" 

 == Misleading == 

 I would simply like to add that the origins and history of AA is misrepresented in this article.   

 Eddy, mentioned in the text, as the ""one who got religion"" did not maintain his sobriety and unfortunately died drunk.  The Oxford group, wherein Bill Wilson, according to this article, also ""got religion"" also did not last very long. Bill visited them, yes, but the result was nil.  He continued to drink.  His later ""spiritual experience"" in the hospital was his awakening and he did not return to the Oxford Group thereafter. 

 Bill Wilson did not, infact, gain any 'religion' throughout his sobriety and right up until the day he died, sober, this was the case.  The closest he ever came was to Catholicism, through his friendship with the Jesuit Priest, Father Ed Dowling.  But, upon careful consideration, Bill was unable to intellectually accept the Catholic church nor any other church as his own.  He always maintained that AA is, and was, a spiritual programme, not a religious one, and was then and has never subsequently been affiliated with any religion.  Father Ed Dowling himself knew and understood this, and continued to support AA regardless of the fact that it wasn't affiliated with any religion, including catholic.  His understanding of spiritual principles went far deeper than that. AA membership covers all corners of the globe and has strong Jewish, Muslim, Animist, Buddhist and even Atheist members, as well as Christian and Catholic.  All are united in a common path of recovery that is spiritual, not religious.  This is a key factor in its ongoing success.  Mentioning religion within the context of an AA article is bound to invite controversy and misrepresents the facts to those who may find recovery from Timbuktu who aren't likely to suddenly become 'christian' - and nor are they required to!   

 I have never read in all of the extensive correspondence that survives of Bill Wilson that he said he was indeed, ""Born Again"", but if he did indeed say that, it has been taken out of context.  He simply meant born again, with lower case letters - a description of his regeneration and not a description of any religious affiliation with Christianity."