"A
- Since the beginning of recorded time, many societies and nations of
civilizations have passed in review. In those great ones that have
left their mark for good, in contrast with those who have left their
mark for evil, there has always been a sense of history, a true and
high constant purpose, and there has always been a sense of destiny.
In
the societies which failed to leave a bright mark in the annals of
the world, there was always a false or boastful sense of history,
always a mistaken or inadequate purpose and always the presumption of
an infinite, a glorious and an exclusive destiny.
In
the societies that left their mark of goodness on time, the sense of
history was not a matter for pride or for glory; it was the
substance of the learning of the experience of the past. In the
purpose of such a society there was always truth and constancy,
but never a supposition that the society had apprehended all of the
truth -- or the superior truth. And in the sense of destiny there
was no conceit, no supposition that a society or nation or culture
would last forever and go on to greater glories. But there was always
a sense of duty to be fulfilled, whatever destiny the society might
be assigned by providence for the betterment of the world.
This
is the crossroads at which we in A.A. stand. This is a good time to
re-examine how well we have looked upon our A.A. history and how much
we have profited by it, what false insights or false glories we may
have been extracting from history -- to our future detriment. It is a
moment to examine the purpose of this Society. Indeed, we are very
lucky to be able to state as the nucleus of that purpose a single
word: sobriety.
Quite
early we saw, however, that sobriety in abstinence from alcohol could
never be attained unless there was sobriety and more quietude in the
false motivation that underlay our drinking.
When
the Twelve Steps were cast up -- without any real experience and
therefore under some Guidance, surely -- we were given keys to
sobriety in its wider implications. We have been blessed with a
concrete definition of purpose but, for all its concreteness, we
could still abuse it and misuse it in a very natural way.
Some
times we begin to think that perhaps, according to Scriptural
promise, the first shall be last and the last -- meaning us -- shall
really be first. That would indeed be a very dangerous presumption
and never should we indulge it. If we do, we shall compete in history
with other societies who have been ill-advised enough to suppose
that they had a monopoly on truth or were in some way superior to
other attempts of men to think and to associate in love and in
harmony.
We
may look out upon our destiny with no violation of our principle that
we are to live one day at a time. We mean that, emotionally, each in
his personal life is never to repine upon the past glory too much, in
the present, or presume upon the future. We shall attend to the
day's business but we shall try to apprehend ever more truth from the
lessons of our history, not the lessons of our successes but the
lessons of our defections, failures and the awful emotions that can
set us loose upon us. For these, indeed, are the raw materials
that God has used to forge this still rather little instrument called
Alcoholics Anonymous. So we may look at destiny and we may ask
ourselves about it and speculate upon it a little -- if we do not
presume to play God." (G.S.C., 1961)
Bill
W
(see
aa tradition)
(our
emphases)
Comment:
The lesson for today: Learn from our mistakes and don't play God!
Alcoholics
Anonymous, through its traditions, has formulated guidelines that
seek to ensure we do not repeat the same errors endlessly. AAs tend
to learn from these - the cult groups do not! The latter seek to
convey the appearance of abiding by these principles, or, when this
pretence fails, argue that they are merely guidelines and may
therefore be safely disregarded (and moreover misrepresent Tradition Four by falsely claiming absolute autonomy in order to justify
their abusive conduct). They even assert that they have THE RIGHT to
be wrong – they do – but they also have A DUTY to correct their
conduct when these faults are pointed out to them – which they
don't! We continue to receive reports of abusive conduct on the part
of cult members and groups eg. inappropriate “suggestions” on
prescribed medication and counselling, coercive sponsorship,
religious dogma etc on a daily basis. There is an evident and
widespread failure on the part of our fellowship to respond in any
meaningful way to these concerns, and a general abdication of
responsibility in ensuring our message is not corrupted, and that our
newest members can attend meetings safely and without interference.
There really is little point to having guidelines on dealing with
bullying (for example) without a willingness on the part of
individuals and groups to implement them. Reading them out at the
beginning of a meeting (which would be a start) is not the end of the
matter. There has to be real action taken to put an end to this
vicious conduct. Similarly sexual predators can no longer be allowed
to act with impunity in the fellowship. They cannot insist that their
recovery should not be placed in jeopardy by exclusion from meetings
when they are apparently quite unconcerned about the rights of their
victims. Good intentions are quite insufficient – they have to be
backed up with decisive action.
As
Bill comments above we cannot afford complacency. If we are to
fulfil our purpose then we must constantly review our conduct (singly
and collectively) and thereby remain true to our principles. Failure
to act will result only in the demise of our Society. The choice is ours!
And the clock is ticking.......
Cheers
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
