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Date: Sun, December 1, 2013 9:37 pm (answered 7 December 2013) Thank you for the informative "A.A.: What's not good", may I ask... What is A.A.'s "Secret Agenda" ? A.A. is a Non-profit organization? I've notice you are looking for donations...donations for what? Who or what is this A.Orange?
Kind regards
Hello Eoghan,
Thanks for the letter and the compliment and some good questions.
Okay, first off, A.A. is not really a non-profit organization. Oh, I know that legally they incorporated
A.A. as two non-profit corporations, but they make a lot of money. They get about $12 million a year
selling books. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The real money is in the rehab centers.
Rehab is a $20 billion per year business, and the 12-Step treatment centers get 75% of that.
The leader of A.A. takes in $250,000 per year, and many executives get over $100,000 per year.
And they have a "prudent reserve" of anywhere from $6 to 12 million cash in the bank.
That isn't exactly an impoverished non-profit.
You can see the A.A. financial filings with the U.S. government here:
Then, A.A.'s "secret agenda" is simple: To grow the 12-Step cult religion and organisation.
They have been scheming to completely take over the alcoholism treatment business for the last 70 years.
It started with Bill Wilson planning to set up profit-making hospitals for alcoholics, and
he did set up a rehab farm
in upstate New York.
Now most of the rehab facilities have no legal connection to Alcoholics Anonymous, Inc.
That is the beauty of the system. The "treatment centers" treat people
with the 12-Step cult religious quack cure, and recruit new members for Steppism,
and sell the new recruits the A.A. books, but the A.A. headquarters in New York
is not legally responsible for any fraud or abuses or failures that occur.
The treatment centers make millions of dollars by selling the 12-Step nonsense, and the
12-Step religion gets new members and more book sales.
And at the same time, A.A. members talk judges into sentencing people like
drunk drivers and habitual drunks to 12-Step meetings, or to "treatment
programs" where the main feature of the so-called "treatment"
is 12-Step meetings.
The donations that I get are nothing compared to what A.A. gets. They get millions.
I get a few hundreds each year, which covers everything from web hosting and bandwidth to
replacement computer gear to books and blank CDs and DVDs to more disk drives for backups.
Believe it or not, I have a web site that just reached 6 million hits a month, while operating
on a budget of $300 or $400 per year.
I've listed all of the autobiographical information several times.
Here is the list again:
My birth name is Terrance Hodgins, and I live in rural Oregon, west of Portland.
The name "Orange" began as a joke. A woman who used the name of
"Apple" ran a web site called AAdeprogramming.com, and I sent some
of my original papers to her web site. I said that since she was "Apple",
I would be "Orange", so that we could make jokes about mixing Apples and Oranges.
And the name stuck. I've been using that pen name for so long that many people know me by no other name.
Have a good day now.
== Orange
Date: Mon, December 2, 2013 8:15 am (answered 7 December 2013) Hi Orange,
I agree with the statement by btnben below...
Hello Frank,
Thanks for the letter. I'm aware of the debates and disagreements that are happing around Jim Battle
and his posts. I'm hoping that people can calm down and not argue bitterly. Oh, I expect them to
argue. That is the essence of what a forum is. There has to be room for disagreement and different
viewpoints. I don't feel like having some people post religious opinions besmirches the forum.
Other people are just as free to post their own rebuttals.
Now I understand how some people find certain religious diatribes so objectionable.
Believe me, I could write long papers about the history of the Christian religion in
the Middle Ages, and how many people they murdered, and girls burned as witches, and Bruno
the astronomer burned for saying that the Earth orbited the Sun. And the Crusades, and the
Twenty Years War, and the Forty Years War, and the Hundred Years War...
I could even write about what a murdering warlord Moses was
(look here), what with him
saying that it was okay to rob, rape, murder, and enslave everybody who isn't Jewish.
And to practice genocide on non-Jews.
Nevertheless, I am hoping that we can find some common ground with the religious community,
particularly Christian churches. If they really came to understand how heretical and anti-Christian
the 12-Step religion is, then they would oppose it.
It is hard to overstate the power and influence of the churches in America. Like I said in a previous
letter, at one time I lived in the South, in the Bible Belt, where there are as many churches as
bars, and the Southern Baptist Church just rules. We really need to open a dialogue with
those people. If they knew what kind of a phony religion Steppism really is, it would be a devastating
blow to the 12-Step empire.
So I really hope that people on both sides of the debate can calm down and cool off a bit, and try
to be tolerant of even somewhat obnoxious viewpoints. We stand to gain much if we can form some
alliances with the religious community.
Still, that doesn't mean that you have to agree with things that you consider wrong.
You are quite free to disagree and state your opinion in response. That's what makes a good debate.
Have a good day now.
== Orange
Date: Mon, December 2, 2013 4:18 pm (answered 7 December 2013) Sir Where do you get all this stuff? Tom Sent from my iPhone
Hello Tom,
Thanks for the question. The answer depends on which stuff you mean. I started
with A.A.'s own literature,
and went on to the anti-A.A. literature, and then a zillion related books.
You can see the whole list and descriptions of books and things in the bibliography, here:
And then there are personal experiences. It started with me going to an
outpatient "treatment center" where a cocaine-snorting child-raping
Stepper "counselor" yammered slogans at us. That is described here:
And then there are the many horror stories that other people have sent in. Here are the lists:
Have a good day now.
== Orange
[The next letter from Thomas_C is here.]
Date: Tue, December 3, 2013 9:04 pm (answered 7 December 2013) In a recent letter, Christian based "treatment programs" were discussed. The assumption was that if Christian treatment programs had a better than average success rate the Christians would be bragging about it. None of the organizations, whether secular or non secular, "work," and I can prove it without wasting time, energy and money. I have stated this numerous times. If any organization or program, that is available today, or in the past, had a "success rate" or "cure rate" of even 25%, the suffering alcoholics and drug addicts, would be knocking each other over to become members. Maybe someday there will be a medical cure. But if and when that takes place there will be some major medical breakthroughs with mental disorders. Probably starting with major depression issues. Until that happens, many people "out there" are going to go through the mill as so many of us have. It's a shame I had to be 50 years old before I got sober. But then again, I am grateful, because I know people older than 50 who still drink alcoholically today, and most of them are going to die of alcoholism. Anyway, enough of my cheery Holiday post. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays !
Hello Tom,
I quite agree. If anybody came up with a treatment that really worked, people would be flocking
to it like mad. Even most treatment centers would quickly switch to using it.
Alas, there is no such thing.
And when you think about it, what "treatment" is supposed to do is make people quit drinking.
The "treatment" is supposed to control people's behavior, and make them do what somebody else
wants. That would require some kind of a mind control program that could over-ride people's own
will, and bend them to someone else's will, and make them do what the other person wants.
That sounds like the dream of a dictator.
Thank God there is no such program.
I can only agree about waiting until I was 52 years old to get sober. I wish
I had done it 30 years sooner.
Have a good day now, and a Merry Christmas.
== Orange
Date: Wed, December 4, 2013 3:44 am (answered 7 December 2013) Greetings Orange,
I'm almost two years sober. Would love to chat sometime. Regards, Crash B Sent from my iPhone
Hello Chris,
Thanks for the message and the compliments, and congratulations on your sobriety.
And I'm really glad to hear that your mind is still open and awake and active.
Sure, I'd like to communicate with you sometime.
So have a good day now, and Merry Christmas.
== Orange
BLOG NOTE: 23 December 2010
To All: Have a Merry Christmas, and remember that eggnog is great without whiskey.
At this time of the year, a lot of ex-drinkers feel deprived of their fair share of the fun and games.
I don't.
Some people ask me if I don't feel left out, or cheated in life, if I can't join in the partying and
get high at Christmas and New years. My answer is, "Do I feel deprived and cheated because I can't consume
a poison that will leave me with a splitting headache and hung-over and cloudy-headed and sick and jittery?
No, I don't feel deprived. Been there, done that. It wasn't all that great. I really like the clarity
that I have now, and I plan to keep it, thank you."
Have a Merry Christmas.
Date: Wed, December 4, 2013 7:55 am (answered 7 December 2013) My user name us Atlas-Revolt... I've been watching your videos on YouTube and it's confirmed what I believe about AA.... There's no alternative to 12step programs where I live... well that should say enough I suppose Sent from my Virgin Mobile Android-Powered Device
Hello JT,
You are in. Welcome.
I must comment that those are actually not my videos. I haven't ever made a video yet, and
when I do, the first ones will be about cute little fluff-ball goslings.
I'm still collecting the software tools to get the video editing done.
And then of course I have to get a Round Tuit.
Those videos were made by various people. Mike B. and James G. and BlameDenial (pun: Blame Dee Nile)
come to mind as making a bunch of them, and they often ended their videos by
putting a plug to my web site in the closing credits. But I never gave them
anything but moral support, and maybe an idea or two.
Here are some more links to Mike and James and BD videos. Once you find one, the YouTube page
will link you to many more.
Also, I stumbled across these goodies
while searching for BlameDenial videos. So here is some more Christmas vacation
entertainment:
Okay, that's enough to keep everybody entertained through the Christmas holidays.
Have a good day now, and a Merry Christmas.
== Orange
Date: Wed, December 4, 2013 1:41 pm (answered 7 December 2013) Aloha Terry, This is still my favorite website! I had 2 nightmares last night about drinking again, but that's not why I'm writing you. I just saw a letter from someone else in regards to the new Stephen King book, Dr. Sleep, asking your opinion of the book. I myself have been a big fan of Stephen King since I was a teenager, and intrigued by his books, stories as a child (before I could actually read thru one of his novels). King is a 'recovering alcoholic/addict'... he writes about this briefly in his book "On Writing: a memoir of the craft". He attended a typical, traditional rehab and is now an AA member. This is very clear from his new book "Dr. Sleep" which is a sequel to 'The Shining'. I will finish the novel because I like the story so far, and I loved 'The Shining'... but it is pro-AA. I just hope he does not promote or praise it too much in the book. The Denzel Washington movie 'Flight' was a very good movie i thought, even though it had pro-AA sentiment. King's new book is interesting and entertaining, like 'The Shining'...his opinion of AA shouldn't take too much away from that... I hope (I'm only on chapter 2). I can sit thru a movie or read thru a book about alcoholism with pro-AA sentiment ONCE if it is entertaining and forgive the writer for being a bit ignorant about the facts... there really still are a whole lot of people who believe the lie (it was all I ever heard until I found THIS WEBSITE)... and I had to search for the truth.. the AA lie seems to be all around when you are sick from alcohol. My favorite work of art about alcoholism will probably always be 'The Lost Weekend' movie from 1945 (Best Picture) ... it doesn't even mention AA. Well, that's all I have to say for now. I have been abstinent from AA and alcohol for almost 2 years... mainly because I just found better things to do, and my thinking skills have improved with time... and yes I CAN remember the bad times, and there are NO mental blank spots (subtle lies to scare you into staying in the cult).
Thanks as always for this site,
Hi Ted,
Thanks for the letter and the compliments and the interesting observations.
Yes, I've liked Stephen King's fiction for many years, too. I'm sorry to hear that
his brain melted down, and that he joined the Dark Side.
I'm reminded of this old quote,
"Smart people are very good at rationalizing things
they came to believe for non-smart reasons."
But then again, maybe Stephen King will get another horror novel out of it.
That shouldn't be too hard, considering what a horror story A.A. already is.
King has a variety of possible plot lines to work with:
Yes, that could be a lot of fun. Maybe I should take up writing horror stories.
(As if I didn't already have enough to do.)
I also liked "The Lost Weekend".
Date: Wed, December 4, 2013 2:10 pm (answered 7 December 2013) I was just reading a letter to you about 'religious' versus 'secular' recovery programs. It seems rather complicated, but how about... NO recovery programs. There should be more 'support groups' that aren't AA, I guess, for people who don't have friends or family to talk to... but groups and 'programs', well, for me anyway, would never keep me from drinking if i wanted to drink. Between meetings or sessions when people are alone, and can really only count on themselves to stay sober...that's what they have to do, by themselves. This is where AA says, just call your sponsor. It is depending too much, or in AA's case entirely too much on other people to do the job of staying sober for you.
Just another opinion,
Indeed. Why have recovery programs when they don't work? What a stupid waste of time and
money.
The whole idea of "programs" is such a bureaucratic fiasco.
That's a politician's answer to everything.
Create another "program".
Now I'd be all for drug and alcohol treatment programs if they actually worked, but they don't.
The best that can be said for them is that they produce a slight improvement that quickly fades out.
But the worst that they do is things like increasing the
binge drinking, and the
death rate, and the
suicide rate, and the
divorce rate, and the
rearrest rate, and the
cost of hospitalization...
And another aspect of treatment programs that we were just talking about in a previous letter is
the problem that the real goal of a treatment program is to control the behavior of the patient.
When you think about it, what "treatment" is supposed to do is make people quit drinking.
The "treatment" is supposed to control people's behavior, and make them do what somebody else
wants (like not drink alcohol, or not take drugs).
That would require some kind of a mind control program that could over-ride people's own
wills, and bend them to someone else's will, and make them do what the other person wants.
That sounds like the dream of a dictator.
Thus treatment programs, and A.A. in particular, give false hopes that some external power
(or "Higher Power") will suddenly solve your problem for you, and make you
behave properly. When people find out that it doesn't work, they relapse. And they
sometimes become so disillusioned that they give up.
Oh well, have a good day now, and a Merry Christmas.
== Orange
[The next letter from Ted_B is here.]
Date: Wed, December 4, 2013 11:11 pm (answered 8 December 2013) Picked up this book at the library by Richard Dawkins, you may have read it. A lot of really good stuff in it. I love it when I find something that has been well thought out and presented. Some parts have really touched my hart. We all are searching for answers. But a lot of the time we end up in places that offer an answer only to give none at all. The only thing given is marching orders. I am almost to 90 days without a meeting and doing okay. I wish I had more to say here but that is about it for now. Please post this. I would like to get the word out on this book.
Hello Bill,
Thanks for the tip. And congratulations on your freedom from meetings, and
your sobriety.
I've read some stuff by Richard Dawkins, and like him.
I especially liked The Selfish Gene. I have that.
I don't think I've read more than bits and pieces of The God Delusion.
I'll have to put a hold on it at the library and add it to my list of things to do.
Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens are two of my favorite iconoclastic writers.
And yes, they are very clear and don't believe no bull.
Some other people have asked what it would be like if Richard Dawkins wrote
"The AA Delusion".
Oh, and that reminds me, I have been watching his lecture series on YouTube.
I need to finish it. There is a long multi-part lecture — I think Christmas
lectures at Oxford — where he gives his oversight of biology. Fascinating.
I don't have the URL handy, but a search of YouTube will find it.
Have a good day now, and a Merry Christmas.
== Orange
Date: Thu, December 5, 2013 6:47 am (answered 8 December 2013) Hi Terry, congrats on your 13 years of real recovery and a superb factually informing website. Stumbling upon your website 12 years ago utterly set me free from Steppism and all it's madness. Overheard at an AA meeting and directed from the chairperson to the congregation was the advice: "If you do not believe in God why not pray to the founders of AA, Bill W and Dr. Bob." !! The people in the room looked like they had experienced a 'lightbulb' revelation. I did not hang around to see the results lol. The madness is truly alive and kicking in the UK. Anon. 27 years free of booze. PS: Terry, please do not print my mail address.
Hello Anon,
Thanks for the letter and the compliments and a good laugh. Yes, "pray to the Founders".
Oh yeh, sure, Saint Bill will save you.
Yes, it reminds me of lines from The Rocky Horror Picture Show: "Madness reigns supreme..."
Congratulations on your 27 years of taking care of your health. Obviously, you
did it yourself, not Saints Bill and Bob.
Oh, by the way, doesn't "Pray to the Founders Bill and Bob"
kind of conflict with Christian teachings? Isn't there a tiny conflict there?
And yet, A.A. continues to meet in church basements and tell the pastor that A.A.
beliefs are completely compatible with Christianity. Yeh, right.
Have a good day now, and a Merry Christmas.
== Orange
Date: Fri, December 6, 2013 1:55 am (answered 8 December 2013) Hi Terry, Just ran across this: #3. Henry Ford's Nazi Connections Were Way Deeper Than Anyone Thought
Hello Ray,
This is an odd one. I'm not sure if this web site is supposed to be humorous or real.
Half of the articles seem genuine, and half seem to be spoofs.
The web site is "cracked". Is that Cracked Magazine, the other "Mad Magazine"?
I'm not sure if this web site is trying to be a copy of The Onion.
On the other hand, the information about Ford and the Nazis is true. I've gotten the same
information from other sources.
Henry Ford sent Adolf Hitler 50,000 Deutschmarks for his birthday, year after year.
Hitler, in turn, admired Henry Ford, and had Ford's picture in his office, and Ford's books
on his desk. Henry Ford, in turn, reprinted anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda like The Protocols
of the Learned Elders of Zion.
There is much more about that here:
http://www.orange-papers.info/orange-rroot540.html
One of the biggest secrets of American history is how many of the rich and powerful men in the USA
were traitors who supported Hitler, even during the war. The Bush family's patriarch, Vandevere Bush,
was trading with Hitler during the war until the Feds seized his bank. But they didn't put him
in prison.
The DuPont family and other American fascists conspired to overthrow President Roosevelt and
end democracy and establish a Fascist American government. Just one loyal general stopped them.
They were not prosecuted. In fact, Roosevelt covered up the plot, and classified the
Congressional report that documented the whole conspiracy, because he thought that he would need the
rich fascist bastards' cooperation, and their factories, to win the war.
I never heard any of that in high school or college history. The famous historian Henry Steele Commager
wrote the textbook for my college course in American history, and
he never reported a word of that. Not a bit of it.
I don't know why that is such big secret. It is still little known today.
Oh well, have a good day and a Merry Christmas.
== Orange
Last updated 2 January 2014. |
