Common assault!

The above appeared in our Twitter notifications together with a question addressed to us as to its veracity. Since we hadn't published the piece nor know of its source we can't say absolutely. Although we're somewhat shocked at its content we can't say we're really that surprised. It's simply the logical extension of the cult's increasingly dictatorial practices. The newcomer really isn't to blame. Clearly her self-esteem is so low that she thinks it perfectly acceptable for her so-called sponsor to commit a common assault on her... for that's what it is. A common assault: a criminal act punishable with a possible prison term. It would seem that some newcomers confuse humility with humiliation or have been persuaded that somehow being ordered around (and apparently abused) by a sponsor constitutes some part of the AA recovery programme. Well it doesn't …. Such abuses are completely unacceptable and members should make it clear both to the newcomers involved and the perpetrators in no uncertain terms that this is the case. We can only assume that the members present at the meeting where this admission was made smiled simply because they didn't know how otherwise to react. Or at least we hope so. The only other possible explanations are either that they have become so desensitised they no longer care or perhaps, worse still, they actually condone this conduct. The proper course of action would have been to inform the police immediately. If this had taken place in a meeting would there have been any doubt about what to do? The guidelines are very clear with regard to abusive conduct (see 16). Perhaps the members who were present at the meeting might like to take action instead of sitting by and permitting this kind of abuse to continue!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS The above information was reported to have come from a London meeting. We'd be interested to get more details on this perhaps with a view to notifying the police ourselves