A
member kindly forwarded to us the following link
(http://accso.org.au)
to something called the “Australian Conference of Central Service
Offices – Alcoholics Anonymous” drawing our attention to the
About Us section of the website. We quote:
“About
Us
This
website has been produced by the South East Australasia General
Service Office trading as The Australian Conference of Central
Service Offices (ACCSO) of Alcoholics Anonymous, under the
instructions of the affiliated Australian groups.
Over
time, many Australian members felt that somehow AA’s spiritual
focus had been lost with an over emphasis on structure and legalism
in the general service structure.
As
a result of this Delegate Bodies in Australia resolved to start
ACCSO to serve excluded and alienated members, service entities and
groups in and around Australia.
The
organisation is guided by the collective wisdom of past members and
groups in Australia and USA combined with relevant present Australian
AA experience.”
(our
emphasis)
It
is not entirely clear from the website what these members are
“excluded and alienated” from but the site does carry an extended
and detailed section on non-“Conference Approved” AA literature
which is suggestive. Apart from the self-evident fact that AA
members can read what they like this does not preclude the
possibility they may end up consulting stuff (under the
'non-conference approved' category) which is basically rubbish.
Newcomers especially need to take care when making such choices.
Another
part of the site deals with the question of sponsorship. In one
section entitled Get a Sponsor (is this a suggestion?) we are told:
“• A
few members may tell you that they got sober without the aid of a
sponsor and they may be telling the truth. However, our AA experience
tells us that you will have a much better chance with a sponsor than
without one. In AA you will probably find that your sponsor is a
vital part of your recovery.”
Here
the implication is clear. A “few members (ie a very, very small
minority, and therefore hardly worth taking seriously) may (ie. but
not definitely!) tell you that they got sober without the aid of a
sponsor and they may be telling the truth” (but you can't be sure.
In fact they may not be telling the truth).
They
continue:
“However,
our AA experience (but MAYbe not everybody's – remember that
very, very small minority!) tells us that you will (or MAY)
have a much better chance with a sponsor than without one. In AA
you will probably (but not definitely) find that your sponsor is a
vital (?) part of your recovery”
Now
we looked up “vital”
just to see what the word meant: “essential”, “necessary”,
“extremely important”.
As
far as we're aware nowhere in any AA conference approved literature is sponsorship described as being
“essential” or ”necessary” for recovery. “Spiritual
experience” is described as vital. Willingness, honesty and
open-mindedness (according to our recollection) are described as
“essential”. Although “sponsorship” MAY be regarded as
important it is certainly NOT defined as vital (as in “probably no
human power could have relieved our alcoholism” (AA, How it Works, p. 60)
We
would suggest that any member using this site pay close attention to
the admonition included there under Opinions Within:
“Opinions
expressed in articles within this site are those of their owners and
may not reflect the opinion of AA as a whole”
Well
at least that's an accurate statement!
Cheers
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
PS
Our thanks to the member who drew our attention to the above
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