Do the 12 Steps achieve their primary purpose?

AA members all over the world proclaim: "It Works!" - But does it really?

When making this statement, 12-Steppers are usually referring to their sobriety: "I didn't go to AA, I was drunk.  I go to AA, I am sober - It Works!"

But Steppers who make this claim are ignorant of the primary purpose of the 12 Steps: to enable alcoholics to find a Higher Power.  By focussing on the secondary pupose, relief from alcoholism, they are missing the point.  After all, the basic text proclaims:

'Our liquor was but a symptom.' - page 64, Alcoholics Anonymous

So, what is the problem, if not liquor?

'Selfishness-self-centredness!  That, we think, is the root of our troubles.' - page 62, Alcoholics Anonymous

'Above everything, we alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness.  We must, or it kills us!  God makes that possible.  And there often seems no way of entirely getting rid of self without His aid.' - page 62, Alcoholics Anonymous

According to Alcoholics Anonymous, without God the alcoholic will die.  The Steps save lives by connecting the alcoholic with a Higher Power, God.

Therefore in order to determine the effectiveness of the 12 Steps, we cannot avoid the question of whether there is a God to find.  With no evidence to support the claim that a God exists, there can be no evidence that the 12 Steps have achieved their primary purpose.

With no evidence of a God, there is no evidence that the 12 Steps work.