Alanon and Christianity

I thought I would post a little bit about my experience with Alanon. Although I am intimately familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous and its teaching and literature, my experience with Alanon had been confined to one meeting in 30 years. However, recently, I attended a few meetings with a friend.

The meeting was in a small town in the Pacific Northwest and it was a discussion and reading group which read out of the book  "Courage to Change".

I am sure Alanon does help some people to a certain extent but does what they teach square up with scripture tells us about Alcoholism?

No, it does not.  During their reading their were references to the "Disease of Alcoholism" which is what AA teaches and what is not true. And it is no small point. And it shows a lack of understanding about the nature of alcoholism.

Christian scripture makes it abundantly clear that we are engaged in a spiritual war here on earth. As the Christian Apostle Paul said:


King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Alcoholism is a spiritual illness, but not a disease. Most people in AA do not understand that, and that teaching bleeds over into Alanon.

The late Dr. Malachai Martin, a Christian Exorcist and an advisor to several Popes had this to say regarding Alcoholism:

“Possession can occur as a result of drug or alcohol addiction. It opens a doorway to the soul .The will becomes extremely weak  due to its desire for a drink or drugs. This weakness and compulsion for addictive chemicals allows evil spirits an avenue by which they may enter a person.” LINK

The idea that the Alcoholic is possessed by an evil spirit is not very welcome in AA, and , I suspect, it would not be very welcome in Alanon either, even though that is the Truth.