Drunk with power: Inside a rogue Syracuse AA group

Comment: This group exemplifies the kind of conduct characteristic of a cult (although standing at the more extreme end of the spectrum). However plenty of other examples can be found within AA where groups are personality driven (usually by individuals exhibiting narcissistic traits), micro-managed and displaying exploitative and abusive conduct mostly directed at newcomers. Such conduct (and groups) should not be tolerated

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA's Ultraconservatives Invade the Middle East

We quote:

“As a newcomer in Alcoholics Anonymous back in the 90’s, I remember being on the lookout for anything that I thought was even remotely cult-ish. I thought if I spotted something, it might just be my ‘get out of AA free card.’ While I needed to get my court card signed and may have even wanted to learn how to control and enjoy my drinking, I sure as hell didn’t want to join a cult or find God. So at the beginning of the meeting when they read the Twelve Traditions and everyone chanted in unison ‘principles before personalities’ I thought, WTF have I gotten myself into?! The chanting and the holding of hands at the end when the serenity prayer was recited in unison seemed like something straight out of the Jonestown Massacre.

After six more years of hard drinking and sixteen years of sobriety after that (weekends and holidays included) I now realize that our Traditions are actually what prevent us from becoming a cult and that they have actually kept us from going the way of the long defunct Washingtonians and the Oxford Group. So when I heard about the cult-like activities happening here in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and about how our Traditions were being routinely and systematically violated, I was shocked. If I had even heard rumors about what is currently happening in the Fellowship back then, when I was a newcomer, I would have used it as a ‘get out of AA free card’ for sure.

Like other extremists, the ultra-orthodox among us pine for a time when the ideals that set our spiritual movement in motion were ‘pure.’ They want to ‘get back to basics’ by working the AA program in the way they believe it was before it became ‘corrupted’ and ‘diluted’ by Hazelden Treatment Centers, self-help books and new age philosophy. Like all zealots, the leaders of these groups in AA claim a lineage to the founding members which they say makes their way, the only true path to salvation.

And now, thanks to a host of workshops and local proselytes in the Persian Gulf who preach a lock-step interpretation of the AA doctrine, this form of spiritual extremism has been brought to the Middle East, a corner of the world all to familiar with those of their ilk. What’s sadly ironic is that while these hardliners from the Pacific & Atlantic Groups in our midst long to get ‘back to basics’ and consider themselves a ‘By The Book Group,’ they have actually pushed aside one of our main textbooks, The Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions, in order to do so. They are violating, in both letter and spirit, most of our Traditions including One, Two, Five, Eight, Ten, Eleven and Twelve.

Tradition One states that our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on AA unity. While their intentions may be good, these fanatics are destroying the most cherished quality our society has - unity. They are doing this by differentiating themselves from what they call ‘mainstream AA’ or ‘AA Lite.’ While most of us identity ourselves as ‘alcoholics’ or ‘recovering alcoholics’ they are, on the other hand, self-professed ‘recovered alcoholics.’ They are ‘recovered’ because unlike the rest of us who are just recovering, they are actually working the program as it was supposed to be worked, like they did back in 1935 (or even pre-Big Book) when it was ‘pure.’ This creates an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ dynamic that gives these sponsorship cult members a false sense of spiritual superiority, of ‘better than’ recovery that is splitting our Fellowship apart.

Tradition Two states that for our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. Within these extremist groups in AA, sponsors govern the lives of their sponsees. If obligations are not met, calls not made at exact times or detailed, daily inventories not delivered into inboxes when they should be, there are punishments to be doled out, usually in the form of the sponsee not being able to proceed with the step he is on or not allowing him to move on to the next step, a sort of spiritual blackmail that governs their lives by their ultimate authority - their sponsor. Sponsors in other Fellowships such as NA are also strictly forbidden.

Tradition FIve states that each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. These ‘back to basics’ groups in AA violate this tradition by insisting that their sponsees buy workbooks that are not conference approved literature. The workbooks, may not be photocopied nor may they be passed on to another alcoholic. All sales proceeds go to their maker, not to AA as a whole. Carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers does not mean selling it to him for profit. Nor does it mean targeting newcomers, the most psychologically vulnerable of all which is what one ‘by the book’ group is doing in a major metropolitan area by falsely advertising their praetorian gatherings as beginner meetings (the only two such meetings listed for this particular area).

Tradition Eight states that Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional but our service centers may employ special workers. These splinter groups within AA seem to have forgotten the ancient words used in this tradition, ‘freely ye have received, freely give’ and that ‘at the point of professionalism, money and spirituality do not mix.’ Leaders of these fundamentalist groups often set up foundations with slightly modified AA symbols on them to hoodwink the unsuspecting and channel profits from the sale of their workbooks, personal programs (and even an AA board game in the case of Wayne B.) into their pockets. They fly around the world, all expenses paid on the AA speaker circuit - famous in their anonymity. In so professionalizing the 12th Step, they have defeated our singleness of purpose, opting instead to exploit the AA name for personal prestige, power and money.

Tradition Ten states that Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name out never be drawn into public controversy. These sponsorship cults seem to have forgotten the fate of the Washingtonians, a precursor to AA. While they once had a membership of over 100,000, their opinions on outside issues destroyed them. In much the same way, these sepratist groups in AA have an opinion on a variety of outside issues that range from the very dangerous practice of non-medical personnel restricting the use of antidepressants and other prescribed medications for members who suffer from mental illness to policing the use of profanity and even telling sponsees how they ought to dress.

Tradition Eleven states that our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films. Leaders of these sponsorship cults are heavy self-promoters with their own websites, foundations and self-help books. The essence of this tradition is self-denial, not self aggrandisement as practiced by those on the AA speaker circuit selling their own version of recovery.

Tradition Twelve states that anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities. These AA gurus lead cults of personality that routinely break anonymity by using their first and last names at meeting level. While only using their first names and last initials at the level of press, radio, films and on social media, they have nevertheless become household names in AA and in the case of Clancy I., Wayne B. and Wally P. deity like figures within the Fellowship. Like all cult leaders they demand absolute submission and compliance to their dogma. Any resistance is dismissed as self-will which will inevitably doom the one rebelling to surely drink again. These practices are the antithesis of Tradition Twelve. Just as we couldn’t afford to have any self-appointed messiahs representing AA when the Twelve Traditions were written in 1952, nor can we afford to have them with us today.

Therefore, for the sake of unity and for our own collective survival, groups that violate any of the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous in word or in spirit should not be associated or linked with those who do not. Any use of the AA name, logo or listing on an AA website should be banned by those breaking the Traditions that bind us together.”

Comment: All sounds VERY familiar

Our thanks to our correspondent

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous) 

Suggested reading:  https://aaminority.blogspot.com/

Questions and Answers on Sponsorship

Having given the AA preamble the 'once over' recently we thought we'd apply the same approach to the booklet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship”. This piece of AA (conference approved) literature as you can see is available free online (as is most of our literature with the exception of various books (but see the “Big Book” (“Alcoholics Anonymous”) and the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions).

Sponsorship means many things to many people. Generally it has a benign impact but in the hands of the cult it has become a weapon of control, widely abused, and barely recognisable when compared with its exposition in AA literature (eg. “Alcoholics Anonymous” Chapter Seven - Working With Others, the above booklet etc). It's interesting to note that those groups (Roadies, Joys of Recovery, Back to Basics, Primary Purpose blah blah blah) who lay such stress (ad nauseam) on the benefits (even necessity) of sponsorship (or some kind of recovery 'expert') rarely if ever make reference to these texts (eg. Joe and Charlie in their so-called Big Book study virtually ignore the above chapter from the Big Book). The reasons why become clear when you contrast their approach with those recommended by AA generally. Fortunately anyone conversant with the relevant sections can easily avoid falling into the trap of being stuck with a cult control freak (and the nightmare that generally follows from such associations!), or, once “armed with the facts”, can extricate themselves without too much difficulty from the unwholesome clutches of these warped individuals. At this point we'd like to draw your attention to some important principles: Step Three; two of the three “pertinent ideas” b) and c) (BB, Chapter Five); Tradition 12 (as well as the section discussing Step Three in the Big Book):

Step 3: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”

Note: This step does NOT say “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over the care of our sponsor.”

Again in Chapter Five, How It Works (online edition, p. 60): 

“(b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism;

(c) That God could and would if He were sought.”

(our emphases)

ie. “no human power” (including a sponsor) is going to sort this problem out. On the contrary it will require the intervention of a Greater Power (howsoever this may be conceived) to produce the required results. 

Tradition 12: 

“Twelve—Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” (short form) 

“12.—And finally, we of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility. This to the end that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all.” (long form)

(our emphases)

Again the principles of the fellowship and recovery programme are of far greater significance than any personal (and therefore necessarily partial) interpretation offered by the local 'guru', 'super sober', circuit speaker, Big Book 'expert' etc. Each member of AA is responsible for their OWN recovery and for no one else's. We repeat – no sponsor is going to fix you. Your recovery is dependent on you and your own conception of a Power greater than yourself.

Finally if you take a couple of minutes to read Step Three in the Big Book (Chapter Five, pp. 60-62) you will find a perfect description of a control freak in action

Since the booklet itself is some 32 pages long (and we're more than enthusiastic advocates of “Easy Does It” and “First Things First”!) we'll be dissecting it in easy stages over the next few weeks (commencing tomorrow).

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

aaminority

A new website (aaminority) has been set up devoted to publicising the AA Minority Report. All relevant links on our site now point you in that direction. 

We recommend that any and all AA members concerned about the future of our fellowship (and its increasingly parlous state) study the report and reflect on its implications for the future … and then hopefully take the necessary ACTION!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Protection from Harassment Act 1997

Should you have the misfortune to be thrust into contact with someone who can't take a hint or even a direct request to desist in their attentions eg. sundry control freaks, cult sponsors (same thing) etc then this piece of legislation might come in handy. This law “was always intended to tackle stalking, but the offences were drafted to tackle any form of persistent conduct which causes another person alarm or distress." (Home Office guidance):

Protection from Harassment Act 1997

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Safeguarding Standards in AA Fellowship: June 2018

Safeguarding Standards in AA Fellowship: June 2018

Comment: Good as far as it goes but insufficient to deal with institutionalised abuse in the case of cult groups. Moreover there are criminal (and civil) legal remedies for offences such as harassment and stalking. We will go into these in more detail in future posts 

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Complaints procedures:Smart Recovery UK and Alcoholics Anonymous – compare and contrast

Smart Recovery UK (complaints procedure)

From their site :

"Complaints 

UK SMART Recovery is committed to our meetings being safe, supportive and as effective as possible. We train and support meeting Facilitators and provide a range of materials to keep things on track, though as with any organisation, things can go wrong. This page describes how we handle concerns or complaints about any SMART Recovery meeting, volunteer or member of staff. 

Informal Complaints 

For minor grievances not related to safety or serious breaches of the Facilitators code of conduct, we would like to encourage a culture of informal problem solving. Most differences of opinion, mistakes or failings do not need to be taken through a complaint procedure, so we urge common sense and talking things through if no one is at risk of harm.

If the complaint is related to a particular meeting, please talk to the meeting Facilitator and explain the problem. If possible, point to the specific part of the meeting structure, code of conduct or failure to follow the SMART meeting model that is of concern. Facilitators need and deserve feedback and often this will make the difference you seek. If the meeting is under the Partnership scheme it would be appropriate to speak to Champions / staff of the host agency.

If this does not achieve the result you want, you could contact the Volunteer Regional Coordinator. These do not exist in every area yet, but it is worth checking the ‘Meet the Team’ section of the website. If there is no Volunteer Regional Coordinator or the matter is a little more complicated, you could talk to the National Coordinator (for England, Scotland or Wales). All these volunteers and staff will help you try to resolve problems and improve SMART Recovery. 

Formal complaints 

Stage 1 

If you are unable to resolve the issue informally or it is a serious issue, you should contact Central Office and address your complaint to The Executive Director.  In your letter you should set out the details of your complaint, the consequences for you as a result, and what you would like to see happen.  You can expect your complaint to be acknowledged within 5 working days of receipt. You should get a response and an explanation within 15 working days. 

Stage 2 

If you are not satisfied with the initial response to the complaint then you can write to the member of the Board of Trustees who has a lead responsibility to handle complaints, indicating you would like the issue to be reviewed. You can expect the Board member to acknowledge your request within 5 working days of receipt and a response within 15 workings days. 

Stage 3 

If you are not satisfied with the subsequent reply from nominated Board member, then you have the option of writing to the Chair of the Board of Trustees stating the reason why you are dissatisfied with the outcome. You must do this within 10 days of receiving the written response from the Board member.

The Chair will, as he or she sees fit, discuss this with the entire Board and respond normally within 10 working days to inform you of the action which will be taken to investigate your complaint, and when you can expect to hear the outcome of the investigation. 

Timescales 

We aim is to resolve all matters as quickly as possible. However, inevitably some issues will be more complex and therefore may require longer to be fully investigated. Consequently, timescales given for handling and responding to complaints are indicative. If a matter requires more detailed investigation, you will receive an interim response describing what is being done to deal with the matter, and when a full reply can be expected and from whom. 

Special cases

• If the complaint is about the actions of the Director of UK SMART Recovery, skip stage one and go straight to the nominated Board member as described in stage 2.
• If the complaint is about a Board member, skip stages 1 and 2 – go straight to the Chair of the Board.
• If the complaint is about the Chair, the entire Board or the overall behaviour of the charity (such as breaching charity rules), you should complain to the Chair. Optionally, you could also complain to the charity in the US, which gives the UK charity permission to use and develop SMART Recovery in this country, http://www.smartrecovery.org"

Alcoholics Anonymous Great Britain (complaints procedure)

Wait for it......

Wait for it …....

There is none...

Certainly the General Service Office (York) operates no such system... nor to the best of our knowledge does a single intergroup throughout the entire country. Some individual groups, however, do more actively apply the ever increasing volume of guidelines relating to bullying, abuse, sexual predation etc.. but these are few and far between... Otherwise the remainder just operate autonomously … or to put it another way … Dodge City style..... (especially cult groups who use Tradition Four as a licence to engage in pretty well any abuse they feel like … sexual predation, larceny..... stuff like that).

In the absence of any kind of effective protection in AA what recourse might there be for anyone who feels they have been the victim of this kind of abuse? Under English law a “duty of care” exists between individuals. If the various tests are satisfied there may be a basis for legal action against the perpetrator. Moreover (and perhaps more importantly) where an individual has been referred to AA (or even required to attend) by an outside agency (eg. health trust, GP, probation service, employer etc) and where as a consequence an individual feels that he or she has been subjected to any form of abuse legal proceedings may be instituted against the relevant service. Finally the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 affords some further protection:

Section 1 “prohibits a person from pursuing "a course of conduct" which "amounts to harassment of another" and which "he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other". A person is taken to know that conduct is harassment if "a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other".”

In the meantime faced with such a disparity between the two organisations in terms of the measures they have adopted to ensure the security of their attendees we find it hard to conceive anyone would opt for (or be referred by any professional agency being aware of the duty of care it owes its clients) AA under these circumstances.

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

A truly DEMOCRATIC intergroup

We quote:

“Hi Fellas, Good to see you back in action again! Don't know if my Intergroup's experience could be of help to any other out there who maybe suffering from an infestation of 'roads-to-untreated-alcoholism', or any other of the Oxford Group's manifestations.

When our IG was set up a few years ago we learnt from our neighbours who, over many years suffered from a cyclical takeover by one particular Group. They managed this by filling every officer position in the IG, so when we set up our IG we learnt from them (yes ANYTHING is possible in AA) and made our structure that ONLY GSRs had a vote thus precluding any one Group taking over the whole IG. The result has been a very friendly workable IG”

Comment: AA seems to be suffering from inflation - inflation in the number of 'officers' taking up positions in intergroups. The latter used to be able to function with maybe half a dozen... but they're multiplying – and each one has a vote. Moreover votes cast by IG officers (who vote only according to their own individual conscience) have equal weight to those cast by GSRs (who vote according to the conscience of their groups – which may number dozens of members). This is an inequity which should no longer be allowed to continue.

In our view the IG above has shown the way forward. End voting rights for IG officers. The latter should be regarded as a 'civil service' whose sole function is to implement the decisions made by the GSRs who in turn receive their INSTRUCTIONS from their group members. This is how AA is SUPPOSED to function. The AA groups have PRIMACY in the AA service structure. See below.

Thanks to our correspondent

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

A. A. Recovery Outcome Rates

See here

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Gresham's Law and Alcoholics Anonymous - a critique

“Gresham's Law and Alcoholics Anonymous” was originally published in July 1976 in "24 Magazine" (author unknown), and subsequently updated in 1993 by Tom P, Jnr.

(The essay itself – henceforth abbreviated to GLAA - can be accessed via the internet by putting the title in a search engine. There are a number of versions available but they differ mostly in format rather than content)

To clarify: Gresham's Law states essentially that "Bad money drives out good". In this context the “law” is cited to exemplify the view (propagated mostly by the fundamentalist tendencies both within and without AA, and including the Primary Purpose movement) that Alcoholics Anonymous' programme (and its application) has undergone a progressive weakening or dilution since the inception of the Fellowship, and this has been accompanied necessarily by a reduction in recovery rates. According to some sources this essay serves as one of the crucial supports to that argument. We were somewhat surprised, therefore, on reading the piece, to discover how much of it was based on the author's opinion, and how little upon any substantial evidence in support of its contentions. The few references to any kind of statistical data are, as far as we can discern, either unsupported by research (independent or otherwise) or gross misrepresentations (or perhaps, more charitably, misinterpretations) of these figures. As a work of speculation it has little merit; as an analysis it has none. 

Essentially the essay purports to demonstrate a number of factors which apparently “explain” why recovery rates (and quality of sobriety) are much reduced since the origination of AA in 1935.

Firstly the author asserts that in the early days of AA (ie. from its inception but prior to the publication of the book Alcoholics Anonymous in 1939) “a more rigorous and demanding” programme was practised, one largely derived from that of the Oxford Group, and which consisted of their initial framework of six steps plus the Four Absolutes. Moreover this approach placed a great deal more emphasis on belief and reliance upon God (the last term to be interpreted according to traditional orthodoxy since the Oxford Group was an attempt to return to (as they understood them) fundamentalist Christian principles), a practice which was intended to lead to a “spiritual experience”.

Secondly, that subsequently, the programme's presentation and application have been progressively “diluted” and “secularised”, its principles “sugar coated”, that it has translated from a “directive” to a “suggestive” mode of emphasis, and , moreover, the expression “spiritual experience” has been replaced by “spiritual awakening” as the primary objective - and consequence - of implementing the 12 Steps, and all this due to a shift within AA (by cause and effect) from the originally more demanding approach to the present largely watered down version.

The author of GLAA further argues that AA practitioners may be characterised as falling under three main categories: “strong”, “medium” and “weak” (and also, by analogy, “strong-cup-of-tea”, “medium-cup-of-tea”, or “weak-cup-of-tea” types). The “strong” variety represents those who adhere most closely to the programme in its 'original' form, and who place a greater emphasis on implementing its principles. The “weak” type is characterised by those who have substituted mere participation in the AA fellowship (ie. meeting attendance) but this accompanied by little or no application of its principles ie. the twelve Steps. Finally the “medium” category falls somewhere between these two extremes (the author also refers to the “weak” type as “COWD AA” (“copped-out and watered-down AA")).

Finally - and as a consequence - this “dilution” has resulted in falling recovery rates, and even when these are sustained it is asserted the quality of recovery, or “sobriety”, falls far short of what it could be.

It should be commented here that the first clue as to the author's flawed perspective, (and more revealing perhaps of his underlying bias) lies in his use of the “cup-of-tea” analogy:

“By 1941 (which was the year my father, Tom P. Sr., came into the Fellowship) it was possible to distinguish three variant practices of the AA program, which we have labeled the strong-cup-of-tea, medium-cup-of-tea and weak-cup-of-tea approaches.”

He later goes on to expand on these categories which may essentially be boiled down to his own summary: 

“There are three ways to work the program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

1. The strong original way - proved powerfully and reliably effective over fifty-eight years.

2. A medium way - not so strong, not so safe, not so sure, not so good, but still effective.”

And lastly, 

“3. A weak way, which turns out to be really no way at all but literally a heresy, a false teaching, a twisting and corruption of what the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous clearly stated the program to be.”

Firstly, the notion that these “variant practices” may be reduced to a comparison of “tea strengths” is dubious in itself. It cannot, for example, be asserted that there is any particular inherent virtue in whether tea be taken strong or weak; this is rather a matter of taste. It follows therefore that what the author may actually be illustrating in this presentation is not so much the efficacy of the respective practice but rather a reflection of his own predilections ie. his own tastes. Moreover, underlying his assumption that there can be only one effective way to practice the programme (the “strong-cup-of-tea” method) is the belief that every alcoholic must necessarily be of the same temperament, of the same constitution, at the same stage of the progression of the illness of alcoholism, and of course, and somewhat trivially, inclined towards the same tastes. This is quite patently a perspective at odds with actuality. For example, and as a comparison, it may be that an individual has a malign cancer. The condition may be labelled as a type of cancer, it may manifest in one part of the body or another - or many - and at varying degrees of development. No one is going to suggest that the treatment administered is necessarily to be identical for every patient. Rather the remedial action, where this is possible, is applied according to what is requisite rather than dependent merely on the inclination of the doctor, or at least we hope so. These variations are, in part, acknowledged within the author's “medium” category where the programme is practised with some vigour - but in a somewhat selective style - and with the caution that this practice may, over time, slip into the “weak-cup-of-tea” category. He does not seem, however, to consider the possibility (although this is implicit in his discussion of the “medium” approach) that practitioners of the programme might just as easily shift from “strong” to “weak” as in reverse (assuming of course that everyone needs to apply the “strong” or even “medium” approaches to remain sober in the first place).

However, this aside, we will now consider the line of his argument:

It is uncontested that there was a gap between the origins of AA and the publication of the basic text of our society, the book “Alcoholics Anonymous”. Moreover it is accepted that the original format of the programme derives from the Oxford Group (which is evident from the structure and wording of their own six step framework). Additionally his outline of the development of the Fellowship is non controversial. However where we are inclined to part company is with his subsequent interpretation of events leading to the “dilution” of the AA message.

At the outset he argues that the Twelve Steps as they were formulated: “contradict the secular psychological axiom that where the level of performance is low, you must set a low level of aspiration in order to gain a positive result in life”.

Furthermore: 

“According to the secular psychological view, the only practical approach for the early AA's to have taken would have been as follows: to put together a program which aimed certainly no higher than alcohol abstinence and a return to life as it had been in pre-alcoholic days, to life as ordinary men and women of the world.

However, these wild and woolly early AA's, these psychologically illiterate off-scouring and rubbish of the world, these newly-sobered-up drunks, set out to become totally committed men and women of God”.

It is evident from the above quotes that the author sets little store by ordinary psychological methods. This low valuation would seem to revolve around the stated “psychological axiom” (an axiom, to remind those of you who have forgotten, is a self evident truth, a universally received principle, a postulate, an assumption). For our part we are not aware of any such axiom nor do we consider the statement above to incorporate anything within it which is at all self evident. In fact it seems rather to be an expression of prejudice more than anything else. At best it can be considered an assumption, a simple speculation, but one as yet untested. Additionally the idea that anyone within a social science would be prepared to present such a statement as being “axiomatic”, when even those within the “hard” sciences (their subject matter being far more amenable to such generalisations) would hesitate to accord to a “fact” such weight, seems to us entirely beyond what is reasonably credible. Again we have to assume that this statement itself represents nothing more than an assumption, or more simply, an opinion. However, he goes on to argue (somewhat ironically), and in contradistinction to this limited “secular” approach, that these “newly-sobered-up drunks, set out to become totally committed men and women of God”. This, of course, immediately begs the question: If they were already sobered up then why was it necessary for them to commit themselves to God, or, for that matter, do anything more than they had already done? We have to assume, therefore, that this preliminary “sobriety” comprised no more than mere physical abstinence from alcohol, and did not meet all the other criteria constituting what he later on describes as “permanent recovery” (whatever that might be!) (It should be noted here that the term “sober” or “sobriety” within AA is applied sometimes to refer to physical abstinence, but also to the quality of life consequent upon that. The first is relatively easy to assess; it is objectively verifiable (or falsifiable). The latter, however, is rather a question of “value”, and therefore, by definition, impossible to “quantify”, other than indirectly, and by inference; we would argue finally it is a wholly subjective “fact”).

His argument proceeds in a similar ironical fashion, but now introducing the notion that the authors of the Big Book would need to “sugar coat” this pill if it were not to dissuade newcomers from accepting this “God-centered,, psychological heretical....” and so forth. Thereafter in his exposition the relevant passages are cited from the book 'Alcoholics Anonymous' including that section from Chapter Five: “Many of us exclaimed, “What an order....” through to “….. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” It is also proposed by the author of GLAA that Bill and Dr. Bob (the co-founders of AA) further “sugar-coated” the pill by their repeated use of the term “suggested” (and its variants) throughout the basic text in order to avoid “frightening new prospects”, and again an explanatory extract is presented from Chapter Five: "Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery" to support this argument.

However we are now informed that: 

“When the Twelve Steps were first being formulated by Bill and Dr. Bob and an editorial committee from Akron and New York - Bill, Dr. Bob and the entire committee conceived of the Steps as instructions, not as suggestions. When the idea of presenting the Steps as suggestions came up, Bill for a long time flatly opposed it.” But finally - and reluctantly - Bill agreed to the "suggestions" approach.

(It seems curious from the above (and unexplained) that where there was such apparent unanimity with respect to the “directive” approach out of of nowhere apparently comes the “suggestive” mode, and it is this latter which is subsequently adopted, though with some misgivings – allegedly – on the part by Bill W).

The author then goes on to assert the language employed in the first part of Chapter Five “would be utterly appropriate as a preamble to a set of action directions, but is not as nearly as fitting as an introduction to a group of suggestions.” He then goes on to quote that section: 

“Rarely have we seen a person …....... Here are the steps we took...”

together with his own emphases to exemplify this more “directive” approach.

The author of GLAA then proceeds to give a brief account of the early expansion of AA, and including the period when the Big Book was being written. Apparently it was at this time, and then seemingly quite spontaneously: “It suddenly became attractive, in a way it had not been before when the fellowship was smaller and more intimate, to ease up a bit on the idea that all the principles should be practised all the time by all the members. More and more emphasis began to be placed on the fact that the Steps were to be considered as suggestions only. At this time, and through this set of circumstances, the "cafeteria-style" - take-what-you-like- and-leave-the-rest-out - approach to the Twelve Steps came into practice.

And it seemed to work. It turned out that many newcomers could get sober and stay sober without anything like the full and intensive practice of the whole program that had been considered a life-or-death necessity in the early years. In fact alcoholics in significant numbers began to demonstrate that they could stay off booze on no more than an admission of powerlessness, some work with other alcoholics and regular attendance at AA meetings.

This is not to say that all AAs began to take this very permissive approach to the Twelve Steps. A great many continued to opt for the original, full-program approach. But now for the first time the workability of other, less rigorous approaches was established, and a tendency had emerged which was to become more pronounced as time went on.”

The author then outlines his categories, ie, strong, medium or weak AA.

In brief:

Strong – a thorough going and continuing implementation of the 12 Step programme in its entirety. ie. “Strong AA was the original, undiluted dosage of the spiritual principles.”

Medium – commencing perhaps with some verve, but subsequently employing an abridged version of the Steps, and generally easing up “....(due to encroachment of business engagements, social activities and other baggage that went along with the return to normal life in the workaday world).”

Weak – missing out “big chunks of the program totally and permanently. Their approach could be summarised as: "All you need to do to stay sober is go to meetings and stay away from the first drink".

Moreover, 

“....weak AAs who were successful in staying sober were pretty faithful meeting-goers. Since they were doing so little with the principles, their sobriety and their survival depended more exclusively than did those of the strong and medium AAs on constant exposure to the people of AA.”

He then goes on to argue that the medium approach is of some value, as a kind of springboard for the more “reluctant beginners”, but additionally that this can lead to “sliding back into weak AA”.

But: 

“Weak AA has none of the redeeming features of medium AA. Weak AA is clearly at odds with the program as outlined in the Big Book. Weak AAs bases itself on a flat and un-negotiable refusal to work with vital recovery principles. Weak AA cops out and stays copped out on most of the Twelve Steps. Weak AA waters down the program to the point where there really is no program. A more accurate term than "weak AA" would be "copped-out and watered-down AA" - COWD AA for short.”

Now the author wades into even deeper speculations:

According to his interpretation “COWD” AA has, over time, come to displace strong AA and its message. He proceeds to account for this tendency by the increasingly confident and strident approach of the COWD adherents, and upon the “more relaxed and tolerant, less strident, less defensive,” strong AA adherents. Gradually “weak AA” became the 'in' thing, and “strong AA came to be regarded - not universally, but widely - as a bit stodgy and a bit passé.”

Annoyingly, or so it would seem, the adherents of the weak version of AA were able to remain sober, and this despite the “....introduction to the Twelve Steps”, where it is stated, “we thought we could find an easier, softer way, but could not”, which “was an unequivocal assertion that it was necessary to practice all the Steps.”

And now we have reached 1993, and according to the author “precious few AAs continue to attempt seriously and consistently to do these things on a daily basis - not after their first months of sobriety in the Fellowship.”; “weak” or “COWD AA” is the order of the day.

But then the surprise. After an earlier claim, that “many” weak AA adherents are getting (and staying) sober, it now appears that this is no longer the case: “weak AA, in very many cases, really doesn’t work. Weak AA brings about a far less profound life alteration than strong AA does. In many cases, the change which weak AA produces is not enough to crack the alcoholic pattern, and results in an apparent recovery which does not last but sooner or later eventuates in a relapse into drinking. And in many cases where weak AA does succeed in producing lasting sobriety, these weakly sober AAs peter out into lives of depression, anxiety, bitter resentment and real despair, just like nearly all the other merely dried-out drunks in history.”

The above quote exemplifies the two (interrelated) interpretations of what constitutes sobriety, and moreover the manner in which the author of GLAA shifts from one to the other as the mood (and his argument) takes him. On one hand we have “sober” as in simple, physical abstinence, and on the other “sober” signifying a certain quality of life but contingent upon that physical abstinence. Moreover, there is no real precision advanced here for what constitutes the “many cases” in the above quote. We have to assume that it means a minority for otherwise the term should be replaced by “most” ie. as in “a majority”. But how large is this minority? If it is a small minority then surely this cannot be used as a support for the argument ie. the smaller the minority the less statistically valid that sample becomes. But no figures, not even approximations, are offered to support this assertion. We have to assume that if there were such data they would be cited but, and from its absence, we are left rather with a estimate based on nothing but the author's impression (or opinion). However, if this imprecision fails to generate much confidence, the subsequent analysis can only provoke an even greater sense of disappointment. Again we are presented with the term “many cases” ( but still undefined) where “weak AA”, although producing lasting sobriety ie. physical abstinence, leads only to an inferior quality of life. Even if one were to accept this was the case it is difficult to determine whether this undoubtedly miserable condition derives from failing to implement spiritual principles, or may depend rather on the objective circumstances of those concerned, or indeed upon their even more particular subjective condition i.e. underlying psychological states unrelated to prolonged alcohol abuse, or perhaps the emotional constitution of the individual in question. To apply a blanket diagnosis to all and sundry, and in such an indiscriminate fashion, simply exemplifies a overly simplistic assessment of the general - and particular - human condition. Or to sum it up: You can't blame it all on alcoholism.

The author moves on to expound further on the progressive undermining of the sudden “spiritual experience” mode, one which would result in “permanent abstinence [which] will automatically occur as a blessed and life-saving-by-product”, and further asserts that this was: “ how it happened with Bill. That was how it happened with Dr. Bob. That was how it happened with the first hundred members. That was how the authors of the Big Book saw it would have to happen with EVERYONE.” (our emphasis)

The point is then hammered home, equating such an experience with only one result, this to be summed up as: “no spiritual experience – no recovery.”

It is at this point in the discussion that the following 'insight' is presented: that a “major shift in [AA] philosophy occurred”. Apparently this was reflected in the respective roles of “recovery principles and the recovery Fellowship in AA”, this taking place apparently, “Sometime between 1939, when the [Cleveland] Plain Dealer articles were published, and 1941, when the [Jack] Alexander piece ran in the [Washington] Post”.

Essentially as the fellowship of AA grew in numbers so did the availability of contacts, and gradually recovery became based rather upon meetings' attendance than “undergoing a real spiritual conversion”. Here the AA member rather stayed sober “largely off the power of the pack”.

It is at this point in the exposition we are introduced to two more categories of alcoholics: 

“One, the sober-by-conversion alcoholics - those who, as the result of working the Steps, had had a spiritual experience and become transformed human beings, seriously involved with regenerative life and ideas, as contrasted with the two, sober-by-imitation alcoholics - those who had remained essentially the same type of people they had been before coming into AA, except that they had joined a new organization, made a new set of friends, and given up drinking in conformity to their new social setup”.

Moreover, the term “spiritual experience” came to be supplanted by that of “spiritual awakening” reflecting (according to the author of GLAA) the view that the former was “ too narrow and prejudicial against the less-profound life changes resulting from the mimesis-oriented AA, which were coming to be the majority recovery pattern in AA”, and he cites here the relevant section 'Appendix II Spiritual Experience' beginning with “The terms “spiritual experience” and “spiritual awakening” are used …. this conclusion is erroneous …..”

This section is contrasted with the more forthright exposition of “God-commitment” as exemplified at the beginning of Chapter Five. Although he himself expresses some recognition that such a qualification is itself to be welcomed, that spiritual change need not necessarily be in the form of some “sudden upheaval”, nevertheless this, together with the “clear, strong and unmistakable implication - by the indirect , defensive, almost apologetic treatment of the whole subject of religious and spiritual experience”, resulted in the aforementioned dilution of spiritual principles. Finally: “The founders of the Movement were responding to the spiritual problem by lowering the spiritual level of aspiration of the society, a move they could not make in the early days, but could make, and even felt they must make, now that the society had become large and gained a reputation for respectability and reasonableness.”

From this it is asserted that this qualified approach led to AA “dividing into two camps”: the “strong-cup-of-tea” and the “weak-cup-of-tea”, this unnoticed apparently by everyone except the author of GLAA.

The assumption underlying this argument is that these modifications occurred to accommodate AAs' new found “respectability and reasonableness”. It might equally be asserted that the reasons for these shifts in emphasis (rather than in substance) might rather be attributed to:

a broader range of experience - as AA membership expanded in numbers and diversity i.e. to include those who did not derive their approach directly from the Oxford Group, or indeed from any outside religious organisation, but who rather got and stayed sober (physical abstinence) within the context of the Fellowship, their direct experience accordingly modified - and refined - the original model of recovery.

a greater depth of experience – this factor is related to the above but derives from an increasing average longevity of sobriety (again physical abstinence).

a recognition that if AA were to be a truly inclusive Fellowship it would have to drop those explicit references to - and associations with - theologies, practices, perspectives etc which were directly related to outside organisations (including religious, and therefore encompassing both the Oxford Group and its fundamentalist Christian based approach).

a recognition that as a result of the lessening stigma associated with alcoholism (in part due to the efforts of AA itself) people were, and in increasing numbers, seeking assistance at an earlier stage of the progression of the disease (if one accepts the disease model), and that therefore the therapeutic or 'spiritual' measures required to support a “remission” from this chronic condition were correspondingly less drastic, and moreover “half measures” might in fact “avail us” something after all, and that so-called “weak” or “medium” AA might be just as effective in some cases as “strong” AA.

an expansion in membership, together with a corresponding geographical dispersion, resulted in increased numbers of meetings, which in turn gave the membership easier access to each other via this particular medium. Whereas this did not eliminate the need for formal 12 Step work ie. contacting potential AA members at their own homes (always at the newcomer's request), or via a neutral venue, AA meetings became the main vehicle for transmitting its message. Therefore meetings became more significant than they had been in the past for carrying out this function, a fact which might account for the increasing focus on meeting attendance as a basis for sustaining recovery.

the displacement (partial) of the term spiritual “experience” by spiritual “awakening” again suggests a pragmatic reform, and one based upon the “experiences” of existing AA members rather than on some palliative compromise intended to ease less committed members into the recovery programme. It is, indeed, recognised by the author of GLAA himself that this modification was useful, and that not all spiritual experiences needed to be of some dramatic or sudden nature, and that they could manifest in the another form, ie. the gradual, “educational” variety. Therefore we are quite unable to fathom the author's objection to this redesignation, the terminology employed being virtually synonymous.

And now the consequences: 

“The relatively superficial life change which weak AA produces is sufficient to get some alcoholics sober. It is not adequate - it is not effective - it simply doesn’t work - for a very large number of others. This situation is evident both in the “easy” cases and the “hard”cases, that is, those alcoholics who have been very badly damaged physically and mentally before they arrive at their first AA meeting, those whose alcoholism is complicated with drug abuse, crazy sex, criminal or psychotic tendencies, or a hard streak of socio-psychopathology.”

From this we now have some clue as to the use of the above term “many cases” - this can be translated more accurately into “a very large number” though still a little fuzzy for such a serious declaration. And yet again, from the context of the above passage, there is a shift in the use of the word “sober” - here it is being wielded in the qualitative sense rather than “physical abstinence”.

Moreover: 

“weak AA simply doesn’t work with the very large population of AAs who are known everywhere as “slippers” - those alcoholics who have developed a pattern of hanging around AA, staying sober for periods, but relapsing repeatedly into drinking.”

Now we have moved from “a very large number” to “the very large population” - seemingly the numbers increase by implication as the author of GLAA warms to his subject. But still he appears unable to put a figure to these “guesstimates”.

The author then goes on to cite the experience of the “East Ridge Recovery Facility in upstate New York. Strong AA is standard practice in the East Ridge group, and this group has a recovery rate of over seventy percent with these so-called AA failures”.

At last we have a number: seventy percent. Unfortunately, and on consulting the website which relates to this facility, we find no such reference to this recovery rate. Furthermore there is no indication of data collection relating to recovery rates etc. We are again left with a “percent” seemingly drawn out of thin air.

And now we come to those “many cases” of recovery where the “watered-down approaches to the Twelve Steps fails to hold up over the long haul. What looked in the beginning like an easier, softer way to maintain happy sobriety yields progressively less and less serenity and real happiness, finally ending in complete reversal of momentum and a relapse into serious personal misery. The end result may be a return to active alcoholism; or it may be a sinking-out into a life of discontented abstinence, marred by some combination of tension, resentment, depression, compulsive sick sex, and an overall sense of meaninglessness. It is a final failure to reap the benefits of the AA program; it is, in the last analysis,a failure to recover.”

In this section the author has fallen back on that old standby “many cases” and again the shifts between the uses of the term “sober” proceed apace.

Now we come to one of the few instances where there are any statistics deployed to support the above assertions, and we hoped quite naturally here for some further clarification on those “many cases” or “a very large number”:

Apparently, 

“Two ominous tendencies are noticeable in contemporary AA. One tendency is toward a lower recovery rate overall. For the first twenty years, the standard AA recovery estimate was seventy-five percent. AA experience was that fifty percent of the alcoholics who came to AA got sober right away and stayed sober. Another twenty-five percent had trouble for awhile but eventually got sober for good, and the remaining twenty-five percent never made a recovery. Then there was a period of some years when AA headquarters stopped making the seventy-five percent recovery claim in their official literature. In 1968’s General Service Board published a survey indicating an overall recovery rate of sixty-seven percent. The net of all of this seems to be that as AA got bigger and older, its effectiveness dropped from about three in four to about two in three.”

The first set of figures appears to derive from those cited in the Foreword to the 2nd Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (the first printing of this edition was in 1955). As we have come to expect the figures quoted are presented unqualified, and state that they relate to “the standard AA recovery estimate.....of the alcoholics who came to AA...”. This seems to suggest that these recovery rates apply to anyone who came to the Fellowship. In fact the figures relate only to those who, in the words of the text, “really tried”. (This point has been made repeatedly elsewhere so we are not going to 'belabour' it again here). The author of GLAA then adduces the 1968 GSB figures, which suggest an “overall recovery rate of sixty-seven percent”, a drop of 8 percentage points. However, in one analysis (How Well Does A.A. Work? An Analysis of Published A.A. Surveys (1968-1996) and Related Analyses/Comments - Don McIntire) it was demonstrated that the original estimates of 75 percent still apply, that is if one qualifies this assessment accordingly.

And now, and apparently defeated by any substantial evidence for falling recovery rates, he shifts once more to his favoured fall back position - a revaluation of the term 'sober' to be employed here in its 'qualitative' function, and which evidence is moreover: “clear enough to any careful observer of the AA scene”: “As the Fellowship grows older its class of old-timers, alcoholics sober ten years and longer, grows. And the question of the staying power of an AA recovery looms ever larger. It is an unhappy fact that growing numbers of these old-timers find the joy going out of their sobriety. Many of them search around frantically for ways to recapture the old zest for alcohol-free living, and many of them end up in such blind alleys as lunatic religions, pop psychological fads, or chemical alternatives like psychedelics, pot, tranquilizers and mood elevators. And many end up either back drinking or sunk in despondency, hostility, bizarre acting-out patterns of one sort or another, or just plain, devastating boredom”.

So - and perhaps quite annoyingly at least for the author of GLAA - it would seem that there are “growing numbers of these old-timers [“ten years and longer”]” (this itself something of a blow to the thesis that recovery rates are declining), but, “It is an unhappy fact that … the joy is going out of their sobriety”. There follows here an extensive list of where these unfortunate fellows are going wrong but - though not unsurprisingly - a dearth of any kind of data to back it up - not even anecdotal evidence - just more opinion.

And we come finally to the proposed solution: 

“The answer lies in a return to original, strong AA. It turns out that the men who wrote the Big Book were right after all. It turns out that there really is no easier, softer way. The extra work and commitment demanded by the full-Program approach pays out in enormous and indispensable dividends. The extra work and commitment make sobriety fun, because they do not make sobriety an end in itself.”

Moreover: 

“The majority of those who become addicted are people with a mystical streak, an appetite for inexhaustible bliss. We sought in bottles what can only be found in spiritual experience. AA worked in the first place because its Twelve Steps were a workable set of guidelines to real spiritual experience. The growth of the Movement made possible for a time a kind of parasitism in which partial practitioners of the spiritual principles were able to feed off the strength of full practitioners; those who had undergone real spiritual experience.”

Again we are presented with a figure, but one only slightly more specific than those alluded to above, and from which we can at least gauge the minimum value to be over 50 percent. Here it is asserted that a “majority of those who become addicted are people with a mystical streak”. Quite precisely what the author of GLAA had in mind by his use of the term “mystical” is not clear. It is to be assumed that this is in some way connected with the notion of “spiritual” but suggests again the writer's prejudice, ie. in regarding valid “spiritual experiences” to be in some manner linked with this tendency. Both terms are, by nature, subject to considerable interpretation, and it cannot follow that such particular definitions will of necessity converge upon that one determined solely by the author of GLAA. Moreover such a presumption on his part would suggest a remarkably obtuse perspective, or one which might even be regarded as verging on arrogant. To judge from the content of the remainder of the paragraph we would opt to apply the term “arrogant”. Here his withering contempt is clearly exhibited for anyone who applies these principles – or not - in any fashion other than that which he deems to lead to – and exemplify - a “real spiritual experience”. It is these “partial practitioners” who “feed off the strength of full practitioners” thus inducing “a kind of parasitism” within the Fellowship and programme. 

“But now, the parasites have already drained the host organism of a considerable portion of its life force, with no benefit to themselves.”

And finally, and rather confusingly, but reiterating the previous themes: 

“Complacency, smugness in our record of success, is our greatest enemy. If we as a recovered-addict society are unwilling to reverse our present course, the outlook is clear enough. We stand to recapitulate in less than a century what the great religious communities of the world have spent the last two thousand years demonstrating: that even the very best and highest of human institutions tend to deteriorate in time; and that size in spiritual organizations is often achieved at the expense of the abandonment of original goals and practices.”

We would remind you here that the author of GLAA has gone to some lengths (largely ineffective) to demonstrate the decreasing efficacy of “COWD AA” and yet we are now to beware of a “smugness in our record of success”! This confusion is not only exhibited here but throughout the whole of GLAA. Finally, and again betraying the author's own prejudices, there is reference to the “great religious communities of the world [who] have spent the last two thousand years ….”. This may be a valid statement when it comes to one specific, religious organisation – that of Christianity - but we can think of at least three others, and of comparable significance, which have been around for considerably longer than two millenia.

In conclusion the author of GLAA:

has failed to supply any evidence which lends credence to his argument. The data, where it is presented, is vague or misquoted.

shifts constantly between the two definitions of “sober” moving from the verifiable and quantifiable mode (when the evidence would seem to contradict his assertions) to the qualitative and subjective mode, an area by its very nature inaccessible to measurement, and only to be assessed by direct reporting on the part of those subjects, or inferred behaviourally (neither of which sources he provides).

asserts as fact what IN FACT are merely impressions, opinions, hypotheses, speculations, generalisations, assumptions and prejudices (unsubstantiated), all of which though are quite legitimate areas of human activity, but should hardly figure in any serious analysis of what is finally a very serious question.

We would invite you to consider the following studies (click here for link) which do present the relevant data, and ask you to consider this material (and draw from it whatever conclusions you wish) as a basis for judgement rather than the “kite flying” exemplified by GLAA, and others of its type.

Finally, and on a personal note - 

The author of this critique is a member of AA (by this I mean I have, and still retain, a desire to stop drinking – this being the ONLY membership requirement for Alcoholics Anonymous). I have been continuously sober (physically abstinent from alcohol in any form and in any quantity) for a period running into decades now (“one day at a time”). I account for this fact by my regular attendance at AA meetings (which frequency has varied over the years), and my implementation of the recovery programme (as it is presented in the book Alcoholics Anonymous 3rd edn). My understanding of the principles it outlines is based upon direct study, and is, for the most part, unmediated by received opinion. Apart from the first couple of years of my recovery I have undertaken this particular journey without the services of a sponsor (“control freak” or otherwise) finding myself to be entirely capable of doing all of my own thinking, and making my own decisions (leading to successful outcomes or not) as is appropriate to one who makes claim to being an adult. That is not to say that I am unwilling to listen to the views of others, but I take quite seriously the notion that the only Higher Power upon which I can ultimately place any form of reliance is “probably [not] human”. For my part I do not believe in God (orthodox or otherwise), nor do I pray (on my knees or in any other position) for to do so would be to engage in an activity which I would regard as entirely meaningless. I have no difficulty whatsoever in accepting the fact that I am powerless over alcohol, nor that there are (innumerable) Powers greater than myself. In fact, and in my occasional moments of honesty, I would be hard pressed to find much which would constitute a lesser power, and, furthermore, would regard it as nothing short of insane that I should believe the universe (and its component phenomena) should organise itself according to my will rather than the precise reverse. I have had no “spiritual experience” which could in any way be described as of the “sudden” type, nor am I (and necessarily following on from my statement above) aware of any kind of “God consciousness”, nor possess any sense whatsoever that such an entity exists in my particular universe. I would not even use the term “spiritual” other than according to its present currency within the Fellowship, a term which is so vague as to be almost useless as a means of communicating a concept. A more apt expression would be “holistic” in that my progress within AA has necessitated a complete revaluation of every area of my life, this process having taken place quite naturally but utilising the structure and concepts presented by the programme, and leading, quite “educationally”, to some rather drastic realisations. None of these would I characterise as “spiritual” nor in any way were these insights associated with any form of “mysticism”. I am by nature a sceptic, and disinclined towards such tendencies unless it be in the form of fiction, which largely I believe to be its proper province. Moreover, and to utilise the categories so imaginatively employed by the author of GLAA, I would place myself in the “weak” to “medium” class of alcoholic, although I would baulk somewhat at applying the “COWD AA” brand to my back. As for the “quality” of my sobriety (the alternative mode) I have remained serenely “unrocketed” into any dimension, fourth or otherwise, being quite sure that an individual of my temperament would suffer greatly from the experience. (Interestingly, at least from my point of view, I am directly acquainted with three individuals – two still alive – all of whom have had what can only be described as dramatic shifts within their psyche – none of these are alcoholic, none are members of AA, and not one of them has any belief in a supreme deity). Otherwise my own life varies according to circumstance (both inner and outer, and therefore entirely as I conceive,and perceive, it), and is replete with such profound questions as those which relate to the nature of existence, purpose, meaning, and, indeed, whether I should have a toasted cheese sandwich now, or go for the easier softer way, and just slap a couple of slices between some bread and to hell with the grill! To put it another way, my sobriety, the quality of my life, is largely my business – it suits me!!

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our thanks again to this contributor