See here for original blog entry
Under Readers' comments.
We quote:
“AA
Grapevine - Guy - Oct 13th 2009
One
only needs to read the Grapevine to see and feel that independent
thought is accepted and that the unpopular view is there and is
valued. Grab a handful of them and scan the articles and see for
yourself. Some of the topics in here are also explored in this
publication. Now what your home group is doing can be a different
matter. If you don't like the way you see AA being applied in the
group you attend start your own group. There is some self acclaimed
AA Gurus in my Home Group. I call them 'the prescribers' as they
always share in a way that says your program is not the program and I
have it and you better get it or else. These people assume you need
the book interpreted for you, they report on there sponsees progress
and during there 'shares keep the focus off themselves or saying
anything about there problems because they can't allow anyone to view
them as anything but PERFECT AA. Bill W. also addresses a this
attitude in THE BEST OF BILL. So I went to the Group Conscience and
got approval to have a Grapevine meeting once a week. None of the
Gurus come to it, I am happy.”
“AA
supervised by professionals - Mary - Oct 12th 2009
…....
said that he felt AA should be supervised by professionals, but as a
17 year sober member of the fellowship it would scare me that the
"professionals" chosen would inevitably be the same kind of
power-driven AAers that seem to go into the treatment field. I
actually agree with the folks that point out that abuse occurs,
especially within the sponsor/sponcee relationship; but my fear is
that a "moderated" AA would be no different from the
treatment center I lived in for 10 months when I was newly sober,
homeless, and almost without hope. The place was bordering on a
cult, because I couldn't leave due to circumstances, we were
controlled completely (I was even grilled because I enjoyed the
Fantasy and Sci Fi genra in books, accused of wanting to live in a
fantasy world) and we were ruled by fear of the two ladies in charge
using things we said in our therapy sessions against us in community
to humiliate us into compliance. I never want to be in a situation
like that again. I am fortunate, I have a sponsor who is not
controlling, I could not have survived much more hard control after
what I went through prior to sobriety. Other people seem to seek out
very controlling people to dictate their life and put them down
because they are told that is what AA has to be. It is not what AA
has to be, but we have a very bad paradigm that takes over and
spreads through treatment centers and via the disgusting circuit
speaker worshipping that goes on. I am an AA member who sees some of
the problems being discussed here and I strive to not be a part of
those problems, and I don't attend meetings that are a part of those
problems.
I
do support AA because it offered me a freedom in sobriety that I
didn't have in that treatment center for 10 months, I can share with
other people and grow without the fear and control. I support my
home group and some other groups, and sponsor a couple of women
(people who want a dictator usually don't want me as a sponsor) but I
honestly do wish AA would do its own inventory. I don't see
attending my kindly home group as something to be ashamed of,
something that makes me some kind of freak that doesn't know how to
live. People attend all kinds of social groups, there is no shame
because this one is AA. I think that is the worst thing that pops up
in this discussion, that if someone chooses to have AA and AA people
as a part of their life that it makes them less of a person than
someone who doesn't. We may need a little bit of middle ground. “
(our
edits)
Cheers
The
Fellas (Friends
of Alcoholics Anonymous)
PS
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