I'm also in AA, I strongly disagree that it is a cult, but to each his own.
There is a really good comment about this in Eric Clapton's autobiography. After a relapse he decided to work on controlled drinking for a while. He'd allow himself a beer or two at lunch, a glass of wine at dinner and maybe a scotch in the evening. This worked fine until he realized that every waking second of every day was occupied with thinking about when he could have his next drink.