There was an great article in the Humanist magazine on this. There are more and more alternative groups that are not magic and faith based. My 2nd partner was alcoholic and this was one reason she didn't like going to AA meetings.

there have been times when i thought of going to an AA meeting but never have b/c of the religious BS.
the good news is, since i never attended a meeting, i'm not an alcoholic..

Yes it is Christian Based.

I had many clients who were dual diagnosed complain about that over the years.

There are other step programs without religion out there.

And not all AA Groups are the same. I imagine some are more "Unitarian Universalist" in their approach depending on their membership. If they don't have a ton of Christians - they aren't going to focus on that aspect.

The group Alcohols Anonymous is "god" based, or at least #Religulous. Watch this video by Penn Jillette (from The Big Think) about "talking to a higher power"

It started xtion, and it remains xtion. Never saw anything different. Been told some aren't as xtion, but still have the higher power Crap. Went once, said fuck this I have other problems and my usage wasn't dependency just escapism.

I do believe higher power actually meant god at one time but it's been changed to be politically correct and also to accommodate non believers...

I’ve been to AA and NA meetings with people over the years. The problem with the twelve steps is that it’s based on a philosophy that is very old and out of date, yet they keep promoting it.
The push for a higher power is strong, those that are not religious are encouraged to find strength in something else. To me it removes accountability.

As is totally based on a Christian philosophy

Your son is correct.

Your son is both astute and correct.