“Murky goings-on in Derbyshire” continued.....

A number of allegations have been levelled at the Derby City meetings (as reported by a member from that group) as follows:

“That a complaint had been received from some local mental health team that one of their punters had come to our meeting, and drank that night, and that we had somehow caused this. We cannot recall a newcomer like the one supposedly involved in this incident, and have no way of verifying if a complaint was ever made.

That our meeting was not a proper AA meeting because we do not close the meeting with the serenity prayer.

That we are in some way misogynistic, as evidenced by the fact that few women attend.

We consider these allegations to be not even wrong. We are not misogynistic, are not required to pray, and are not responsible for whether a newcomer drinks or not.

…........

The local IG would like us to be compelled to join, and to accept their authority over us. Their clearly and repeatedly expressed wish is to be able to tell us how to run our meeting and how to do 12-step work. They would like to be able to define an AA meeting as one proceeding along the lines described on their website, to say that anything else is not a proper AA meeting, and to prevent anyone at such a "rebel" meeting from doing AA service.

It only seems odd that we were not invited to comment on allegations if one assumes that we have a functional IG. As an example of where things are locally, I will tell you about how we all came to barred from 12-step service: 

…....  was a helpline responder sponsored onto the helpline by our meeting. He received a call from a vulnerable female who expressed concern that she had heard that women like her were targeted by sexual predators in AA, and that she was thinking of going to a meeting in Derby at which ….... knew there were many such predators. He suggested to her that she might wish to go elsewhere as the meeting she was proposing to go to had a problem of the sort she was concerned about. …..... subsequently received a call from the then TLO, who wished to interrogate him about the call without being willing to disclose to him what allegations had been made. Having been forced to defend himself against allegations which could not be disclosed to him the interview with him was discussed in camera in both IG and region based solely on the account of this hostile interviewer. After all of this, he was allowed to stay on the helpline, but a little while later, everyone who attended the meeting was barred from the helpline and 12-step work on the grounds of ….. being convicted in his absence, and without disclosure of the charges of something so terrible that no-one is permitted to know what it is. You may agree or disagree with …...'s actions, but the concept of natural justice is clearly lacking here. It is against this background that the IG becoming a kangaroo court for meetings which have never acknowledged its legitimacy should be understood.

I do not have information on all of the meetings where the IG minutes have been discussed, and used as the basis for making a petition to York, but I believe that it was defeated at Belper, and passed by a majority at Kimberley and Ripley. Away from the Nottingham/Derby border where the cults dominate, I am not sure it has been discussed in a group conscience at all. Despite dissent in all forums where it has been discussed, a clear defeat in at least one, and a likelihood that it will not be discussed at all in meetings away from the cult zone, I predict that it will be taken as carried on the grounds that the majority of people in the small number of meetings in which it was discussed.

We will once again be struck from the list of meetings, and York will be petitioned. Whilst I know that York will not act on their petition, they can easily remove us from the local where to find and prevent helpline references to us. Many of the most aggressive meetings already scribble out out our entries on the where to find card, tell people we have closed, and that we have left AA.

Whilst it is true that substantial unanimity is not essential, it is my understanding from past group Step Tens that it is an ideal to be aimed for. The need to make decisions means that debate cannot proceed endlessly, but a quote from your own site demonstrates my point here perfectly:

"All service bodies are reminded that AA is an inclusive fellowship. Adherence to AA Traditions, concepts and warranties ensures inclusivity. This committee found that strained relations between some groups and Intergroups can inhibit the effectiveness of our primary purpose. The principles of Unity, right of participation, that minority opinion must be heard and that no service body has the authority to take punitive action were emphasised to help resolve some of the difficulties encountered."

We have no right of participation, and punitive action is being taken against us. That the IG does not have the legitimate authority to do so does not stop them from acting ultra vires. It merely stops us from calling in a supervisory level of organisation to stop them.

As far as acting at IG level to call ….... to account, the IG has a very small and highly unrepresentative membership, and does not allow those who disagree with it to even attend, let alone vote. Members of CALYX and Visions have held those of its officerships which are filled since its inception, and some of the posts have had a single incumbent during that time. We applied to join all three local IGs and were turned down on unity grounds. We have been told that the only way we will be allowed to join is if we change our conscience to one more to their liking. I can see you are having difficulty understanding how an IG can so lose its way, but it is so. Investigate the matter for yourselves.


Regards
…....... “

(our edits)

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Coming soon: Yet another perspective

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The distinction between personality disorder and mental illness

 

Treating depression complicated by substance misuse

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Suicide …... the medication issue..... yet again!

From Ealing:

“There have been 2 suicides in the fellowship recently, both of whom I knew personally. One being a friend of 15 years standing. Difficult stuff to come to terms with. Both had serious mental issues other than alcohol.”

…......

“Regarding the 2 suicides. The first was a guy called ......., who was 28 years old and 3 1/2 years sober. He was a paranoid schizophrenic and needed medication. I was told by a few who knew him well that Happy Dennis sent this chap a text when he was a newcomer and told him to come off his medication. ......... had to spend some time in hospital because of this. He was very anti Cult and anti Dennis after that. He used to read the cultwatch website, and often talked about it in the coffee bar after the meeting. ….... I don't think his suicide was the direct result of the cult, although the cult did him no favours initially. He left a note saying he was just sick of his life, he couldn't silence the" voices" and took an overdose. His funeral was very well attended and his family were grateful that AA had helped him stay sober for the last 3 years of his life.

The other suicide was someone I have known for 15 years. He suffered from severe depression and needed anti-depressants. Unfortunately he felt that he was not "practising the program" by taking this medication in spite of the fact that many, including myself, told him that he must do as the doctors have told him, and that taking prescribed medication was not "a slip". However, the anti-medication culture in some meetings affected him. I know that he had stopped taking his medication prior to his suicide. He hung himself and leaves a wife and 2 children. I have no doubt that although this chap didn’t have a sponsor telling to come off medication, he was adversely affected by the guilt that some people try to induce around medication issues. His first meetings were Vision For You circa 1997, then he followed the Happy Destiny breakaway for a while until around 1999. He left them both a long time ago, but I think they left their ugly mark on him psychologically. His family did not want any AAs at his funeral. Very sad.”

And on a relatively – but only relatively – lighter note:

“I thought you would like to hear Happy Dennis' latest words of wisdom. According to several sources ….... he says that.....

"given a choice between a relationship with a woman, and jumping into a pit of snakes, he would jump into a pit of snakes".

So, jumping for joy one minute - jumping into a pit of snakes the next....

Believe me …... if you had ever met this dangerous nutter, you would soon realize that no one in their right mind would ever want a relationship with this arrogant, goon-like over-elated, narcissistic control freak. Any self-respecting woman would keep him at arms length.”

Comment: The above clearly illustrates the importance of 'minding our own business' when it comes to medication issues. AA members are NOT qualified to issue advice on such matters and should leave these (diagnosis and treatment) in the hands of the professionals. The consequences otherwise are evident from the foregoing......

See also: Dual Recovery Anonymous: Medications and Recovery and here and The A.A. Member—Medications and Other Drugs

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our thanks to our Ealing correspondents

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It's all about money, power and prestige..... a few more personalities!

Extract from our forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/aacultwatch under thread: “TLM in Alanon UK?”

“Hi ….....,

I think you have it about right. It’s about money, power and prestige; a perverting of AA’s simple program in order to make lots of money, power and prestige. The leading lights of the Primary Purpose Group of AA Dallas, Chris Raymer, Myers Raymer and Cliff Bishop have their fingers in the big business pies of book binding and 12 step recovery treatment centers. (Cliff B. was sponsored by Joe McQ who got rich by amalgamating his Recovery Dynamics treatment program with AA with his big book sponsorship guide.) Then there’s Dick B. (a.k.a Richard G Burns J.D., Richard Gordon Burns J.D.) with his Christians In Recovery Coalition and training camp in Hawaii. There’s self appointed historian Mitchell K, who seems be a friend of Dick B and who also appears to have resentment against AA World Services for protecting AA copyrights. (GSO in Germany took legal action a while ago after someone distributed illicit copies of the big book. (Probably a mate of Mitchell and Myers the Dallas book binder) The courts ordered the books to be destroyed (rightly so, but Mitchell is a bit upset by it all, see a website called gsowatch). Then there’s the publishing arm of Hazelden treatment centers. There’s Wally P who’s on God’s mission to spread the word about his Back to Basics Beginners Classes. Wayne B's Step'nahead Last Mile Foundation. And now what appears to be an alarming number of smaller copy cat outfits that are set to cash in on AA; now they know the lid is off our traditions. Underlying in the literature they produce is a butchered AA history that makes no distinction between the Oxford Groups and Early AA groups. Some of the treatment centres are advertising a 12 step Oxford Group version of their program. So, implicit within their message is an aggressive Oxford Group evangelical Christianity. Since the underlying message of these organisations appears to be the same, they combine to form what amounts to a coalition of a rabidly aggressive 12 step Christian/Oxford Group recovery cult. Because this is driven by outside business to make profit, (Unlike AA) this explains the pressure put on newcomers (unlike AA) to proliferate their "original" O.G. brand of “the message” and why these newcomers rabidly search out others to join their groups. Obviously, the more members the cult brings in, the more there is in book sales and resultant profit for the businesses people behind it all.

What is disturbing is the amount of power that they have gained in AA. AA has been judged to be a religion by courts in a number of USA states. This article by the rabid evangelist Dick B shows both his intent and his gloating of his success in achieving his aim. I think it is a massive public relations disaster for AA.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1896846/posts

There is a web exclusive article on AA Grapevine in the Twelve Traditions topic called “Is AA a Religion?” which mentions the court rulings. http://www.aagrapevine.org/ (You have to subscribe to AA Grapevine to access the article)

Dick B’s ego appears to have finally inflated to the magnitude of God (as you understand it), for he now has a blog called “Dick B: THE “REAL” POWER BEHIND ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS” (Sadly at the moment, until the fellowship restores but one authority in AA, I think he might be right.)  http://mauihistorian.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/richard-gordon-burns-jd-cdaac.html

This is a link to his mercenary training camp “Freedom Ranch” in Hawaii, where he is Executive Director under his title of Richard Gordon Burns J.D. http://freedomranchmaui.org/

Richard Burns J.D. Linkedin.com: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/richard-burns-j-d-cdaac/13/521/196”

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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Conference Questions (2012) forum discussion (contd)

Committee No. 1

Question 2: 

“Would the Fellowship ask itself the question: “Are there too many meetings and not enough groups?”

Background

Traditions 4, 7

Pamphlet ‘The AA Group’

The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA

Consider the contribution to the carrying of the message, financial and practical implications when deliberating each question.”

Extracts

“There are some excellent examples in A.A. literature which could be used as lessons of experience to guide the new AA generation in unity with AA Tradition. These could replace the Little Rock Plan in the “Home Group: Heartbeat of AA.” They are examples of the original AA meetings conducted by what some people today refer as “The First One Hundred” founder members.

The observations were made by psychiatrist Dr. Silkworth, journalist Jack Alexander, and GSO secretary Ruth Hock, in the relatively short time period 1939-1941. This was after the alcoholic groups had separated from the Oxford Group and before the ensuing chaos of the 1940s, when isolated mail order groups such as Little Rock popped up all over the USA, making the programme up on their own without direct guidance from the main body of the fellowship.

Because Dr. Silkworth, Jack Alexander and Ruth Hock were not alcoholics their observations provide a valuable historical insight into the original AA groups, likely to represent a more objective view compared to the possibly subjective memories of some AA old timers, whose truth might have been bent just a little at times by colourful narcissistic imaginations. Not surprisingly, the original AA meetings of the “First One Hundred” were conducted with the least possible organization, which turned out to be what worked best and became Tradition Nine. In the absence of experienced leadership and detached from the main body of AA, other 1940s mail order groups such as Little Rock had to learn by trial and error from their painful mistakes.

In view of outside published literature which targets the fellowship with the promotion of AA meeting formats which repeat the organized and educational mistakes of the 1940s, suggest Conference recommends that AA groups and sponsors use Conference approved literature only. Suggest also, that groups stick to the original AA meeting formats and AA Tradition Nine. These were lessons of experience as to what worked best for the inclusion of all alcoholics whatever their temperament or creed and what worked best for overall AA unity and growth. Groups with the least possible organization in Tradition Nine were unanimously adopted by delegates representing the whole fellowship at the 1950 Cleveland Convention.

Tradition Nine (Long form):

“Each A.A. group needs the least possible organization. Rotating leadership is the best. The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee and the groups of a large metropolitan area their central or intergroup committee.”

New York and Akron 1939:

“The fellowship is entirely indifferent concerning the individual manner of spiritual approach so long as the patient is willing to turn his life and his problems over to the care and direction of his creator. The patient may picture the Deity in any way he likes. No effort is whatever is made to convert him to some particular faith or creed. Many creeds are represented among the group and the greatest harmony prevails. It is emphasized that the fellowship is non-sectarian and that the patient is entirely free to follow his own inclination. Not a trace of aggressive evangelism is exhibited.” (Dr. W.D Silkworth M.D. “A new approach to psychotherapy in chronic alcoholism” Journal Lancet, July 1939. A.A. Comes of Age, appendix E:a, pages 304-305)

New York 1939:

“They were structured to the extent that there was always one speaker and Bill- maybe half an hour each - and then a long coffee session, a real get together. We were often there till 12 o’clock, started at eight” She also said, “At that time, we did not go into Step work. Didn’t have 90-days requirements. No birthdays – no recognition was made if you were sober a week or a year. If you felt you would like to speak in a year or in a month or two weeks they let you get up and speak, and they didn’t throw you out if you were drunk, either. They felt it was encouraging, hoping some word would stick.” (Ruth Hock, Secretary, New York General Service Office. Pass it on page 219)

1941:

“If he applies to Alcoholics Anonymous, he is first brought around to admit that alcohol has him whipped and that his life has become unmanageable. Having achieved this state of intellectual humility, he is given a dose of religion in its broadest sense. He is asked to believe in a power greater than himself, or at least to keep an open mind on that subject while he goes on with the rest of the program. Any concept of the Higher Power is acceptable. A skeptic or agnostic may choose to think of his Inner Self, the miracle of growth, a tree, man’s wonderment at the physical universe, the structure of an atom, or mere mathematical infinity. Whatever form is visualised, the neophyte is taught that he must rely on it and, in his own way, to pray to the power for strength. He next makes a sort of moral inventory of himself with the private aid of another person. – one of his A.A. sponsors, a priest, a minister, a psychiatrist, or anyone else he fancies.” (Jack Alexander. Jack Alexander Article about AA pp19-20)

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

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Murky goings-on in Derbyshire

A brief summary

(and for more background simply type Derbyshire into the Google search box located at the top of our blog)

For some time there has been an ongoing dispute between Derbyshire IG (or parts of it) and a number of meetings in Derby City with various allegations being levelled at the latter (based at the Sisters of Mercy Convent, Bridge Gate, Derby, and running on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays). These meetings place some emphasis on the fact that they are “non-religious” (which in itself is hardly controversial) but otherwise appear to be run in accordance with the guidelines (although we would question their assertion on the meetings' success rates included on their website). For a period they were removed from the local Where to Find but subsequently reinstated (at the request of GSO York apparently). Interestingly Derbyshire IG itself has had its inclusion on the national website suspended because the IG uses Google Maps as an aid to meeting location. This has been deemed (by someone somewhere) as a contravention of the traditions (presumably relating to non-affiliation). (This latter instance illustrates the confusion that currently exists within the General Service Conference when it comes to AA's relationship with the internet. For example Derbyshire IG is denied a presence on the official AA website on the above grounds and yet the same website carries a link to the Plymouth Road to Recovery (cult) group which regularly breaks the same guideline - and many others - at every opportunity). Moreover, and in our view more seriously, the IG website carries a template produced by (according to the IG itself) the Back to Basics movement (an outside organisation based in the US with a not-for-profit tax status). The information included within this template mostly relates to the book Alcoholics Anonymous but with a commentary which clearly does not.

The latest communication we have received from a representative of the above meetings is as follows:

“Thanks for your highlighting of the problems with the Derbyshire IG in the past - I have an update for you

The cultists are now going around the local meetings holding a referendum to remove us from the list of local meetings and to petition York to have us taken off the national list of meetings, after apparently having had a kangaroo court at the last IG meeting in which we were convicted in our absence of a number of supposed crimes. As ever there was no pretence of natural justice. We were not invited to defend ourselves against these charges, and no evidence was offered to back them. Neither was the AA tradition of substantial unanimity being followed. The IG is telling groups that the motion to expel us was carried at IG, despite their being significant dissent at the IG. There is also dissent in the meetings where the issue is being discussed, and counted as passed based on a majority show of hands. [this however is the standard basis for voting – a simple majority usually suffices]

…......, the cult dupe "in charge of" the helpline is driving this campaign. He has decreed that no-one who attends our meeting is ever to be allowed to do helpline or 12-step work under any circumstances, despite the helpline now having half of its slots going empty, and several of the the few people on the helpline doing three or four shifts each.

…..... is a sad case, who got sober in our meeting and went to Milton Keynes after a year with his job. Though he went there an atheist, he came back a covert cultist, which we only found out when we caught him using cult literature with a Buddhist sponsee. Now he is acting as a sort of apostate, determined to stamp out the very meeting which got him sober.”

(our edits)

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS We have previously invited Derbyshire Intergroup to comment or respond on any of these issues. None was forthcoming

PPS Our usual thanks to our correspondent

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The plot thickens – update to the R2R (Plymouth cult group)/DAA connection

It seems that the Road to Recovery cult group has been even busier than we thought. Our latest information (and update to our previous entry) is, and we quote:

“Hi Fellas,

I just read your article and you've got the cart before the horse. Way back ….. addicts were turning up at the Roads meeting. The sponsors that they got at the group passed this up the line, and the directive came back down to start an NA group along the lines of the Roads meeting. This caused massive problems within the local NA community as they were up to the tricks that they usually are, sharing in a shaming way, everyone else is doing it wrong, never had a bad day bla bla bla. …. Also taking over the PI committee etc. They also set up an NA meeting in the Dorset Area of Narcotics Anonymous, but there being a more established NA community they couldn't really pull their usual stunts. Matt the Message and Rik the Vet were prominent in this meeting.

Eventually they took the strong hint in Dorset and buggered off to CA, where they carried on with their usual …... making friends and influencing people; pissing everyone off! Meanwhile, back in Plymouth, as the NA community grew and became more established they weren't able to get away with their usual practices and eventually the NA meetings there became DAA meetings

That's a quick off the cuff précis. As I said they were Roads meetings from their very beginning when they were flying under the NA banner, indeed the NA meetings were started at the Roads sponsors' sponsors' direction!

Best,”

(name omitted)

and:

“Hi again,

Indeed, my understanding is that DAA as a Fellowship was expressly started by the NA/Roads members

Best,”

(name omitted)

Comment: So it would seem that the R2R gang have been most proactive as they busily extend their tentacles into both NA and CA. We were already aware that they had developed offshoots in both of these (as well as Al-Anon) and with exactly the same modus operandi (though not to the extent of actually fracturing these fellowships!) This particular parasite though seems to be quite indiscriminate, settling as it does on any victim that may present itself. But perhaps it's time they took the hint and stopped feeding off AA and kindly went forth and ….. well we'd hardly encourage them to multiply! Then they can play God to their hearts' content!

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our usual thanks to our local correspondents

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The Ego Factors in Surrender in Alcoholism

The 12 Steps as Ego Deflating Devices

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Plymouth Road to Recovery (cult) goes into the addiction business!

It seems (or so we've heard) that the Plymouth R2R cult group, not satisfied with inserting their sticky fingers into AA's business, now have designs on DAA (Drug Addicts Anonymous). A member drew our attention to their activities recently. DAA (for those of you who've never heard of them – which included us) seems to be in many ways similar to NA but eschews their literature in favour of AA's. Apparently in the Plymouth area there was a bit of a bust up a couple of years ago and some NA members severed their links with Narcotics Anonymous and swapped over to the DAA format. Moreover it would seem - there being something of a dearth of home-grown sponsors - they've shipped in a few of these from the Road to Recovery (cult) group, who, as we all know, are more than willing to evangelise at the drop of a hat! In the process the R2R gang have also somehow managed to draw a local Christian treatment project called Ovis Farm into their web. The latter of course have no idea what they've let themselves in for! But they will soon enough!

Prompted by this news we cast our eyes over the R2R site – it's always good for a laugh - and came across a couple of 'gems' including one by Alexis K in which he holds forth on his experience of Tradition One. Here his summation “Unity comes from a choice to tolerate, not from a demand to conform” might be considered admirable, that is until both its intent and advocate are subjected to closer examination! In the hands of a cult member tolerance is an entirely one way process ie. we (the cult) do what we like - and you (AA) put up with it! The cult hierarchy are quite happy to ride rough-shod over any tradition, concept or guideline devised by AA if it does not suit their purpose, one which essentially boils down to self-(will)power and control of others (see Step Three, AA, pp. 60-62). Any attempt to criticise this conduct will be met either with indifference or an air of assumed hurt (something along the lines of “But we're only trying to carry the AA message” etc). The only message though that the cult are actually interested in transmitting is one of personal power, this made incarnate in the cult Sponsor – he or she who must be obeyed in all things and whose will may not be thwarted! But Alexis himself is, of course, a well practised exponent of the cult mentality. Who could forget (and we're certainly not going to let you!) his exemplification of these lofty principles of “tolerance” at the AA Conference!  As usual it's a case of “Do what I say and not what I do”

The other piece of “fool's gold” for offer on the site comes under the title “Parable of a Sponsor”. Here the heroine of the title offers some Zen like guidance to a stray sponsee who has fallen by the wayside! The very title of the piece sends a shiver down our collective spines....... it's only a matter of time before we hear the first report of a cult sponsor walking on water! We await this news with breath all baited!

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our usual thanks to our local correspondents

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A Historical Overview of Alcohol and Alcoholism

Developing a Willingness to Change: Treatment-seeking Processes for People with Alcohol Problems

Symposium on the Problem of the Chronic Alcoholic 

and for those of you who feel the need to 'top up' your fear list a member has kindly sent this link in:

The Phobia List

See also Links and downloads

Conference Questions (2012) forum discussion (contd)

Committee No. 1

Question 2:

“Would the Fellowship ask itself the question: “Are there too many meetings and not enough groups?”

Background

Traditions 4, 7

Pamphlet ‘The AA Group’

The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA

Consider the contribution to the carrying of the message, financial and practical implications when deliberating each question.”

Extracts

“This is to explain why I think the content of “Home Group: Heartbeat of AA” should be reviewed as a matter of urgency.

The Little Rock plan featured in “The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA, (“Lessons of Experience” chapter, page 66)” was a September 1947 AA Grapevine article written by an individual AA member. It was not representative of overall AA policy at the time. Nobody knows how honest this character was in his writing, or how long he stayed sober after the article was written. What is certain is that the fellowship’s reaction to the article at the time was one of shock and alarm, indicated by these November 1947 AA Grapevine articles:

“Mail Call for All A.A.s at Home Or Abroad

About Little Rock

How can you in the name of A.A. allow such an article as the 'Little Rock Plan' be printed in the Grapevine. . . . This sounds more like the police department or probation department plan. There is only one A.A. plan and that is right out of the book. No organization. No rules. That's the plan we in Southern California try to follow. A.M. Los Angeles, California” (AA Grapevine November 1947)

“Mail Call for All A.A.s at Home Or Abroad

More Little Rock

Good grief and little fishes! What have they got out there in Little Rock, Ark.--a concentration camp? It sure doesn't sound like A.A. to me, at least not like anything I ever heard or read about A.A. in the four years I've been in (no slip, either). Where do they get the authority to keep anybody out of the group? Or, rather, where do they get their authority--period! One of the great virtues of A.A. is that it vests authority in no one. Those people, if that's a correct report, just seem to have appropriated it on their own. Imagine bragging about making it tough for anyone to join A.A.! As I read the book, one of our obligations is to get the message to as many as we can, help everyone we can, open the door wide to everyone who knocks. H.E.T Detroit, Michigan” (AA Grapevine November 1947)

“Mail Call for All A.A.s at Home Or Abroad

Plus Little Rock

So Little Rock prides itself on being tough. . .and obviously the article you published sounded as though they pride themselves more on their slip record than on letting everyone who asks it have a helping hand from A.A. That may be a group of something but it didn't sound like an A.A. group. . . . They really believe in rules and regulations, don't they? I wonder who judges out there. E.B.T, Boston Massachusetts” (AA Grapevine November 1947)

“Mail Call for All A.A.s at Home Or Abroad

And Little Rock

Around here we were treated to quite a contrast recently. Bill came down here to speak to the regional convention. As always, he was tolerant, understanding, sympathetic--no big shot stuff from him; no expert speaking with authority. No "do's" or "don't's," or "musts." Then I read that thing from Little Rock. Quite a difference between the way they think and the way the founder of A.A. thinks. No wonder that group has only had 500 pass through it in seven years. That's pretty slow growth and quite understandable. They seem more interested in statistics on slips than in practicing A.A. T.L Memphis, Tennesse” (AA Grapevine November 1947)

In this January 1948 AA Grapevine article, a visitor to the group claimed he found no rules or restrictions. The honesty of the Little Rock plan article is questionable:

“Mail Call for All A.A.s at Home Or Abroad

A word for Little Rock

What's all this about Little Rock? I went to them 14 months ago for help and found a group more than willing--with no rules or restrictions, only that I have a sincere desire to quit drinking. I returned home with a new outlook on life for me and a way to maintain sobriety. We formed a group here in Jonesboro, Ark., in January, 1947. we, as a group, have visited Memphis, Little Rock, and Blytheville. I don't have any chips on my shoulder. I got help from all of them and realize a lot is being accomplished. Far be it from me to criticize as I am still trying to clear up my own house. I only hope I can do part of what was offered me. Pete F. Jonesoro, Arkansas"

This is the article which so offended the fellowship in 1947, but is now a lesson of experience guiding the AA new generation in the “Home Group: Heartbeat of AA”:

“Little Rock Plan Gives Prospects Close attention 

Greater Little Rock A.A. was seven years old last March and has helped establish most of the groups within the state. More than five hundred men and women have been initiated into A.A. through the Little Rock Approach Plan since its creation seven years ago when five men got together and began to use the book, Alcoholics Anonymous, which had just been published. It is interesting to note that of these men, the founders of the movement here, all are alive and only one ever had a relapse. They are living, walking proof of the statement that "it works." The Little Rock Plan was, we believe, the first of its kind in the country. By adhering strictly to the "Plan" hundreds have been brought into A.A. and because this group has kept accurate records and statistics, we can report that our success is better than the national average of 75%--or to put it another way, our "slip" record is lower than the 25% expected and reported from other groups over the country. It is not easy to become a member of this group. When a person has expressed a desire to achieve sobriety and has had a sponsor appointed for him, he must leave his work or position for at least two weeks. Usually the prospect is required to spend that entire time within the confines of the club rooms, studying, preparing a case history, meeting and filling assignments laid out by the sponsor. If, after two weeks, he has discharged his assignments to the satisfaction of his sponsor, he is brought before the executive committee and there his request for membership is presented by his sponsor in his presence. In some instances, because of the peculiarity of the case, he may not be admitted for varying periods as high as six months in some cases. However, if he is deemed eligible by the committee, he is brought before the next meeting, receives a warm welcome, is handed a copy of the "Approach Program" and the 12 Steps.

This is not all, however. We do not simply say, "Now here you are, you have had it all, go your way, and may God bless you." No, we do not cut him off in mid-air, so to speak. We give him a small diary and ask that each day thereafter for 28 days, he record his impressions of the day, any event, whether a happy one or a sad one, and enter therein, "I have not taken a drink this day," and sign his name. At the end of this period he returns the diary to the club, is again welcomed and is admitted to full membership, the privilege of the ballot and an unrestricted part in the activities of the fellowship. He is then assigned to a squad, given some definite task, and encouraged to work, guided by some older member, with new prospects. In dealing with the new man, there are other procedures. First of all, in addition to being required to adhere strictly to the assignments required by his sponsor, he serves his apprenticeship in what is known as "The Prospect Squad." Here he learns from a squad leader various phases of the work of A.A., mingles with other neophytes, hears their experiences and contributes his own. If he needs guidance or advice this is where he gets it, along with other new men, seeking the way out. There is the "slip squad," where the man who has suffered a setback, no matter how severe or how light, must serve from two weeks to six months before he is again recognized as a full-fledged member. Often the slippee is assigned tougher, more strenuous assignments than when he first was admitted. Here he discusses the slip freely with those men, who like himself, have "missed the boat" somewhere down the line. He tries to find out why he made the mistake and learns again that "to err is only human" and that a slip in the beginning is not uncommon, certainly not fatal. The executive committee is comprised of representatives from each squad. The squads meet once a week on nights other than the regular meeting and transact the actual business of the Fellowship. We spend much time in planning and executing the new man's graduation from the freshman stage. We carry him slowly and carefully through the "Prospect Squad"; admit him to membership; keep our contacts with him through that critical period, the first month or so, through his daily diary; put him in a squad after he becomes a full member and then if he slips, put him through again (and again if necessary) by way of the "Slip Squad." Credit is due the State Hospital and Fort Roots, one of the Southwest's largest veterans' hospitals, where we have complete cooperation from the entire staff of doctors and psychiatrists. From Fort Roots especially, come more and more men, having been told by the psychiatrists, "We can do nothing more for you, your best bet is A.A. It works." The courts of law in Arkansas in general and Little Rock in particular without exception lend a willing ear and helping hand to unfortunates who stand before the court and even so much as intimate that they would like to quit drinking. While we have gone far and progressed much, no small amount of credit is due to all these factors plus the attitude of all business men of this city. G.H.B. Little Rock, Arkansas” (AA Grapevine September 1947)

A successful group perhaps, in the eyes of the individual who wrote the article, though not for overall AA unity and public relations.

The Little Rock group was one of the mail order groups which started on its own, with “no personal contact with AA” (Bill W. The Language of the Heart page 64); Bill W had already published numerous Grapevine articles stating overall AA policy including “Rules’ Dangerous but Unity Vital”, “Twelve suggested points for AA Tradition” “Clubs in AA.” (The Language of the Heart pp 6, 20, 46) After the Little Rock plan article was published Bill stressed the Traditions in his Memphis talk in September 1947, urging all AA members to “strive for humility before success and unity before fame.” He then spent the next twelve months explaining each tradition in detail in the AA Grapevine. (The Language of the Heart pp 67-94)

The plan was well out of step with the fellowship as a whole at the time, and AA Traditions. I wonder how many AA groups today are modelling themselves on this plan, instead of modelling themselves on the experience of AA Tradition. And, tragically mistaken in belief that that’s what AA groups were like in the 1940s overall. To place this plan outside of its archival context and with AA traditions, in a modern book designed to lead a new AA generation, would be a hilarious mistake if its catastrophic consequences for AA unity and public relations were not so tragic. To select local or isolated pieces of factual AA history from the 1940s and to place them outside their context with the whole timescale and whole fellowship is misleading. To then deliver them in a way that implies that they are representative of the whole of AA at the time, under the heading “Lessons from Experience” is dangerous.

The Little Rock plan is an example of a group where the principles AA Traditions are totally inverted. A loud lesson in what not to do: Membership rules, requirements, organised dictatorship, militaristic squads, coercion for newcomers to take time off work to study, coercion for them meet requirements of assignments set by their sponsors, punitive behaviour, affiliation with a club.

I don’t think one has to look too far to see that some groups are modelling themselves on this plan or variations of it. This has already set in motion a similar trend in chaotic public relations and unity as was in the fellowship in the 1940s. Considering this, I think the “Home Group: Heart beat of AA” should be immediately withdrawn from sale until a full risk assessment is made on its influence on AA unity and public relations. Either AA literature is to lead the new generation to a secure future on Traditions, or we can experience what was with a dry drunk’s Little Rock plan:

“Soon the pins on our office wall map showed AA groups springing up like mushrooms. Most of them had no experienced guidance whatever. Their worries and problems were endless. Moochers mooched, lonely hearts pined, committees quarreled, new clubs had unheard-of headaches, orators held forth, groups split wide open, members turned professional, selling AA by the copy, sometimes whole groups got drunk, local public relations went haywire--such was our truly frightening experience. (Extract from “How AA’s World Services Grew Part II Bill W. AA Grapevine June 1955, The Language of the Heart page 149)

“From 1940 to 1950, we were beset by group problems of every sort, frightening beyond description. Out of these experiences the Twelve Traditions of AA were forged. . .traditions that now protect us against ourselves and the world outside. This effort, requiring immense office correspondence and experience, finally resulted in a whole new literature dealing with AA's unity and services. Under these influences we grew solid.” (“Guardian of A.A. – Our General Service Conference, AA Grapevine April 1958 , The Language of the Heart pp 168-169)

“Meanwhile thousands of our members went serenely about their business. They knew little or nothing about AA's over-all problems. They vaguely supposed that God, with maybe a slight assist from Dr. Bob and me, would go right on handling them. Thus they were completely ignorant of the actual state of our affairs, and of the awful potential there was for an ultimate collapse. (“Guardian of A.A. – Our General Service Conference, AA Grapevine April 1958, The Language of the Heart page 169)”

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Links and downloads

Examining Treatment Use Among Alcohol-Dependent Individuals from a Population Perspective

Psychological medicine. Treatment of alcoholism

The Patient Recovering from Alcohol or Drug Addiction: Special Issues for the Anesthesiologist

Predictive Factors for Relapse after an Integrated Inpatient Treatment Programme for Unipolar Depressed and Bipolar Alcoholics

See also Links and downloads

Alcoholics Anonymous' very first BDSM group!

Yep! Introducing AA's first (or as far as we can tell) full-blown, full-on BDSM group!

(Goodness! Fancy getting a cult sponsor in this group! Lends a whole new meaning to their mantra: “Do exactly what your sponsor tells you!")

According to the Online Intergroup (Alcoholics Anonymous) the group in question “NonVanilla” is:

“A closed group for those in the lifestyle of BD/sm. An AA, topic-based group that shares it's experience, strength and hope. Topics from the text of AA. This group adheres to the traditions of AA and endeavors to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Any Pending Memberships over 72 hours will be declined for lack of response. “

(Oooooh! Doesn't that “closed group” experience just make you shiver all over!)

The Online Intergroup itself seems to have no clearly defined link with the existing AA service structure. When we contacted GSO New York to find out whether this was in fact a “Vanilla” Intergroup they confirmed it was ….. (although shortly afterwards they went all sulky and refused any further comment!) but the precise nature of its interaction with AA remains something of a mystery. Some of the groups listed seem to be associated with a geographical location but a lot don't... and some of the groups it includes are just plain weird – the weirdest being …. the above!

Of course this bizarre example is simply a logical culmination of all the other “special interest/special purpose” groups that have come into existence over the years: women only, men only, gays only, newcomers only, young people's only, old 'lags' only (all up until recently carrying the oxymoronic tag “non-restrictive” although even this faint nod in the direction of inclusiveness seems to have been abandoned completely with these groups foregoing this last flimsy dissemblance, and hypocrisy now being made manifest in all its abhorrent glory!) Still that's what happens when the AA 'lawyers' try to reconcile the irreconcilable, and with the resulting 'lash up' satisfying nobody! Perhaps the easier softer way would be just to stick by our principles in the first place! Too obvious a solution? Probably! But maybe we should try it sometime anyway!

So who can really argue with a BDSM group! Come to think of it maybe they're on to something! Who needs “freedom from the bondage of self” when you can get someone else to tie you up! And we can think of quite a few members who we'd quite happily 'ball gag' for some considerable period of time! Just think of all the sponsorship (control) freaks, service bores, gratitude junkies, bleeding deacons, Big Book 'experts', programme 'lecturers' (Primary Purpose/Back to Basics/Visions/Roadies etc circuit speaker brigade) who would benefit from a prolonged period of enforced silence ....... not to mention the rest of us! Hang on! Where IS this group? Can we join? Oh please let us join?!

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Have you heard the joke about the sadist and the masochist?..... No! OK. Well once upon a time a sadist and a masochist got together for a bit of hanky panky (a match made in heaven you would think!) The sadist takes the masochist back to their apartment and after a few unspeakable preliminaries ties the masochist to the bed and is standing poised over him/her with a whip. The masochist is by now writhing in pleasurable anticipation and begs the sadist to beat him/her. The sadist looks down thoughtfully at the masochist whilst flexing the leather crop in his/her hand. After a long silence, which seems to last an eternity, the sadist leans forward and softly whispers: …...... “No!"