My thoughts on changing from "God" to "Higher Power"
Apr 23, 2019 18:23:14 GMT
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Post by Sara H. on Apr 23, 2019 18:23:14 GMT
The following is from my email; it's a letter I created when I found out about the change from "God" to "Higher Power".
Hello, my name is Sara H. and I am powerless over my emotions. It was brought to my attention on Weds 20th, 2019, that there was a major change on the EA website where “God” changed to “Higher Power”. And I hear there’s a proposal to change the literature, as well. This is what I have to say on the matter:
I don’t agree with changing “God” to “Higher Power”. I understand that “God” makes some people uncomfortable, but the way I see it, we say “God as you understand Him” for a reason. I fear that by changing from “God” to “Higher Power”, we will be allowing a form of political correctness to enter the program, which will divert us from the primary (spiritual) aim of getting well emotionally. Also, for myself, I need the clarification of who my “Higher Power” is, whom I prefer to call God. I need to know that my Higher Power is God, and not something else such as the doorknob. “Higher Power” will leave things too subjective, which might water things down and actually take the Force Greater Than Ourselves out of the picture. That is what I think, anyways. If the literature, steps, and traditions does get changed to “Higher Power”, I have half a mind to quit coming to EA, lest I feel that God is no longer being included in our program. I’ll just clarify what I mean overall: I feel like EA will turn into a human program rather than a spiritual one.
I really do believe we’re going to run into trouble with political correctness and confusion if we make such a change. That’s why I believe it’s important to go back to using our common sense, and remember it is God as we understand Him. Because when I hear it is “God as I understand Him”, I take that to mean that a) It’s okay for my understanding of Him to be different from the next person. And b) My understanding of God does not have to come from a religious standpoint. I would like to think that “God” is a spiritual word rather than a religious one. I have even heard as God standing for Good Orderly Direction.
Drawing on my own experience now, there was indeed a time when I didn’t quite like God, and so welcomed the freedom to refer to Him as “Higher Power”. But then I grew from there, and came to understand that my Higher Power really and truly is a Loving, Caring God, who meets me where I’m at. Moral of this story: People who don’t like the word God right now, for understandable reasons, may actually grow similarly to how I did. I’m not saying that they will, but they could. Therefore if we change “God” to “Higher Power”, I think we’d be denying these people a chance to grow and break away from whatever caused them to dislike or fear God (or the word God) in the first place.
Another thing: “Higher Power” may not serve as a good blanket term. I’ve already touched on this, but when I hear “Higher Power” in this context, as though the change had already been made, a question mark is popping up in my mind, causing me to ask “What does that mean”? Would the “Higher Power” really be God or Creator? Or would it mean another human being who has more power than me? In fact, the more I think about this matter, the more redundant changing everything to “Higher Power” seems to me. Because in Concept Eight, it says “The steps suggest a belief in a Power greater than ourselves. This can be human love, a force for good, nature, the universe, God, or any entity a member chooses as a personal Higher Power”, which tells me that the program already took care of the matter of people not liking the word God, and even provided some alternative options if that is the case.
Well, those were my few cents’ worth on the matter.
Thank you for hearing out my thoughts,
Sara H.
Hello, my name is Sara H. and I am powerless over my emotions. It was brought to my attention on Weds 20th, 2019, that there was a major change on the EA website where “God” changed to “Higher Power”. And I hear there’s a proposal to change the literature, as well. This is what I have to say on the matter:
I don’t agree with changing “God” to “Higher Power”. I understand that “God” makes some people uncomfortable, but the way I see it, we say “God as you understand Him” for a reason. I fear that by changing from “God” to “Higher Power”, we will be allowing a form of political correctness to enter the program, which will divert us from the primary (spiritual) aim of getting well emotionally. Also, for myself, I need the clarification of who my “Higher Power” is, whom I prefer to call God. I need to know that my Higher Power is God, and not something else such as the doorknob. “Higher Power” will leave things too subjective, which might water things down and actually take the Force Greater Than Ourselves out of the picture. That is what I think, anyways. If the literature, steps, and traditions does get changed to “Higher Power”, I have half a mind to quit coming to EA, lest I feel that God is no longer being included in our program. I’ll just clarify what I mean overall: I feel like EA will turn into a human program rather than a spiritual one.
I really do believe we’re going to run into trouble with political correctness and confusion if we make such a change. That’s why I believe it’s important to go back to using our common sense, and remember it is God as we understand Him. Because when I hear it is “God as I understand Him”, I take that to mean that a) It’s okay for my understanding of Him to be different from the next person. And b) My understanding of God does not have to come from a religious standpoint. I would like to think that “God” is a spiritual word rather than a religious one. I have even heard as God standing for Good Orderly Direction.
Drawing on my own experience now, there was indeed a time when I didn’t quite like God, and so welcomed the freedom to refer to Him as “Higher Power”. But then I grew from there, and came to understand that my Higher Power really and truly is a Loving, Caring God, who meets me where I’m at. Moral of this story: People who don’t like the word God right now, for understandable reasons, may actually grow similarly to how I did. I’m not saying that they will, but they could. Therefore if we change “God” to “Higher Power”, I think we’d be denying these people a chance to grow and break away from whatever caused them to dislike or fear God (or the word God) in the first place.
Another thing: “Higher Power” may not serve as a good blanket term. I’ve already touched on this, but when I hear “Higher Power” in this context, as though the change had already been made, a question mark is popping up in my mind, causing me to ask “What does that mean”? Would the “Higher Power” really be God or Creator? Or would it mean another human being who has more power than me? In fact, the more I think about this matter, the more redundant changing everything to “Higher Power” seems to me. Because in Concept Eight, it says “The steps suggest a belief in a Power greater than ourselves. This can be human love, a force for good, nature, the universe, God, or any entity a member chooses as a personal Higher Power”, which tells me that the program already took care of the matter of people not liking the word God, and even provided some alternative options if that is the case.
Well, those were my few cents’ worth on the matter.
Thank you for hearing out my thoughts,
Sara H.
