We
quote:
"Fellas,
In the past I have provided you with information on the impact of "Sobriety Courts" and their slavish addiction to the requirement that probationers return to court with signed court slips to "prove" they have attended AA. This practice has absolutely no basis in the methods of the Big Book and breaks at least 6 Traditions. It has resulted in near constant problems in Unity, Singleness of Purpose, anonymity, sanctity of a Closed Meeting and definition of a member of AA.
Recently associates of mine presented a document on the entire system and the problems created to New York General Service Office. The document made the following points:
--Traditions are being broken.
--Existing members had no reasonable promise that their anonymity would not be broken.
--Groups and meetings were folding.
--Private invite meetings were being formed to avoid the above reference problems.
--The method of coercing probationers was in direct contradiction to the methods presented in the Big Book. Therefore, many were actually having their potential recovery delayed or prevented by the practices.
--The majority of Probationers were not alcoholic and therefore did not need the service provided in an AA meeting.
--Having many attendees without a need or a desire for sobriety had, over time, changed the culture of AA.
--After 3 decades of the Courts sending in excess of 100,000 probationers per year to AA in North America the overall census of AA remains stagnant in that same geographic area. This would seem to confirm that few actual recoveries were being created by the process. Certainly not at the levels claimed by the courts and some AA members.
--AA members have misused the autonomy clause of the 4th Tradition to justify Affiliation with an outside entity, while this was done with the best of intentions it has been incredibly damaging none the less.
The purpose of the submission was to get the issue addressed at the next Conference (end of April 2018). NY GSO saw great merit in the findings we presented. They agree it is a complex situation that will require thoughtful consideration prior to presentation at the Conference. To accomplish that they formed a sub Committee to study and make recommendations. We are hopeful that they will follow through on their commitment and that real support for righting the ship will be provided. Such support could come in the form of "Conference Recommendation" or a complete over haul of the existing Guideline on Cooperation with the Courts. That Guideline was created in the mid sixties and has never had a major edit in spite of the monumental changes to "Sobriety Courts" across the land.
As always I provide this information to assist my brothers and sisters in addressing similar problems in real time. If you allow these changes to occur in your groups and wait until the problems manifest themselves; you will have a devil of time putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
Your correspondent from the US
Thanks,
John"
Comment: It's really quite amazing how much trouble can be caused by those AA 'promoters' (ie. the ego driven) whose activities are accelerating AA along a path to terminal decline. No doubt at the latter stages (when it's too late) they will raise the defence of 'good intentions' a well-known ploy of the stupid and irresponsible, and of those who have never really troubled themselves with AA tradition. You have been warned!
Cheers
The Fellas (Friends of ALcoholics Anonymous)
PS Thanks to our correspondent. Keep up the good work!
"Fellas,
In the past I have provided you with information on the impact of "Sobriety Courts" and their slavish addiction to the requirement that probationers return to court with signed court slips to "prove" they have attended AA. This practice has absolutely no basis in the methods of the Big Book and breaks at least 6 Traditions. It has resulted in near constant problems in Unity, Singleness of Purpose, anonymity, sanctity of a Closed Meeting and definition of a member of AA.
Recently associates of mine presented a document on the entire system and the problems created to New York General Service Office. The document made the following points:
--Traditions are being broken.
--Existing members had no reasonable promise that their anonymity would not be broken.
--Groups and meetings were folding.
--Private invite meetings were being formed to avoid the above reference problems.
--The method of coercing probationers was in direct contradiction to the methods presented in the Big Book. Therefore, many were actually having their potential recovery delayed or prevented by the practices.
--The majority of Probationers were not alcoholic and therefore did not need the service provided in an AA meeting.
--Having many attendees without a need or a desire for sobriety had, over time, changed the culture of AA.
--After 3 decades of the Courts sending in excess of 100,000 probationers per year to AA in North America the overall census of AA remains stagnant in that same geographic area. This would seem to confirm that few actual recoveries were being created by the process. Certainly not at the levels claimed by the courts and some AA members.
--AA members have misused the autonomy clause of the 4th Tradition to justify Affiliation with an outside entity, while this was done with the best of intentions it has been incredibly damaging none the less.
The purpose of the submission was to get the issue addressed at the next Conference (end of April 2018). NY GSO saw great merit in the findings we presented. They agree it is a complex situation that will require thoughtful consideration prior to presentation at the Conference. To accomplish that they formed a sub Committee to study and make recommendations. We are hopeful that they will follow through on their commitment and that real support for righting the ship will be provided. Such support could come in the form of "Conference Recommendation" or a complete over haul of the existing Guideline on Cooperation with the Courts. That Guideline was created in the mid sixties and has never had a major edit in spite of the monumental changes to "Sobriety Courts" across the land.
As always I provide this information to assist my brothers and sisters in addressing similar problems in real time. If you allow these changes to occur in your groups and wait until the problems manifest themselves; you will have a devil of time putting the toothpaste back in the tube.
Your correspondent from the US
Thanks,
John"
Comment: It's really quite amazing how much trouble can be caused by those AA 'promoters' (ie. the ego driven) whose activities are accelerating AA along a path to terminal decline. No doubt at the latter stages (when it's too late) they will raise the defence of 'good intentions' a well-known ploy of the stupid and irresponsible, and of those who have never really troubled themselves with AA tradition. You have been warned!
Cheers
The Fellas (Friends of ALcoholics Anonymous)
PS Thanks to our correspondent. Keep up the good work!
It is also in violation of the First Amendment since it is state mandated "religious" practice. Lower US courts have ruled that AA is sufficiently "religious" to fall under these guidelines.
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