Why CFI-Calgary (Alberta) matters

The Centre for Inquiry has recently opened a chapter in Calgary, Alberta, which aims to bring many of the Centre’s services to our province. The first CFI in Canada was opened in Ontario just over a year ago and it has had great success since.

One of the key services already started at CFI Calgary is called Secular Organizations for Sobriety, which is a secular alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous. Why is a secular alternative needed, try the twelve steps:

THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God

as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God,

as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. [emphasis added]

However, AA claims: “AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution…”

So although no specific church “allies” with AA, you have to believe in big-G God to complete at least 6 of the twelve steps. This can lead some alcoholics to switch from an alcohol addiction to a religion addiction – feeding off the prayers and experiences there instead.

SOS seeks to provide people with their own strength to combat their addiciton, while also providing a social safety net to (hopefully) prevent any major falls. This service is a great addition.