The basic text used for
Alcoholics Anonymous programs, known as “The Big Book,” initially used stronger
religious language but was reduced to appeal to a wider audience, The
Washington Post is reporting.
Hazelden, a nonprofit
addiction treatment center, will release the working manuscript of the book
written by AA’s co-founder, Bill Wilson, including hand-written edits and
comments, according to The Post.
The changes marked in red,
black and green reveal a debate on how openly God should be a part of addiction
recovery in the published manuscript, according to The Book That Started It
All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The adoption of more vague
religious terms in “The Big Book,” including phrases like “higher power” and
the “God of your understanding,” show how Wilson scaled back the religious tone
to engage a broader group of people.
Worship terms were also
taken out of the revised version of the book. The seventh step of the 12-step
recovery program, which is “humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings”
originally stated “humbly, on our knees, asked Him to remove our shortcomings —
holding nothing back.”
Nick Motu, senior vice
president of Hazelden publishing, agreed with Wilson’s decision to take out the
strong religious language.
“If it had been a Christian-based
book, a religious book, it wouldn’t have succeeded as it has,” he told The
Post.