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No.

A.A. is much maligned as one, the other or both.

There are certain aspects of AA that involve spirituality or God "as you understand him".

There are ideas and tools used that involve a higher power.

These are aspects that many religions have also. Some members belong to a religion and these members will be the first say AA is not a religion. There is nothing in A.A. to preclude you from belonging to a religion of your own choice.

AA at no time uses any control techniques of cults mentally or physically. There are some sayings and lines that are used in AA by members and in approved material that have been assigned a meaning by people that claim these are "cult" is nature. These are often take out of context and used as "See! See! It's a cult!".

As in any large group there are people that will take advantage of others. This is sad, AA has had its share. These are not really members. These are people that take advantage of others as may be found in any large group of people.

There are members that are agnostic and atheists, there are very religious folks also. AA probably has the largest cross section of members of any group in the world.

We at AroundTheTables hope that you go to several different groups and take into consideration that the recovering from alcoholism people are human and do human things. We hope you do not focus in on the errors of a few or one person.  We hope you see the diversity of the membership and the variety of experiences and ways the program of Alcoholics Anonymous is put into use to get sober and stay sober.

AroundTheTables has no opinion on any AA or non A.A. group or therapies.

There are some traceable historical and obvious results regarding A.A. and the recent or modern 21^st century treatment sets and groups.

A.A. is the parent and grand parent of all 12 Step and almost every single one of the non 12 Step programs except the religious conversion groups that are not an emulation of A.A.'s Step concept.

There is a lot of money to be made on the treatment of addictions. This does not mean that there are not caring and good people that are concerned and helpful that are non A.A. and even anti A.A. in the field of addictions treatment.

Many non A.A. addictions workers are not able to truly understand alkies from the inside as another alkie may or can. Many addiction workers can be and are deceived by alcoholics and addicts by reason that there is not personal knowledge or experience that AA members have in abundance.

Many anti A.A. people that are involved in one way or another in the field of addictions treatments or on the web are one of two main groupings and may fall into both groups. The first of these two groups are people that have bad experiences with an AA group, club, or person claiming to be a recovering member of A.A. The second of these two groups are people that are deeply agnostic or atheistic of thought.

There are several possibilities. All are okay.

Most meetings are scheduled for 1 hour in length. 

AA does not take attendance or track anyone.

Some AA members are a bit religious and some AA members lean to the agnostic/atheistic side

AA uses first names. You do not have to give your real name. Anonymity is half our name, so, if you meet someone in AA please respect their anonymity outside of AA and they should also do the same for you.

You may walk in the door to a meeting and be completely ignored. Please do not feel snubbed. A.A. is worldwide and the members do not know every other member. They may be assuming that you belong to another club or group and are visiting. There are no special high signs or handshakes. So worry not, just look for the coffee pot grab a cup of coffee or other beverage offered that would be of your choice and find an empty seat. Smile at someone or two and eventually you will be greeted.

You may walk in the door to an AA meeting and the next thing you know there a two or ten people saying hi, shaking your hand, or trying to hug you in welcome. Do not be alarmed most of the huggers are harmless or at least mean no ill will. If you feel overwhelmed, tell them, they need to know this so they will back off. They are simply happy that a new person has decided to take a look at A.A. as a way out.

There is usually a coffee pot and a soda machine in most clubs and at least a coffee pot at single meeting groups. Some have a coffee kitty, some don't.

Some larger groups have someone at the door to direct people to the meeting they are looking for because several meetings are happening at the same time.

One of the hardest things many us ever did was walk in the door. We know this.

Most meetings start within a couple of minutes of scheduled time, some do not. Please do not be alarmed at a late start, AA members like to talk to each other.

Many typical AA meetings start out with the secretary or chair (meeting leader) asking for a moment of silence followed by a simple prayer. This prayer is a short mantra or meditation called the Serenity Prayer or the Prayer for Serenity.

After this there will be announcements of AA events or speakers for the night or in the future. Next, a call for birthdays, this means "a month sober", "two months sober", "a year or 10 years sober" and such; not our natal birthday (and that may be asked also). There is often but not always the asking if there are visitors from other groups and first meeting attendees (if you do not want to acknowledge this as your first meeting, you do not have to answer).

With these perfunctory items concluded, a typical meeting will have a short introductory reading of pages 58, 59, and 60 from the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" called "How It Works". This is usually followed by a second reading from the book "Daily Reflections" (an A.A. book) or "24 Hours A Day" (a Hazelden publication).

With all of the above concluded the meeting leader will state the topic or subject of the meeting. After a short reading or talk on the topic or subject the meeting leader will ask people for comments. Here at this point you have made it fifteen or twenty minutes into your first meeting.

If you are called on to comment you may say; "I pass" or "I'm just listening tonight".

After approximately one hour, the meeting leader will ask if there is anyone that needs to speak and if there is not, the meeting leader will close the meeting by asking those who wish to join to recite "The Lord's Prayer". Reciting "The Lord's Prayer" is a tradition in most typical AA meetings in the U.S. and not all of them.

One further item happens at AA meetings. At some point during the meeting the meeting leader or treasurer will pass a bucket or basket around the room. At some meetings the comments are stopped and a reading of "More About Alcoholism" or  some other material is read while the basket is passed. This passing of the bucket or basket is called the 7^th tradition. Most people contribute a couple dollars or more toward lights, water, rent, coffee, and other things to keep the doors open for more meetings.