I’m the son of two parents, neither of whom were baptised. I was never baptised. I never go to Church unless I’m a guest at a Wedding or Christening.
I got married in a Country Hotel with a Registrar. No religious ceremony. When my two daughters arrived in the World I objected to them being christened and finally agreed with my in-laws that they could be blessed in the Church of England but I wasn’t prepared to be a hypocrite and stand in church and christen my children when I’m a non-believer of God. I never attended their blessings.
Does that make me a bad person? Of course not.
I don’t need religion to lead a positive, kind and fulfilled life and if Religion is our barometer of human decency then we all best jump off the cliff!
I have no problem with people having faith – live your own life and do what works for you but I’m fed up of having Christianity shoved down my throat in the world of Recovery. It started when I went along to AA meetings and despite the whole welcome message of “we are not religious” there were far too many nods and mentions to God for my liking – ending the meeting with the prayer was enough for me. I’m out of here…
As the Blog has grown so has my social media following and I find that Twitter is the breeding ground for God Worshippers who want to piss on my parade or try to convert me to Christianity. I’m not interested! The simple fact is this – I’m an Atheist who became alcohol dependent and following hospitalisation (the intervention) I’ve proactively explored recovery programmes since. I’m happy with what I’ve landed on and that won’t change. I don’t need saving. I don’t need a God. I don’t need AA. I don’t need religious nuts chasing me.
There are plenty people of the cloth who have addiction issues and there are also a huge number of people who relapse in AA and other spiritual / religious programmes so they are not in the position to dictate and look down on what other people are doing as an alternative. After all it’s not very Christian is it?
And let’s not forget – surely the whole point of recovery is not picking up and improving our day to day life? Period.
So let me be. I’m happy and growing in recovery. Yes I’ve had set backs and it’s not been a straightforward path but I’m here, healthy and positive of my future.
You do you. I’ll do me.
Happy Daddy 