AA Conference Questions 2014 (contd)

AA Conference 2014 Committee No. 1 Q 3

(See the new aacultwatch forum)

“Background

The background document to this question can be seen on the GSO (GB) website in the Document Library. Follow the link ‘Background Material for Conference 2014, then select  ‘Revised Chapter Three, AA Service Handbook for Great Britain.doc’  http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/Members/Document-Library# On the first page of this Revised Chapter Three, AA Service Handbook for Great Britain there is a quotation attributed to Bill W. which has been so severely edited and the wording so radically changed, including the addition of the word “modern”, so that it goes well beyond that at which it can honestly be attributed to Bill W. The severely butchered and mashed up misquote reads as follows:

“A vast communications net now covers the earth, even to its remotest reaches... nothing matters more to AA's future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination.”

Bill W, The AA Grapevine, Inc., November 1960

What Bill W. actually wrote was:

"A vast communications net now covers the earth, even to its remotest reaches. Granting all its huge public benefits, this limitless world forum is nevertheless a hunting ground for all those who would seek money, acclaim and power at the expense of society in general. Here the forces of good and evil are locked in struggle. All that is shoddy and destructive contests all that is best. Therefore nothing can matter more to the future welfare of AA than the manner in which we use this colossus of communication. Used unselfishly and well, the results can surpass our present imagination. Should we handle this great instrument badly, we shall be shattered by the ego demands of our own people--often with the best of intention on their part.”  (Bill W. AA Grapevine November 1960. http://da.aagrapevine.org/  The article from which this quote has been taken is also published in full in ‘The Language of the Heart,’ the paragraph quoted on pages 319-320.)

It is not too difficult to find where this distortion of AA history comes from. It can be found on Primary Purpose cult websites:

"Nothing matters more to AA's future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination." - Bill Wilson, Grapevine, November, 1960. (AA Australia Online Unity Group) http://www.aa-oztralia.net/

“A vast communications net now covers the earth, even to its remotest reaches… nothing matters more to AA’s future welfare than the manner in which we use the colossus of modern communication. Used unselfishly and well, it can produce results surpassing our present imagination.” Bill W., The AA Grapevine, Inc., November 1960 (Primary Purpose Group, Austin) http://austinppg.org/

Apart from the precise surgical removal all of Bill W’s critical thinking in the passage, the following parts of remaining sentences (marked in brackets) have been re-worded when compared to the original, one with the addition of “modern”.

“A vast communications net now covers the earth, even to its remotest reaches... [nothing matters more to AA's future welfare than the manner ]  in which we use [ the ] colossus of  [ modern ] communication. Used unselfishly and well, [ it can produce results surpassing ] our present imagination. ” 

In its present form this page of Chapter Three of the handbook, illustrates how the AA programme and AA history is being subtly, yet powerfully, censured and distorted by material put on the internet by outside organisations and individual independent websites which claim to be AA, but operate outside the AA service structure.

Perhaps the literature committee could do better than spend time lifting things off cult websites and read a little of George Orwell instead. Because when these distortions of history find their way into official AA guidelines and literature, the power of those who would seek money, acclaim and power at the expense of society in general will be complete.

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. A bad usage can spread by tradition and imitation even among people who should and do know better." - George Orwell, (“Politics and the English Language” April 1946) http://orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit”

And:

"It is generally acknowledged that a movement which deletes its history, deletes its future as well." (Zafiridis Ph. (2011). 'The SYNANON Self Help Organization and its Contribution to  the Understanding and Treatment of Addiction.' Therapeutic Communities, 32,2, pp 125 – 141. http://www.selfhelp.gr/attachments/article/57/Synanon_eng.pdf”

Note: Conference Questions can be downloaded in pdf from the GSO (GB) website. They are on pages 5-11, AA Service News, Issue 157, Winter 2013 http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/download/1/Library/Documents/AA%20Service%20News/157%20Winter%202013.pdf 

Conference 2014 background material can be found on the GSO (GB) website. Follow the “Background Material for Conference 2014” link in the Document Library. http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/Members/Document-Library

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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