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"But it's religious". I am not religious. I have a terrible relationship with religions. NA drives home repeatedly in its writings that you do not have to be religious to get this program. The number of references to God in our literature is a controversial internal issue which addicts discuss to death. Addicts who are not religious, like me, like to use stand-ins like "Good orderly direction", or "Group of druggies" as a way of referring to a higher power. I personally chose to use the group/fellowship as my higher power - I believe that there is an energy and force of love that comes from decades of addicts striving to stay clean that aids me. Trying to stay clean on your own is like trying to swim upriver during a flood. It takes a power greater than any one person alone has. The love and care of my fellow addicts is my greater power.

"It's not evidence-based". There are hundreds of addicts in my metro area alone who get to be clean on a daily basis because of NA. There are thousands in my country and there are supposedly 76,000 NA meetings on a weekly basis across the world. Assuming each of those meetings have at least 3 members (in my experience meetings can range anywhere from two to forty attendees), that's 228,000 folks who get to experience at least one hour a week clean. I don't know if it's possible to explain to someone who hasn't gotten to experience that how important that is. Addiction is a prison and every moment that I get to experience outside of that prison is a life-affirming breath of fresh air.

"It's not evidence-based 2.0" This pamphlet is a review of several scientific studies of NA. This is a line directly from this pamphlet:

"In a 2018 survey of 28,495 NA members conducted by NA World Services, members with a wide variety of past primary drug choices reported an average of 11.4 years of continuous abstinence, with 85% of members reporting five or more years of stable recovery."

Five to eleven years of continuous recovery is HUGE. When we are in active addiction we can’t imagine a day clean. Years feels impossible. It’s not.

"It's based off outdated writings" AA was originally written in the '30s. NA started in the '50s and piggy-backed off the AA 12-step model. The basic text of NA was written in the 80s. This video talks through the 2nd ever NA world literature conference, where addicts took 800 pages of material submitted from addicts across the program and literally (LITERALLY LIKE WITH GLUE AND PAPER) cut and pasted it into a cohesive work. The Basic Text is a labor of love, made up of the knowledge and wisdom of hundreds of recovering addicts.

"It's a cult"

Borrowed from this website: According to the Cult Education Institute, there are specific warning signs to look out for when considering whether a group might be a cult. Cults are characterized by:

Absolute authoritarianism without accountability

Zero tolerance for criticism or questions

Lack of meaningful financial disclosure regarding the budget

Unreasonable fears about the outside world that often involve evil conspiracies and persecutions

A belief that former followers are always wrong for leaving and there is never a legitimate reason for anyone else to leave

Abuse of members

Records, books, articles, or programs documenting the abuses of the leader or group

Followers feeling that they are never able to be “good enough”

A belief that the leader is right at all times

A belief that the leader is the exclusive means of knowing “truth” or giving validation

NA service structure maintains that the ultimate decision making rests in the hands of the group, which is made up of individual addicts (NA service concept #2). We do not have a leader. It literally takes AGES to get anything done (for example, modifying the language of the literature), because we have to get and receive input from literally. everyone. in the program. There is always an avenue for accountability, criticism and questions (NA service concept #5, #10). “Lack of financial disclosure” try being a treasurer on an NA service committee and then come talk to me about whether or not there’s financial disclosure.

As I stated previously, I am lucky enough to live in a community where the NA fellowship is thriving. I have no doubt there are places where that is not the case. I have no doubt there are places where the NA fellowship manifests in ways that are unhealthy. That is a result of the people who are involved in the program in that place. It is not because the program itself is unhealthy. We often state that it is a perfect program run by imperfect people. This is a hyperbole but the concept holds true - we are simply humans trying the best we can to do what we think is right. Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes we're wrong. That doesn't mean we stop trying.

Personally I don't believe that addicts should be barred from housing/welfare simply because of their active addiction. Surprisingly (/s) it is a lot easier to get/stay clean if you don't have to worry about where you're going to sleep that night or where your next meal will come from. It is an incredibly tricky subject to talk about kids because the fact of the matter is that many children are put in danger on a daily basis when living with addicts in active addiction. There are many people in the program who talk about how their kids being removed from their care was the wake-up call they needed to face their problems. There are also people who the system abused and who will never get to see their kids because of incidents that occured with the law during their active addiction. The idea of addicts as 'unredeemable', which was perpetuated by the war on drugs, is incredibly harmful and something our community still has to reckon with today.

I know by posting this I'm probably inviting a lot of nonsense and I'm ready to block those engaging in bad faith and turn off reblogs. I’m not under the illusion that I’m going to change the world’s view of NA - I have four sponsees and multiple service positions, I’d rather keep putting my energy into building my community than fighting on the internet. I just really couldn't stand letting the shit talking on something that has truly changed my life go unaddressed. I was a shell of a person before NA because of what the disease of addiction brought me to. Today I am a part of my life, my family's life, I have friends and can travel and enjoy living again. If you want to hear about the experiences of people in NA I would suggest looking up speakers on youtube as there are a ton of good ones out there. This is a favorite of mine - I heard her speak in person at a convention and she has an incredible story. (“But she starts by thanking god”. She's allowed to have her own higher power of her own understanding, same as the rest of us. If you have a problem with her saying God, imagine it as the acronym I put earlier. Try a little open-mindedness and see what happens.) If you want to know more about NA there are many resources out there. If you think you may be an addict and want to chat with other addicts I’d recommend checking out your local NA meetings. There are plenty of online meetings these days too. I hope you find what you’re looking for.