Author Topic: The Seven Steps  (Read 11161 times)

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Offline GregFL

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The Seven Steps
« on: September 18, 2006, 12:37:50 AM »
?   We admit we are powerless over drugs.

?   We come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.

?   We admit to God, ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

?   We make a fearless and searching moral inventory of ourselves.

?   We make direct amends to those we have harmed except where it would hurt them.

?   We seek through prayer and medication to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand him.

?   Having received the gift of awareness, we practice these principles in all our daily affairs, and carry this message to all those we can help.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2006, 08:03:11 AM »
"prayer and medication" - intentional or freudian?
G
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2006, 08:12:35 AM »
or just another "SLIP"
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: The Seven Steps
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2006, 08:42:28 AM »
Quote from: ""GregFL""
?   We admit we are powerless over drugs.

?   We come to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.

?   We admit to God, ourselves and another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

?   We make a fearless and searching moral inventory of ourselves.

?   We make direct amends to those we have harmed except where it would hurt them.

?   We seek through prayer and medication to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand him.

?   Having received the gift of awareness, we practice these principles in all our daily affairs, and carry this message to all those we can help.



hahaha, "medication"....I wish I coulda got some meds at straight.  Shit, it woulda been mucho fun.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Stripe

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Make direct amends to those we hurt ....
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2006, 10:53:09 AM »
I especially like the way this "step" was twisted and manipulated so that we could cut away all those persons from our lives who, in the Seed's twisted philosophy, had somehow managed to lead us down the path where we end up at the seed.  I serously doubt anyone was physically held down and forced to consume drugs or adopt the fearsome druggie attitude.  Perhaps that are some who were victims of abuse, but by and large, that was not the general experience.  Meanwhile, at the Seed, people  actually were held down and forced to adopt the seed attitude.  

I just think it's really weird how we could all stand up and recite this shit and yet be such hurtful, vengeful people to everyone we knew BEFORE The Seed.  That was perfectly okay and was reinforced by the group.  God, I was such an asshole when I was in the Seed.      

Who out there EVER went back an apologized to their old friends for anything you ever did to them before you were in The Seed while you were on the program?  I never did.  I'll bet there's very few who did - afterall, that would mean, god forbid, having to actually speak to your old friends.  

I remember having this dilemma very well and I believe I was able to convice myself not to make the amends - I think I knew that would be too dangerous, not in terms of my "sobriety" but in terms of being stoodup and yelled at for having contact with druggies.  

Yeah, as if you would NOT have been stood up in group for going back to your old friends and saying "I'm sorry I was an asshole to you when I did ....  "  I can see that (c)rap running over the poor innocent kid who made that admission like a big fucking tank.  

Does anyone ever recall someone actually making a public admission about making amends to old friends during one of these rule raps? What was the result?  What was the group response?  Rap leader response?

What I recall most about this "STEP" was the emphasis on NOT making amends because it would be hurtful or would not be safe for my "straightness," and (continuing the justifications) I had to put myself first and be selfish and do the right thing for myself and then the right things would happen and the world would be better because my old druggie friends would see I was living a better life and then they would want a better life, too and they would come to The Seed and blah, blah, blah.  

We told each other in the rap lingo that it would be hurtful to "them" and ourselves, but in reality, I think it would have been much more hurtful to my psyche to experience the rage of the group for making the contact in the first place.  That's what guided me when I was navigating the steps.  What a fucking mental mine field.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
The person who stands up and says, ``This is stupid,\'\' either is asked to `behave\' or, worse, is greeted with a cheerful ``Yes, we know! Isn\'t it terrific ?\'\' -- Frank Zappa

Offline GregFL

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2006, 11:18:00 AM »
haha...medication.

 I was wondering if anyone else would notice that.  I actually copied and pasted this from the article Stripe submitted from The Orlando Sentinel, and the error was theirs.  

Stripe, good post. I agree.  The steps were held up as some holy savior, yet we just twisted them to mean what Art wanted them to mean.  "god"= the group.  "moral inventory"=written daily confessionals.  "prayer and meditiation"=Raps. "carry the message" =telling on all your friends ie; recruiting for the cult.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline NOT12NOW

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2006, 09:33:27 AM »
Quote from: ""Stripe""
What I recall most about this "STEP" was the emphasis on NOT making amends because it would be hurtful or would not be safe for my "straightness," and (continuing the justifications) I had to put myself first and be selfish and do the right thing for myself and then the right things would happen and the world would be better because my old druggie friends would see I was living a better life and then they would want a better life, too and they would come to The Seed and blah, blah, blah.
 

That's how I remember it Stripe.  
I did apologizing to some kids, but they were "straight" kids with whom I shared a school building, not old friends. Often after I apologized to these kids they would want to be friendly, eat lunch with me, hang out; but the same kids I ridiculed for being uncool before the seed were never straight enough after I was in the seed.  So generally I made amends for treating some poor kid badly and then after a week or two of friendly behavior panicked and hurt them again with the, I am sorry I can't be your friend unless you go to the seed speech.

I was really struck by the prayer and meditation/medication rule.
Wow, how they twisted that one.  Now, looking back, I can't believe anyone bought raps as being prayer and meditation. We were allowed no internal life ever; prayer and meditation depends on internal life; a quiet dropping deeply into one's self is required for both, observing ones inner thoughts and feelings without judgment or letting the outside world slip away and seeking guidance from inside.   Ha, if I had ever truly prayed in-group I can only imagine I would have been told to get out of my head pronto.   If I had insisted I was praying. I would have been dead meat
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
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Offline GregFL

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2006, 11:58:10 AM »
I was a 14 year old child.  The only 'amends'  I could come up with is I went with my father to the middle school I had just graduated from, in my seed t-shirt, and returned two books that I had neglected to return.  


What a farce...
« Last Edit: September 20, 2006, 12:02:22 PM by Guest »

Offline GregFL

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2006, 12:01:50 PM »
Yep 'not12',  if you had actually prayed or meditated during the newcomer stage, you would likely have been stood up and screamed at by your 'peers'.

As far as being into trouble for 'getting into your head', how orwellian is that?  Your not allowed to have any thought that doesn't comport with what they think you are supposed to think, your not allowed to let your mind drift off, daydream...nothing.  Just pay attention, comform your thoughts, act exactly as everyone else  and be a good little seedling.


...Or pay the consequences...
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Dr. Miller Newton

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2006, 12:13:15 PM »
Shit, boy... It wasn't easy getting you damned druggies to stay focused; a few bad apples spoiled it for the bunch so we had to get tough! And remember, YOU put yourself there to begin with! Think about THAT the next time you try to blame your higher power.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
Teenage Drug Use Is A Disease

Offline GregFL

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2006, 01:56:20 PM »
Easy Doctor, we were before even your time!


hehe
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Stripe

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2006, 02:15:43 PM »
True that, parody of Dr. Miller Newton.  True that.

However, now that I am an uncontrollable adult and am no longer susceptible to the bastardized lies concerning the existence of any alleged higher powers, I find that I am unable to refrain from telling them all to focus on this:

                                ::both::
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
The person who stands up and says, ``This is stupid,\'\' either is asked to `behave\' or, worse, is greeted with a cheerful ``Yes, we know! Isn\'t it terrific ?\'\' -- Frank Zappa

Offline rossmddn

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seven steps
« Reply #12 on: September 26, 2006, 11:42:41 PM »
hey yall, it's not more nor less than re-education, in the mao-ist/lenin-ist style. let's just abandon critical thinking, and become comfortable true believers.. let us abandon freedom and dignity, and become hive-dwellers.. let us take for our selves the theology of the truly righteous, that we may go forth, and be as dim bulbs in the land of caana, henceforth, shall we be known as the people of hunh? and what?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Antigen

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #13 on: September 27, 2006, 12:02:40 AM »
Thus spake the great and terrible FSM. All hail the FSM! Praise be, Lordy come take me home, praise be!
 :nworthy:
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Don\'t let the past remind us of what we are not now."
~ Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes

Offline Stripe

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The Seven Steps
« Reply #14 on: September 27, 2006, 02:19:18 PM »
Quote from: ""Bad Trip""
Thus spake the great and terrible FSM. All hail the FSM! Praise be, Lordy come take me home, praise be!
 :nworthy:



Rejecting the signs and having wandered aimlessly for the past 35 years, and further reflecting upon my rush to judgment above ( ::both:: ) I find that I feel left out again.  Left Behind, as it were (la hehehehe) and I want to hail the FSM, too. But I don't know what that is.  

Can anyone give me some awareness?  Because right now, I'm feeling like I could end up deadinsaneorinjail if I don't get what I need from this group.    :wink:

Seriously, what's FSM?  What did I miss?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
The person who stands up and says, ``This is stupid,\'\' either is asked to `behave\' or, worse, is greeted with a cheerful ``Yes, we know! Isn\'t it terrific ?\'\' -- Frank Zappa