Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (contd)

aacultwatch's perspective on:

The AA (General Service conference approved) book:

“Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions: A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous tells how members recover and how the society functions”

(an almost as wildly discursive commentary as our 'take' on the Big Book)

This tome is much reviled in cult circles (especially amongst the Big Book nutters who regard it as almost heretical! (A point of interest: if you're looking for meetings largely free of the aforementioned 'fruitcakes', and for that matter sundry other screwballs, then a Twelve Step meeting following the format of the above text is usually a safe bet). The text we will be using is as indicated above. And now we come to the:

Introduction

“Introduction

Alcoholics Anonymous first published Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in 1953. Bill W., who along with Dr. Bob S. founded Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935, wrote the book to share 18 years of collective experience [ie. Bill had got a bit of time under his belt and was in a position to reflect more 'soberly' on recovery. You won't find any 'rocketing' or 'Disneyland' recovery here! Hence the cult's hostility...] within the Fellowship on how A.A. members recover, and how our society functions.

In recent years some members and friends of A.A. have asked if it would be wise to update the language, idioms, and historical references in the book to present a more contemporary image for the Fellowship [as always we would argue substance takes precedence over “image” highlighting yet another divergence from cult philosophy (?) which operates in precisely the opposite mode]. However, because the book has helped so many alcoholics find recovery, there exists strong sentiment within the Fellowship against any change to it. In fact, the 2002 General Service conference discussed this issue and it was unanimously recommended that: “The text in the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, written by Bill W., remain as is, recognizing the Fellowship’s feelings that Bill’s writing be retained as originally published.” [see p. 3]

We hope that the collective spiritual experience of the A.A. pioneers captured in these pages [ie. these perspectives don't simply represent the views of Bill W alone – see above for the the General Service Conference's ratification] continues to help alcoholics and friends of A.A. understand the principles of our program.”

(our observations in red print)

(our emphases)

Coming next - Foreword

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)