The way I was taught in the program: a higher power can be anything that you have the ability to believe can help you.
For many atheists and agnostics, that higher power becomes their particular 12 step group. Not the program as a whole, but literally the collective wisdom of the people they fellowship with. It could also be a door knob, if you can bring yourself to believe in the power of the door knob.
The logic is fairly straightforward:
1. Recognize that your best thinking got you here. If you were wise enough to fix it yourself, you wouldn't be in a program.
2. Since you can't fix it yourself, you have to develop faith that SOMETHING other than you can fix it.
3. This is easiest if you believe in a religious deity, since once you assume there is an all-powerful being who loves you, it's not a stretch to think that deity could give you the strength, courage, and wisdom needed to persevere. But it also works if you can simply believe that the group (or even your sponsor) is better able to guide you than you are able to guide yourself.
At least that's how I understood it and found it worked for me.
For many atheists and agnostics, that higher power becomes their particular 12 step group. Not the program as a whole, but literally the collective wisdom of the people they fellowship with. It could also be a door knob, if you can bring yourself to believe in the power of the door knob.
The logic is fairly straightforward:
1. Recognize that your best thinking got you here. If you were wise enough to fix it yourself, you wouldn't be in a program.
2. Since you can't fix it yourself, you have to develop faith that SOMETHING other than you can fix it.
3. This is easiest if you believe in a religious deity, since once you assume there is an all-powerful being who loves you, it's not a stretch to think that deity could give you the strength, courage, and wisdom needed to persevere. But it also works if you can simply believe that the group (or even your sponsor) is better able to guide you than you are able to guide yourself.
At least that's how I understood it and found it worked for me.