A federal judge in West Virginia has ruled that the state corrections agency can’t force an incarcerated atheist and secular humanist to participate in religiously-affiliated programming to be eligible for parole.
Unfortunately, all AA is religious. The 12 step program they use inherently assumes you surrender to a higher power. There has been some push back to make that higher power into something you personally consider higher than yourself, but the intention is ‘God’.
That’s incorrect. AA is explicitly spiritual, not affiliated with any religion. Everyone gets to choose their own path, there is no endorsed religion.
But it’s still magical thinking. You said it yourself, “spiritual”.
The government shouldn’t be forcing anyone to believe in magic, even if the details of that magic are undefined.
The fact that it can be essentially anything just proves the point that it’s meaningless.