makes them so (really tired here of the ”god-glasses” and special auditory messages tripe).
Lastly for now, ”The Rage”. Rage at deliberate deception, lies, half-truths, misinformation, strawmen arguments and downright sleazy used car salesmen techniques. Most days I don’t suffer much. Most days I love my existence (such as it is). Most days I love reading non-fiction about this lovely pale blue dot we call home and birding with my partner. And then there are the days where, ” Like one who on a lonely road/doth walk in fear and dread/and, having once turned round/walks on, and turns no more his head/Because he knows a frightful fiend/Doth close behind him tread.” Then cometh Rage. And I rarely know what shadow crosed my mindscape to trigger it.
Finally, I am happy to be sober and happy to be an atheist. Happy also to know I am not alone. And the inevitable post script: this is on my profile. I am so new to this format I may have repeated myself unnecessarily or missed the point entirely.🙄
If you feel the same way as me about this, it means you are well aware of the desirability of a budget top compact binoculars under 200 here. The perfect telescope for astrophotography is the one that lets you view the skies as if you were up there yourself.
Thank you for sharing. This post spoke to me because I have also found AA to have many cult like features. I do not feel AA is helpful for people with a trauma and abuse background due to this. I found a great group called LifeRing, that is secular, and doesn't have dogma like AA does. I think because of my trauma background, I don't have secure boundaries from being brainwashed or Mind-effed as I term it. I almost recently joined a cult like group called "200 hour yoga teacher training". I say this because I found the teacher to be like a cult leader and I was losing my self and boundaries because the class was not actually about yoga, but about group therapy. (the teacher had no therapy credentials) If I had been told this ahead of time, I might have welcomed it, but felt I was gaslighted, and the sessions made me feel awful, and my gut told me to get away from this group and teacher. I did, and was so relieved. The cult like church I was in before had taught me to not trust my gut and go against myself and my nature. I am so happy I found out what this was called. RTS. I can't find a lot about it on the internet though. Thanks for listening to me, the newbie.
Thank you for sharing your story! I have friends who have also found AA to be culty and disrespectful/triggering to non-theists. One of the resources on the Mental Health page, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, may have a meeting in your area. At the very least, they have an online support group where can talk with other like-minded recovering addicts. Congrats on your sobriety! And congrats for having the courage to question and arrive at your own conclusions.