Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (contd)

aacultwatch's perspective on:

The AA (General Service conference approved) book:

“Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous tells how members recover and how the society functions”

(an almost as wildly discursive commentary as our 'take' on the Big Book)

This tome is much reviled in cult circles (especially amongst the Big Book nutters who regard it as almost heretical! (A point of interest: if you're looking for meetings largely free of the aforementioned 'fruitcakes', and for that matter sundry other screwballs, then a Twelve Step meeting following the format of the above text is usually a safe bet). The text we will be using is as indicated above. And now we come to:

Step Six (pp. 63-69)

“Step Six

“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”

“THIS is the Step that separates the men from the boys [or women from the girls … or sheep from the goats].” So declares a well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of A.A.’s greatest friends. He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults—without any reservations whatever—has indeed come a long way spiritually, and is therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow in the image and likeness of his own Creator [or, alternatively, live in accordance with those secular principles he or she has adopted].

Of course, the often disputed question of whether God can—and will, under certain conditions—remove defects of character will be answered with a prompt affirmative by almost any A.A. member. To him, this proposition will be no theory at all; it will be just about the largest fact in his life. He will usually offer his proof in a statement like this:

“Sure, I was beaten, absolutely licked. My own willpower just wouldn’t work on alcohol. Change of scene, the best efforts of family, friends, doctors, and clergymen got no place with my alcoholism. I simply couldn’t stop drinking, and no human being could seem to do the job for me. But when I became willing to clean house and then asked a Higher Power, God as I understood Him, to give me release, my obsession to drink vanished. It was lifted right

out of me.”

In A.A. meetings all over the world, statements just like this are heard daily [as are many variations]. It is plain for everybody to see that each sober A.A. member has been granted [or merely acquired] a release from this very obstinate and potentially fatal obsession. So in a very complete and literal [perhaps not – this is clearly open to individual interpretation] way, all A.A.’s have “become entirely ready” to have God [or any objectified higher principle] remove the mania for alcohol from their lives. And God has proceeded to do exactly that.

Having been granted a perfect release from alcoholism, why then shouldn’t we be able to achieve by the same means a perfect release from every other difficulty or defect? This is a riddle of our existence, the full answer to which may be only in the mind of God [or perhaps it is amenable to thorough investigation]. Nevertheless, at least a part of the answer to it is apparent to us.

When men and women pour so much alcohol into themselves that they destroy their lives, they commit a most unnatural act. Defying their instinctive desire for self-preservation, they seem bent upon self-destruction. They work against their own deepest instinct [but see “death drive”]. As they are humbled by the terrific beating administered by alcohol, the grace of God can enter them and expel their obsession [or alternatively they experience catharsis]. Here their powerful instinct to live can cooperate fully with their Creator’s desire to give them new life. For nature and God alike abhor suicide [but see “death drive” above].

But most of our other difficulties don’t fall under such a category at all. Every [?] normal [?] person wants, for example, to eat, to reproduce, to be somebody in the society of his fellows. And he wishes to be reasonably safe and secure as he tries to attain these things. Indeed, God made him that way [or not]. He did not design man to destroy himself by alcohol, but He did give man instincts [again see “death drive” above] to help him to stay alive.

It is nowhere evident, at least in this life, that our Creator expects us fully to eliminate our instinctual drives. So far as we know, it is nowhere on the record that God has completely removed from any human being all his natural drives. [true in the sense of Divine intervention but inaccurate otherwise – see Buddha … and other “enlightened” men and women]

Since most of us are born with an abundance of natural desires, it isn’t strange that we often let these far exceed their intended purpose [this assumes the notion of 'intelligent design' as does most of Bill Wilson's analysis]. When they drive us blindly, or we wilfully demand that they supply us with more satisfactions or pleasures than are possible or due us, that is the point at which we depart from the degree of perfection that God wishes for us here on earth [or variance from the psychological or conative norm]. That is the measure of our character defects, or, if you wish, of our sins [no … we prefer “defects”].

If we ask, God will certainly [?] forgive our derelictions. But in no case does He render us white as snow and keep us that way without our cooperation. That is something we are supposed to be willing to work toward ourselves. He asks only that we try as best we know how to make progress in the building of character. [clearly all this can be reframed in purely secular (and psychological) terms without the need for any kind of divine objectification]

So Step Six—“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character”—is A.A.’s way of stating the best possible attitude one can take in order to make a beginning on this lifetime job. This does not mean that we expect all our character defects to be lifted out of us as the drive to drink was. A few of them may be, but with most of them we shall have to be content with patient improvement [or perhaps none at all]. The key words “entirely ready” underline the fact that we want to aim at the very best we know or can learn.

How many of us have this degree of readiness? In an absolute sense practically nobody has it. The best we can do, with all the honesty that we can summon, is to try to have it. Even then the best of us will discover to our dismay that there is always a sticking point, a point at which we say, “No, I can’t give this up yet.” And we shall often tread on even more dangerous ground when we cry, “This I will never give up!” Such is the power of our instincts to overreach themselves. No matter how far we have progressed, desires will always be found which oppose the grace of God [or to put it another way – the struggle between the id and the super-ego to employ one psychological model].

Some who feel they have done well may dispute this, so let’s try to think it through a little further. Practically everybody wishes to be rid of his most glaring and destructive handicaps. No one wants to be so proud that he is scorned as a braggart, nor so greedy that he is labelled a thief. No one wants to be angry enough to murder, lustful enough to rape, gluttonous enough to ruin his health. No one wants to be agonized by the chronic pain of envy or to be paralysed by sloth [but “Easy Does It” nonetheless!]. Of course, most human beings don’t suffer these defects at these rock-bottom levels.

We who have escaped these extremes are apt to congratulate ourselves. Yet can we? After all, hasn’t it been self-interest, pure and simple, that has enabled most of us to escape? [Can't see much wrong with acting on the basis of enlightened self-interest – especially if the outcome remains the same!] Not much spiritual effort is involved in avoiding excesses which will bring us punishment anyway. But when we face up to the less violent aspects of these very same defects, then where do we stand?

What we must recognize now is that we exult in some of our defects. We really love them [ooh we do... we do]. Who, for example, doesn’t like to feel just a little superior to the next fellow, or even quite a lot superior [damn right! Especially if it's true!! Kidding.. yeah]? Isn’t it true that we like to let greed masquerade as ambition? To think of liking lust seems impossible [nah .. it's easy]. But how many men and women speak love with their lips, and believe what they say, so that they can hide lust in a dark corner of their minds [let's face it! If it weren't for a bit of lust none of us would be here!]? And even while staying within conventional bounds, many people have to admit that their imaginary sex excursions are apt to be all dressed up as dreams of romance [Ah! La folie d'amour!].

Self-righteous anger also can be very enjoyable [it's fantastic! We highly recommend it]. In a perverse way [that's fun as well!] we can actually take satisfaction from the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority. Gossip [but see here] barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness [it's a dirty job, we know …. but someone's got to do it].

When gluttony is less than ruinous, we have a milder word for that, too; we call it “taking our comfort.” We live in a world riddled with envy. To a greater or less degree, everybody is infected with it. From this defect we must surely get a warped yet definite satisfaction [Oh yeah! We want more! In fact we want more than you!]. Else why would we consume such great amounts of time wishing for what we have not, rather than working for it, or angrily looking for attributes we shall never have, instead of adjusting to the fact, and accepting it? And how often we work hard with no better motive than to be secure and slothful later on— only we call that “retiring.” [only another …. years to go] Consider, too, our talents for procrastination, which is really sloth in five syllables [we'll settle for sloth! It's too much effort to procras... yawn....]. Nearly anyone could submit a good list of such defects as these [we've got WAY more], and few of us would seriously think of giving them up, at least until they cause us excessive misery [how true! Mind you … our capacity for misery is absolutely ENORMOUS].

Some people, of course, may conclude that they are indeed ready to have all such defects taken from them [who are they kidding?]. But even these people, if they construct a list of still milder defects, will be obliged to admit that they prefer to hang on to some of them. Therefore, it seems plain that few of us can quickly or easily become ready to aim at spiritual and moral perfection; we want to settle for only as much perfection [can you have “as much perfection”?] as will get us by in life, according, of course, to our various and sundry ideas of what will get us by. So the difference between “the boys and the men” [etc] is the difference between striving for a self-determined objective and for the perfect objective which is of God [yeah. You've got us! We'll go for the former. Long live callow youth!].

Many will at once ask, “How can we accept the entire implication of Step Six? Why—that is perfection!” This sounds like a hard question, but practically speaking, it isn’t. Only Step One, where we made the 100 percent admission we were powerless over alcohol, can be practised with absolute perfection. The remaining eleven Steps state perfect ideals [is there any other kind?]. They are goals toward which we look, and the measuring sticks by which we estimate our progress . Seen in this light, Step Six is still difficult, but not at all impossible. The only urgent thing is that we make a beginning, and keep trying.

If we would gain any real advantage in the use of this Step on problems other than alcohol, we shall need to make a brand new venture into open-mindedness. We shall need to raise our eyes toward perfection, and be ready to walk in that direction. It will seldom matter how haltingly we walk. The only question will be “Are we ready?”

Looking again at those defects we are still unwilling to give up, we ought to erase the hard-and-fast lines that we have drawn. Perhaps we shall be obliged in some cases still to say, “This I cannot give up yet...,” but we should not say to ourselves, “This I will never give up!”

Let’s dispose of what appears to be a hazardous open end we have left. It is suggested that we ought to become entirely willing to aim toward perfection. We note that some delay, however, might be pardoned. That word, in the mind of a rationalizing alcoholic, could certainly be given a long-term meaning. He could say, “How very easy! Sure, I’ll head toward perfection, but I’m certainly not going to hurry any. Maybe I can postpone dealing with some of my problems indefinitely.” Of course, this won’t do. Such a bluffing of oneself will have to go the way of many another pleasant rationalization [but you'd be in good company! See St Augustine - "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.”]. At the very least, we shall have to come to grips with some of our worst character defects and take action toward their removal as quickly as we can.

The moment we say, “No, never!” our minds close against the grace of God [or not]. Delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal. This is the exact point at which we abandon limited objectives, and move toward God’s will for us.” [or merely what we wish for ourselves]

(our emphases)(our observations in red print)

Coming next – Step Seven

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)