I have been a member of AA, “on and off,” for some years. It has worked fairly well for me, although I have had quite a few relapses. (My bad, not AA’s.)
I do think that the group from which AA branched from, called the “Oxford Group,” was somewhat cultish. It was started in 1931 by Dr. Frank Buchman, who was an American Lutheran minister and Christian missionary. It became popular in England, Germany, and America. I believe that the Oxford Group was sincere, but that they were also a rather fundamentalist religious movement with definite political overtones.
However, the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) movement – which started by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in 1935 as simply a neutral fellowship of support – distanced themselves from the Oxford Group and formed their own kind of “charter,” the “Twelve Traditions” (formulated sometime after the “Twelve Steps”).
But unlike dictatorial cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) – who require all their new members to agree completely with the questions for baptism as outlined in their book Organized to Accomplish Our Ministry – the Third of the “Twelve Traditions” of AA simply states, “The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking.” Also, unlike the JWs – who are led by a group of eight men dictators who call themselves the “Governing Body” (which now apparently also comprises the entire “Faithful and Discreet Slave”) – the second half of the Second Tradition of AA states, “Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.” Moreover, the Ninth Tradition of AA begins by stating, “AA, as such, ought never be organized” – as, of course, opposed to the “we’re the one and only true organization of God in the whole world” mentality of the JWs. As well, AA’s Twelve Traditions state that AA “has no opinion on outside issues” (#10), and also that their “public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion” (#11).
So, to answer the question of the OP “NeverKnew,” which was “would you rank AA as a cult after reading this?” – and, by the way, I did, in fact, read the entire materials regarding AA on the “orange-papers.org” Website a while ago – I have to say that it is not a cult in the general, classic sense of the word, especially considering the points I mentioned above from their “Twelve Traditions” (their “charter”). Simply put: AA is not an organized organization with leaders who govern. They don’t shun, they don’t recruit, they don’t try to deceive and enslave, and they’re not antisocial or destructive. (And they certainly would never force you to let your children die without a necessary medical procedure.)
Now, the JWs, on the other hand – well, all I can say about them is: “C-U-L-T!” (No more explanation needed.)