Any work that helps people to get over the terrible habit of drinking is excellent, and should be looked upon with sympathy and approval by the Bahá’ís. He thanks you for the Alcoholics Anonymous pamphlet you enclosed and was pleased to see it.
Twelve Steps
Shoghi Effendi, The Compilation of Compilations, Vol. II, no. 1799
In regard to your question about the fifth step in the "A.A. 12-Step Programme", we have been asked to share with you the following extract from a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice on 26 August 1986 to an individual believer: ...there is no objection to Bahá’í being members of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is an association that does a great deal of good in assisting alcoholics to overcome their lamentable condition. The sharing of experience which the members undertake does not conflict with the Bahá’í prohibition on the confession of sins; it is more in the nature of the therapeutic relationship between a patient and a psychiatrist.
The Universal House of Justice, 1993 Feb 7, Issues concerning community functioning
The Bahá’í community should feel free to call upon such agencies as Alcoholics Anonymous for assistance and upon public agencies who work with the problem, but must realize that the greatest healing of this social and individual disease is God’s Cause which in its fullness will eliminate the causes of alcoholism.
Universal House of Justice, dated August 8, 1979, to a National Spiritual Assembly
The Universal House of Justice ... has instructed us to say that there is no objection to Bahá’ís being members of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is an association that does a great deal of good in assisting alcoholics to overcome their lamentable condition. The sharing of experiences which the members undertake does not conflict with the Bahá’í prohibition on the confession of sins; it is more in the nature of the therapeutic relationship between a patient and a psychiatrist.
Universal House of Justice, dated August 26, 1986, to an individual believer
A variety of self-help groups, in addition to Alcoholics Anonymous, may be available in different areas and, as long as they are reasonably in keeping with the principles of the Faith, believers should feel free to use them as needed. One such organization is the Bahá’í Network on AIDS, Sexuality, Addiction and Abuse (BNASAA), sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada. The BNASAA website is www.bnasaa.org
USA- NSA, Guidelines for Local Spiritual Assemblies, Chapter 14, p. 6
