Tradition Ten

Short form:

"Ten—Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

Long form:

"10.—No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues—particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever."

Comment: Again a pretty straightforward statement - or at least for some! Alcoholics Anonymous (collectively) and AA groups (as constituents of AA) "can express no views whatever" and "oppose no one" in relation to "outside controversial issues". Conversely AA members (individually) may (and do) hold whatever views they like, they may express them to whoever, whenever, and in whatever fashion they like, but NOT "in such a way as to implicate A.A.", and "particularly" not (though not exclusively) in those areas relating to "politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion" [some synonyms for "implicate": incriminate, involve, compromise, embroil, entangle, inculpate. Some antonyms: eliminate, rule out, acquit, exclude, dissociate, disentangle, exculpate]. Following on from this (and within the context of AA) an individual may express themselves according to the principle of freedom of speech (something of a luxury these days with the increasing proliferation of legal constraints!) but should make it clear that their statements represent only their own views and not those of Alcoholics Anonymous. ie. they are NOT spokesmen for the organisation nor for that matter are they the SOLE authorities on what constitutes its guidelines and programme of recovery, and moreover their mode of implementation. This tradition certainly does NOT - and indeed should not - exclude criticism of AA (ie. "inside issues"), nor does it dictate or delimit the forum in which such commentary might take place. It certainly does not exclude criticism of the activities of the cult, nor where and in what form this might be expressed. To emphasise the point: the statement "Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one" is made with reference to "outside controversial issues", and is NOT to be taken to refer to "inside issues" ie. the activities of rogue elements within AA. Indeed AA groups (and their members) “must” take action where such groups (and their members) cause harm to AA members (and indeed to the general public) and as a consequence bring the fellowship itself into disrepute (see: Personal Conduct Matters (Guidelines for Alcoholics Anonymous in Great Britain: No. 17))

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)