There are times in my AA life when I think I cannot listen to one more share about personal struggles and evils. I almost want to shout, "Get over yourself!"
But it’s exactly in these moments that I have to remind myself: recovery has many stages.
There are layers upon layers that must be removed by working the Twelve Steps.
Love and tolerance don’t happen all at once — they grow, systematically, as we wash the rocks of our lives one at a time.
So, what does all this have to do with dogmatism and recovery?
The Trap of Dogmatism
Dogmatism, according to Merriam-Webster, is "the expression of an opinion or belief as if it were a fact: positiveness in assertion of opinion especially when unwarranted or arrogant. A viewpoint or system of ideas based on insufficiently examined premises."
When I dogmatically believe that someone else's share has no value to me, I am shutting off the very channel that might carry the message I need — whether it’s a warning about my Natural Man or an invitation to a higher spiritual path.
I risk losing a message that might one day save my sobriety, my recovery, or even my life.
By closing my heart through judgment, I lose the chance to personalize the truth.
In recovery, when we apply the lessons from another’s experience, we aren't becoming them — we are growing from their wisdom.
We are shaping our own path by making informed decisions rooted in understanding. Listening does not mean losing ourselves. It means choosing, learning, and changing.
The Dangers of Intolerance in Recovery
Dogmatism — when we become stubborn, intolerant, and judgmental — we pull away from the spirit of recovery.
It ignores AA’s Twelfth Tradition:
"Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities."
Parochialism, intolerance, illiberalism, small-mindedness, and reactionary provincialism have no place in an AA meeting — or in a healthy, growing life.
We are not here to divide or dismiss. We are here to heal, to connect, and to become better. In recovery, dogmatism and intolerance can close us off from healing and growth. True recovery comes from listening, learning, and letting go of judgment.
Fundamental Thoughts to Anchor Us
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"Judge not, that ye be not judged." — Matthew 7:1
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"The unexamined life is not worth living." — Socrates
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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." — Aristotle
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"Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man." — 2 Nephi 2:27
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"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just... think on these things." — Philippians 4:8
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"The restoration is a process, not an event." — Russell M. Nelson
Today’s Reflection:
Let's listen.
Let's think.
Let's grow.
Let's never let the narrowness of dogmatism rob us of the breadth and beauty of recovery.
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