Easier Said Than Done

Unfortunately, demanding authenticity

won't make it happen.

We seem to be living in a world

that is more and more duplicitous

and false as the days go by.

Dealing with entire groups of addicts

is a pretty sure way of coming into contact

with some of the most unscrupulous

and unsavory characters around.

The majority of people in 12 Steps may be dry,

but the rest of their routine is pure show.

Just because someone says they are

a good person, presents themselves as rehabilitated,

promotes themselves as compassionate,

has the pretense of selflessness, and

postures as a spiritual person, that

does not make it so.

When dealing with sociopaths, narcissists,

pathological liars, con men, and zealots,

that's especially true.

No matter how sincere they seem,

no matter how charming and convincing

they are, and no matter how hard they work it,

a lie is still a lie.

No matter how beautifully it's crafted.

Fakes get away with hurting folks

precisely because they are so good at

what they do.

But a flawed copy can never replace an original,

and a hustle can never stand in for the real thing.

Don't believe the hype;

of course a con man is going to tell you

he's honest and sincere.

I've never met one yet that announced they were

getting ready to fleece you.

***

"Here's Your Sign"

There was a tool in Programming who carried a smug condescension
around like it was a bag of gold. He was never at a loss for advice-giving
(requested or otherwise) and really was oblivious to how the rest of the
world lives.

He had this 'thing' he said, incessantly, mantra-like, annoyingly predictable;

"I wish for anyone that they would hit their bottom and be devastated,
like I was, so that they can be made ready to understand what I did and
become teachable to use this Program."

Lot's of problems there, but for starters, this douche was embedded in a
duplicitous existence where his fanatical Jesus-fest ramblings only served
to cover his dual life's continuous wrong-doing. (Not an abnormal event
in 12 Step, where compliance at any cost leads to people feigning trans-
formation for the sake of social acceptance and authoritarian reward.)

But the audacity of wishing for others to have desperation and trouble
is what always absolutely floored me. This doof didn't have any emotional
connection to anyone else's pain and suffering for love or money; he just
wanted to witness what he saw as a prime opportunity to get his hooks in
somebody new (particularly if they were a hot young man.) It was an
offensive and ridiculous statement, and he was clueless as to how bad it
looked for him to be 'wishing' suicidal thoughts, dissolution of marriage,
homelessness, and other tragedies on strangers.

There's also an insidiously smug presumptuousness that, following said
desired tragedies, HIS way would be the way that people chose to go.
Funny how he saw (and continues to see) his choices as the only viable ones.
Ego McEgoish egoically egoes on egoing ego-ego.

There is also the question of how much of a bottom, if any, was
actually ever discovered by Super Freak, since he's known to be a
pathological liar. The chances of his 'jailhouse conversion' story being
truthful in any degree (including the question of incarceration)
are spectacularly low. And, considering that he continues to operate
in such an outlandishly inappropriate fashion shows he still has a
boatload to learn. What bottom was that again? What exactly was
learned?

Finally, the fact that his 'recovery' was a sham and a manipulation to
convince others to have something to do with him is not the least of the
infractions. You can promote a falsehood with enough fanaticism to make
the whole world believe and follow you, but if nothing true exists behind it,
it's still a falsehood.

After issuing one of his many dictates for me to "GET THE FUCK OUT
OF AA AND NEVER COME BACK!", the foaming at the mouth Super
Christian added that "AA is all I have to offer." No, my dear friend, you
have Fraudulence, Manipulation, Lies, and Illusion...not to mention Hurt.
Those are your gifts, and if there were truly a God out there, it would strike
you down before you could cause any more harm.

But alas.....

Nonetheless, you have been caught, revealed, and exposed. What others
choose to believe or do with it is up to them. I won't wish them being
vivisected by you as a means to coming to terms with reality. Knowing you
is already hitting a bottom.

****************************************************