Addiction & Spirituality

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There are millions of people across America who have been addicted to one substance or another - and millions who have managed to kick their addiction. But what role have spiritual beliefs played in such recovery - is it a necessary condition for recovery, or just an incidental factor?

This is the topic of "Soul of Recovery," a recent book from Christopher D. Ringwald. Through a combination of both historical research and personal interviews, Ringwald argues that practices like meditation, prayer and reliance on a "higher power" - the hallmarks of spiritual beliefs - have been crucial to people's efforts to fight and end addiction.

Throughout his book, Ringwald continually emphasizes the idea that the spirituality of programs and groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are not religious and do not even require belief in God. Are such arguments successful? Not very - in fact, Ringwald admits that "Twelve-Step fellowships draw some of their most powerful ideas from religion," that AA is "a way of life" rather than just a recovery program, and that AA assumes that a lack of the proper spirituality is the cause of addiction in the first place.

Moreover, Ringwald consistently uses God-language when discussing recovery, for example:

The recovery movement crystallizes, for society, the basic challenge: will it be man or God? Will we live for ourselves alone or for something beyond? Will we be god or will we let God be God?

This isn't non-religious; it isn't even non-sectarian. Statements such as this, entirely accurate portrayals of the ideology of spiritual recovery groups, reflect particular assumptions regarding God and the human place in the universe.

Ringwald also goes on to acknowledge that US courts have found AA and similar groups to be sufficiently religious that forcing people to attend them would be a violation of the separation of church and state. In the end, the evidence from Ringwald's own book is solidly in support not of what he claims, but rather the opposite: that these programs are fundamentally religious in nature and do require belief in God - not a God so vague that it can be redefined into non-existence, but in fact a very traditional concept of God on whom we can and must rely in order to achieve renewal and spiritual development.

So, what role does this "spirituality" play in recovery from addiction? Ringwald is able to show that it has been very important for many people - this, however, is neither controversial nor surprising. The real question is whether the role of particularly "spiritual" beliefs is necessary or simply incidental.

Ringwald spends some time exploring the history, ideas and results of secular recovery groups like SOS (Secular Organizations for Sobriety) and Women for Sobriety, showing that they, like religious groups, are successful - this makes it clear that whatever role is played by religious beliefs, it is probably not a necessary one. Perhaps some individuals may require the inclusion of religion in their treatment program, but many surely do not.

Ringwald states right at the beginning of the book that he is "concerned with the results, not the validity of such beliefs." However, this conflicts with his later admission that:

For eons, humans have tried to press God into the service of our schemes, often at great loss of life. And the ends may not justify the means, since the means can contain the seed of a greater evil. What works may not be what is true. ...History shows that evil can be very effective. That does not make it good or true.

Yes, religious recovery programs can be effective, but that doesn't make them good or true. Yes, religious recovery programs can help people end their addictions, but that doesn't mean that there aren't better ways to achieve the same results. An important first step in moving away from such programs, however, is understanding their history, their ideology and what they mean to recovering addicts - in this, Ringwald's book is a valuable contribution which should be read by anyone studying the topic.