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I was introduced to AA through being on the receiving end of hospital and institution meetings. When I went to my first meeting in December 1991, I was shocked to hear all the "God stuff." I'd been raised in the church and had a huge resentment about organized religion. What sold me on the program wasn't so much the Steps but the Traditions. I was finally reading the literature to discredit this organization and see exactly who was behind it. I figured it was simply a front for some religious body. To my surprise--and later, delight--I found this wasn't the case. I was one of those people whom the book talks about who "came to scoff and remained to pray."