Also -- folks become addicted to the cult itself. It can be its own form of addiction with endless round trips to various group meetings of an ever-increasing breadth. (For some, activism is like this! :) )
And as the book I mentioned is keen to point out, there are serious Constitutional problems involved. One of the steps in a 12 step program is SUBMITTING TO A HGHER POWER. AA folks like to say "this [higher power] can be anything." Like a doorknob or some other ludicrous thing. But the program emphasizes a spiritual element as a key step. So, when a court orders someone to a 12 step program, that crosses a state/church separation line pretty egregiously, but since it's just "spirituality" and "your higher power could be this piece of paper," etc., it isn't seen as harmful or something. Courts can basically sentence you to joining a spiritual cult.
Additionally, a joke from The Simpsons implies folks in L.A. join AA and other addicts' groups to professionally network with screenwriters and other actors for jobs, since they go to these things in large numbers. good way to meet industry connections.
-B.
Dennis Claxton wrote:
"That said, the potential for cultdom in the set-up is hard to ignore. But I think it also depends on what meetings you can get to. People I'm talking about were in places where you can go to gay meetings, people with tattoos meetings (kidding, but you get the drift), etc."