Greetings

[alw0992]

Understandable. Closest SMART recovery group is about an hour away for me. Celebrate Recovery is extremely cult like, which didn't shock me but the way the Granbury branch is ran is quite alarming. Good and loving people who are ready to help, but everyone wear CR shirts and always says "CR saved me," or "I owe my life to CR."

My sister used to live in Granbury (Shell Oil employment), small world. Trust me, I live and interact with the "god did it" people on a daily basis. I just smile. If that's what they need to get thru life then it's OK by me. I know they don't really want to hear what's in my head.

The hour commute might be worth it.

 Very well might be. It's a self-contradictory group. On the Tuesday night groups, they use secular plans (at least the stress/anger group did). the lessons dealt with cognitive development/training and they were good for what we were doing. Pretty much how to retrain the brain, how to find healthy outlets, finding triggers, going over consequences if stress and/or gets out of control. But the Friday 12 step groups (because you can attend specific groups without committing to the 12 month program) teach that "No good dwells within us," and our lives cannot be changed by us but by prayer and giving it up to God. Along with that, you're told that by a specific step if you haven't converted to Christianity the program won't work. That's where I became disillusioned and began to develop more secular beliefs (already held them). It's a racket because all of the Judges in our county require, AA, NA, or Celebrate Recovery. The juvenile probation department now requires all juvenile offenders to attend CR meetings as well. But the reason I'm questioning some my beliefs is because of a conversation with my dad, he stated one day: If you don't believe central tenets of any given religion, then why believe? it's dishonest to yourself and to those who do believe them. I've always held that in my early twenties and now that I have children, after taking them to Sunday school a few times, and attending the Celebrate Recovery meetings, I've started asking myself "Am I truly being honest with myself and my little girls?" It is a small world that your sister lived here, I hope she enjoyed her time here.

[brewer]

 Very well might be. It's a self-contradictory group. On the Tuesday night groups, they use secular plans (at least the stress/anger group did). the lessons dealt with cognitive development/training and they were good for what we were doing. Pretty much how to retrain the brain, how to find healthy outlets, finding triggers, going over consequences if stress and/or gets out of control. But the Friday 12 step groups (because you can attend specific groups without committing to the 12 month program) teach that "No good dwells within us," and our lives cannot be changed by us but by prayer and giving it up to God. Along with that, you're told that by a specific step if you haven't converted to Christianity the program won't work. That's where I became disillusioned and began to develop more secular beliefs (already held them). It's a racket because all of the Judges in our county require, AA, NA, or Celebrate Recovery. The juvenile probation department now requires all juvenile offenders to attend CR meetings as well. But the reason I'm questioning some my beliefs is because of a conversation with my dad, he stated one day: If you don't believe central tenets of any given religion, then why believe? it's dishonest to yourself and to those who do believe them. I've always held that in my early twenties and now that I have children, after taking them to Sunday school a few times, and attending the Celebrate Recovery meetings, I've started asking myself "Am I truly being honest with myself and my little girls?" It is a small world that your sister lived here, I hope she enjoyed her time here.

Are your referring to SR or CR? I know the courts have ruled that an individual can not be required to attend religious counseling/therapy as part of diversion/probation/parole.

https://www.smartrecovery.org/courts/cou...ttendance/

That being said, the only other real choice most people have (without a court battle) is to do the time. Most people here, if court ordered, just show up and shut up. 

There are all kinds of groups that meet in your area that are not AA/NA or CR, some charge, some don't. Not sure if you're a "nudge from the judge" but participation in most of these group usually meet the courts requirements. At least they do here, and most are religion "lite".

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/group...worth%20tx

Addressing your religious status: Keep hanging around and talking to us. At the end of the day I really don't care what you believe, as long as you don't expect me to believe it also or validate it. But this being the forum that it is, I may make comments that are not always appreciated. This is my venting place for being in an IRL religious society.

[downbeatplumb]

Hello,

My name is Anthony. I live in a small town in Texas around 45 miles southwest of Ft. Worth. I work for an oil field company as a admin assistant. Graduated with a degree in psychology and have an unfinished master in criminal justice. Old career was working as a guard at a juvenile detention center. As far as my faith background, raised a Christian in the Baptist tradition. I nave no sad stories about my religious up-bringing, my family was fairly relaxed but extremely faithful at the same time. I began to question religion around my late teens and going into college, nothing ground breaking but researching Buddhism (from a philosophical standpoint) opening my worldview up a little bit. Then I started doing Biblical and religious research from a secular viewpoint and I began viewing Christianity from a different mindset and began questioning major doctrine. Now that I'm older, I'm more and more skeptical of religious dogma; mainly after becoming involved in Celebrate Recovery. I wouldn't call myself an unbeliever, but I can be lumped in with skepticism. I'm on the threshold, sort to speak, but I'm still holding on to a couple of beliefs; I'm sure out of a subconscious need for comfort.

Belief is not a voluntary thing. So its cool.

[no one]

alw0992:
Do any of you have any advice for someone who is questioning their religious/spiritual beliefs? I found a couple of resources by accident but wanted to be open to any suggestions that any of you would have.

If you don't believe, then you don't believe. Simple as that. Don't get hung up on what others might think. Anyone who would banish you from their life for something so meaningless, isn't worth the time of day anyway. At least that's how I view it.

[alw0992]

 Very well might be. It's a self-contradictory group. On the Tuesday night groups, they use secular plans (at least the stress/anger group did). the lessons dealt with cognitive development/training and they were good for what we were doing. Pretty much how to retrain the brain, how to find healthy outlets, finding triggers, going over consequences if stress and/or gets out of control. But the Friday 12 step groups (because you can attend specific groups without committing to the 12 month program) teach that "No good dwells within us," and our lives cannot be changed by us but by prayer and giving it up to God. Along with that, you're told that by a specific step if you haven't converted to Christianity the program won't work. That's where I became disillusioned and began to develop more secular beliefs (already held them). It's a racket because all of the Judges in our county require, AA, NA, or Celebrate Recovery. The juvenile probation department now requires all juvenile offenders to attend CR meetings as well. But the reason I'm questioning some my beliefs is because of a conversation with my dad, he stated one day: If you don't believe central tenets of any given religion, then why believe? it's dishonest to yourself and to those who do believe them. I've always held that in my early twenties and now that I have children, after taking them to Sunday school a few times, and attending the Celebrate Recovery meetings, I've started asking myself "Am I truly being honest with myself and my little girls?" It is a small world that your sister lived here, I hope she enjoyed her time here.

Are your referring to SR or CR? I know the courts have ruled that an individual can not be required to attend religious counseling/therapy as part of diversion/probation/parole.

https://www.smartrecovery.org/courts/cou...ttendance/

That being said, the only other real choice most people have (without a court battle) is to do the time. Most people here, if court ordered, just show up and shut up. 

There are all kinds of groups that meet in your area that are not AA/NA or CR, some charge, some don't. Not sure if you're a "nudge from the judge" but participation in most of these group usually meet the courts requirements. At least they do here, and most are religion "lite".

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/group...worth%20tx

Addressing your religious status: Keep hanging around and talking to us. At the end of the day I really don't care what you believe, as long as you don't expect me to believe it also or validate it. But this being the forum that it is, I may make comments that are not always appreciated. This is my venting place for being in an IRL religious society.

I attend meetings under my own freewill. That's good information to have because roughly 90% of the people who attend the celebrate recovery meetings have some type of court paper that has to be signed. What's upsetting about the program is that by the 3rd or 4th lesson (can't remember) you're already supposed to have converted to Christianity and be baptized and if you're not, you are told that the program won't work. The leader the chapter (guess that's what you can call it; he's a nice guy by the way with a good story) always pushes community service to a church and regular church attendance. But I've noticed that everyone trades one vice for another, which is unhealthy, which makes the rate of relapse very high. There's very little cognitive behavioral therapy/training, but rather being told to call a sponsor and pray. When I worked at a lock down facility, the youths were required to attend celebrate recovery meetings until the owner refused and told them the meetings were no longer needed, but rather switched to cognitive behavior therapy program that was ran seven days a week but staff and therapists; with assignments for the kids to do.

[Brian37]

Hello,

My name is Anthony. I live in a small town in Texas around 45 miles southwest of Ft. Worth. I work for an oil field company as a admin assistant. Graduated with a degree in psychology and have an unfinished master in criminal justice. Old career was working as a guard at a juvenile detention center. As far as my faith background, raised a Christian in the Baptist tradition. I nave no sad stories about my religious up-bringing, my family was fairly relaxed but extremely faithful at the same time. I began to question religion around my late teens and going into college, nothing ground breaking but researching Buddhism (from a philosophical standpoint) opening my worldview up a little bit. Then I started doing Biblical and religious research from a secular viewpoint and I began viewing Christianity from a different mindset and began questioning major doctrine. Now that I'm older, I'm more and more skeptical of religious dogma; mainly after becoming involved in Celebrate Recovery. I wouldn't call myself an unbeliever, but I can be lumped in with skepticism. I'm on the threshold, sort to speak, but I'm still holding on to a couple of beliefs; I'm sure out of a subconscious need for comfort.

You said it, "Comfort" is really every religion in the world in human history has been.

Once you accept the age of the planet as being 4 billion years old, knowing it has had 5 mass extinction events in that time, and knowing in that time our current form of species has only been around an estimated 2 or 300 thousand years, and knowing that the universe is 13.8 billion years old and knowing there are an estimated 2 trillion galaxies in our observable universe, the claim that this one speck of a rock in a remote outpost, means that a sky wizard has us as a species in mind is absurd.

I have comfort myself as an atheist. I am comforted by the fact that I am alive now, and comforted by the knowledge that even with all the natural disasters, and even with all the human conflict, my species always has the potential to be compassionate, not that we always are.

I have no desire for a fictional forever. Just like I don't fear my life before I was born. Life is both good and bad, and nothing lasts forever. All I can do now is live, and be non violent and value common law and human rights. But I do not need faith in old mythology or invisible beings.