AA MINORITY REPORT 2017 (revised)

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Saturday 9 August 2014

Conference questions (2014) – almost! (contd)


40. Do the Yellow Card and Anonymity Tent Card contradict our Primary Purpose? Would it help us carry AA’s message to have a more accurate table‐top reminder of the need to respect personal anonymity?

Intent While it is vital that we respect the anonymity of the people we see in AA meetings, not everything we hear in AA meetings ought to be kept secret, contrary to the Yellow Card (“What you hear here...let it stay here”) and Anonymity Tent Card (“Treat in confidence...what you hear”). These cards may be working against our primary purpose ‐ much of message we should carry to the still‐suffering alcoholic derives from what we hear in meetings. We are not a secret society, but the repeated misrepresentation of Traditions 11 and 12, reinforced at virtually every AA meeting by these cards, may be part of the reason we are sometimes perceived as one, and often act like one. Perhaps it would better serve us to have a more accurately worded, Conference approved table‐top card on the need to respect personal anonymity.

Background: Yellow Card (“Let it stay here”). Anonymity Tent Card. Traditions 5, 11, 12”

Comment: Most members discover pretty early on that the Yellow Card isn't worth the …..well .. the card it's written on! If we had a pound for every time we've heard someone say: “I know it's a yellow card matter but …...” we'd be rolling in it! The fact is that AA members already disregard the card (sometimes for good reasons, sometimes not) whenever they see fit. Similarly most members can distinguish between gossip (usually malicious) and what constitutes useful information to be passed on where appropriate. Moreover there are some things going on in meetings which we believe should be communicated not only to other AA members but to the public at large. Hence the aacultwatch site. Of course guidelines already exist as to what may or may not be appropriate to share in meetings. (See Alcoholics Anonymous, How It Works, p. 58):

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now.”

(our emphasis)

If members follow this advice, and avoid the disclosure of personal information which they'd rather not leave the room, then that's the end of the problem. It really is rather naïve to expect AA members to observe standards of confidentiality which usually only apply at a professional level (ie. doctor/patient relationship) where these communications take place in a semi-public setting. The best means of ensuring that that information goes no further is simply not to share it in the first place. It is simply disingenuous to claim on one hand that AA is full of 'sick people trying to get better' and then assume that they will always act according to the strictest standards of probity on the other! What people SHOULD do and what they DO do are not necessarily the same thing! If a member feels the need to communicate on a more private level they can, of course: “search [their] acquaintance for a close-mouthed, understanding friend” (op. cit, p. 74). End of problem!

See here for a full list of other questions that didn't quite get through the 'filter'

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Of course with the cult you can forget any kind of confidentiality. It's by no means uncommon for a sponsee's Step Four to be passed up the chain of command for discussion – under the guise of consulting with a whole hierarchy of sponsors. On one occasion a cult member even tried to blackmail an acquaintance of ours by threatening to disclose part of their Step Five. They picked the wrong guy! Our friend told them in no uncertain terms to f*** o**!

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