A
member from the States writes:
“To
whom it may concern:
I
am [“old timer”] year member of AA. I know my length of sobriety
gives me no real status but I provide it to substantiate the fact
that my complaints are centered around the changes that have occurred
in those years. Unfortunately, one of the changes is also that there
is no elder statesmen status afforded long-time members. I live in
the ….... area of the United States.
I
feel we are dealing with a scourge that poisons all manner of
relations within the groups here. I speak of the advent of Court
Mandated Attendees (CMA’S). This has lead to many, many other
Traditions breaks and to the point that we no longer have a true
“Closed” meeting available. What started as a trickle has turned
into a flood. We average 50-60% of the people attending meetings
being on “court slips”. The courts do not care about the safety
of the meetings and therefore the CMA’S do not either. Anonymity
has gone out the window! Unity (the central theme in all our
Traditions) is non-existent.
So
many members know of no other “AA” you can not talk sense to them
that the Traditions are being violated every day. I have thought
about forming Traditions adhering meetings but fear for the meetings
left behind. I fear that this will contribute to much more loss of
Unity. My advice to you is never let Court slips become common
place in your meetings........”
(our
edits –and our emphasis - to preserve anonymity)
See
also: D.W.I.’S and Court Slips in AA Meetings. A Report on the Experience of the Maryland Area of Alcoholics Anonymous, Maryland General Service,
PO Box 788, Waldorf, MD 20601, February 9, 1987
We
would be interested to hear from other AA members with regard to
their own experience and/or observations of the CMA ('chit') system
(good or bad). We can be contacted at our email address here.
Confidentiality assured
Comment:
We've been warned!
Cheers
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
PS
Our thanks to this member for their contribution to the debate
