It's like when people need the threat of eternal damnation in order to not be a complete piece of shit.

Outside of the obvious religious propaganda, this is just an external motivation. It could just as easily be somebody's family: an ailing mother for whom they need to be ready to take care of, or a spouse and children for whom throwing their life away would be tragic.

I could say the reason I'm a humanitarian now is because I have a firm belief in happiness. If I lost that today, I probably wouldn't change, but if I never had it, I have no idea if I ever would have gotten here.

If someone is in a bad place now and does not have an external motivation, I'm not saying it should be this or that, but it would make sense to give them one.

I mean, I do think AA is being coercive. I would prefer that they helped their... patients(?) find a motivation that was already meaningful to them instead of just imposing Christianity onto them. I have a lot of other problems with religion besides.