Sunday, April 10, 2016

More Revealed by Ken Ragge

Before I begin, let me make something crystal clear: While I have strong disagreements with Mr. Ken Ragge about how effective Alcoholics Anonymous is, I keep him in my prayers and give him the utmost dignity, because all human beings deserve to be treated with dignity. This entry is in no way a criticism of Mr. Ken Ragge as a person; it is a criticism of his book More Revealed.

There have been multiple attempts to add More Revealed to the Alcoholics Anonymous Wikipedia page. Each attempt has failed. The reason is because the book is not notable enough to be added to a prominent Wikipedia article. To quote one Wikipedia editor:

  • It has no new research; it merely regurgitates other research.
  • It is not a research book; it is a polemic. It was written with a conclusion in mind; any evidence that contradicts that conclusion is ignored.
  • The book claims that "There apparently have been no controlled studies done of AA against other treatment in a non-coercive environment." (p 30) This is completely wrong.
  • "There are also many exclusive meetings in private homes where an invitation is necessary and “undesirables” ... are not invited." (p 98) This is a very extraordinary claim (since any such meeting can not be an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting because it violates the third tradition), and Ragge presents no evidence to back this claim up.
  • Alan Ogborne in a 1993 review of More Revealed said that "This reviewer found nothing particularly new in the book but was concerned that the author found nothing positive to say about AA. This is difficult to reconcile with the obvious fact that very large numbers of people have found AA helpful and live productive and fulfilling lives within the movement. Certainly some AA groups become cultist and some members are convinced that AA is the only way to recover from alcoholism. However, this is clearly not universal."
  • See Sharp Press, who published this book, has only published a few books in small numbers, and tends to only publish fringe content.