Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: See “Internet Safety”. This concludes our review.

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: Since there is no 'standard' way of 'working' the Steps (that is assuming one wishes to work them in the first place. After all they don't represent the sole means by which alcoholics recover – a fact explicitly acknowledged in the book Alcoholics Anonymous) there can be no “standard” guide. The Big Book outlines a possible (and “suggested”) approach but no more than that. Similarly the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions (authored by Bill W) offers no more than a commentary on the subject and can by no means be regarded as definitive. Finally recovery remains the responsibility of each individual (in the company of others), and the method adopted, and the manner of its implementation, their choice alone. No “special interpretations” (ie. 'expert' guidance) are required:

“As finally expressed and offered, they [The Twelve Steps] are simple in language, plain in meaning. They are also workable by any person having a sincere desire to obtain and keep sobriety. The results are proof. Their simplicity and workability are such that no special interpretations, and certainly no reservations, have ever been necessary.” (Dr. Bob. Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers page 227)

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: See “freedom of speech”.... and “parts of AA ARE highly dangerous” … and we've got a sneaking suspicion that there'll be another website appearing on the scene fairly soon that's going to cause more than a few eyebrows to raise!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016

Comment: ie. no action

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016

Comment: The argument that our message is being “watered down” or “diluted” is frequently employed by cult groups (especially the Primary Purpose gang) to justify their own mangling of its meaning (eg. Gresham's Law and AA but see also Gresham's Law and Alcoholics Anonymous - a critique)

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016

Comment: Absolutely! Don't want any of that troublesome controversy, people criticising how AA is run and so on .…. God forbid! But since the word “Minority” has been mentioned here's one we made earlier:

Minority Report 2013

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous … itself a minority!)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Answer: No. See Tradition Five:

“Five—Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” (short form)

“5.—Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose —that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” (long form) (our emphasis)

Note the use of the word “its” …... and draw ANY consequent conclusions

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: AA currently has no effective method for dealing with any form of bullying, sexual harassment etc (online or otherwise) within the fellowship. It does propose guidelines (16, 17) and therefore can be said to have a policy in place … but implementation is patchy. In some areas sexual predation (so-called '13 stepping') may be described as virtually endemic, and shockingly blatant in some instances. Some of the accounts that have been relayed to us almost defy belief. Of similar concern, and far more widespread, is the virtual 'institutionalisation' of bullying and coercion practised predominantly by cult groups under the guise of sponsorship. This has been extensively documented on the aacultwatch website. Here the programme is no longer disseminated as “suggested” but rather as compulsory, and the edicts of the 'sponsor' to be taken as absolute. Any recourse for those so abused is effectively non-existent. They either tolerate it (and in some instances become perpetrators themselves), leave AA or find some kind of refuge in the wider fellowship where such perversions are largely absent.

However recently, when looking into the background of a question submitted to conference (and rejected), we stumbled upon this little gem:

The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous (Great Britain) Ltd is a registered charity. Its objective is “TO HELP CHRONIC ALCOHOLICS TO OVERCOME THEIR ADDICTION TO ALCOHOL AND TO SERVE THE FELLOWSHIP KNOWN AS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS IN SUCH OF ITS WORK OF ASSISTING ALCOHOLICS TO ACHIEVE SOBRIETY.” and it acts “AS AN UMBRELLA OR RESOURCE BODY”. Under the terms of its registration the charity ie. the General Service Board, is required to report any serious incidents including “fraud, theft or other significant loss” and “suspicions, allegations or incidents of abuse of vulnerable beneficiaries “ (in this case AA members) to the Charity Commission. Failure to do so may lead to regulatory action for mismanagement.

Following on from above (and in the absence of any formal complaints procedure within AA) we would advise anyone who has been the subject of any kind of abuse (or indeed is a witness to such acts) to make a formal complaint via the General Service Office (whose email address is: gso@alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk - using perhaps the heading “Attn: General Service Board”). The latter are then obliged to report this to the Charity Commission. Although no kind of effective response may be expected from the General Service Office or the Board Itself a sufficient number of complaints forwarded in this fashion may serve to place pressure on the GSB (and on AA) to take these matters far more seriously, and institute some real reforms (ie. effective action) to deal with these widespread abuses.

Additionally there is also provision on the Charity Commission site for members of the public (including, obviously, AA members) to make a complaint directly to the Commission itself. Again this may serve ultimately to focus the fellowship's concentration on the pressing need to carry out substantial reforms. Failure to do so can only lead, in the long run, to the progressive demise of AA in Great Britain, and the loss of a valuable resource for dealing with chronic alcohol addiction.

But most importantly ... for the newcomer .. there is no longer any need to suffer in silence. Make your voice heard! And help create a healthier environment in which members can flourish rather than flounder!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Needless to say we shall be using both of the above procedures in future, and (we anticipate) with increasing frequency. Moreover when contacting the General Service Board we will take care to remind them of their obligation to submit an additional report to the Charity Commission in each instance. We will also be carrying out checks to ensure they do so....

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: See here for Registered Charities and in particular Charity Trustee disqualification (and of possible interest - How to report a serious incident in your charity including instances of fraud (see Plymouth Road to Recovery – this allegation has already been referred to Action Fraud)

See also Alcoholics Anonymous' entry in the Charity Register

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment:

The Service Structure AA (GB)

 

You will note that the AA groups are located ABOVE intergroups, regions, the General Service Conference and the General Service Board ie. AA groups (and therefore members) are at the TOP of the heap. The groups (through their GSRs) communicate their views to our 'minions' (otherwise known as 'trusted (?) servants' who then are SUPPOSED  to carry out our instructions. Unfortunately some of these 'minions' think THEY are in charge. They AREN'T.... Where such a delusion persists their services, of course, may always be dispensed with.

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment:

def: “attraction”

def: “promotion”

def: “publicity”

def: “advertising”

or maybe we could just “share our experience, strength and hope”.....

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: Again a good start would be to deal with the cults that already infest AA …. but who are they kidding? The chances of the AA conference coming to grips with such problems are about as likely as …. George Osborne becoming the next prime minister... vanishingly thin!  But check out the Minority report above. At least some AA members recognise that we have a BIG problem! And it's getting worse....

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016 (contd)

Comment: We suppose not being lectured by the self-righteous on the subject would be a start! But on the subject of apathy ….

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Questions (not) accepted for conference 2016

Comment: Oh no! Not again! This one comes up as regular as clockwork … and can usually be condensed into: Are we doing enough? … to which the standard response is no... never … but we're doing our best … which incidentally is usually enough... unless you're a perfectionist of course, which again, incidentally - and seemingly perversely – is a defect of character. But the implication of this is mere attraction is insufficient and therefore we should start running advertising campaigns telling the world that we make probably the best recovery programme in the world etc … in other words exaggerate and lie …. we don't think so!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Summary of Question[s] not accepted for Conference 2016

See here

We'll be giving some of these the 'ole once over' …..in the next few days.... a bit of light relief (?) from the apparently never ending hysteria generated by various referendum campaigns (in and out) now plumbing even greater depths of perfidy as sundry politicians, 'experts' and all round 'know it alls' combine to produce the greatest degree of confusion and ignorance possible ….or as one of our correspondents so succinctly (and graphically) summarises the matter:

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS We'll also be announcing a major new national initiative aimed at extending our campaign into hitherto largely untouched territory ….

Welcoming a Newcomer to the Group (draft)

AA conference (2016)

See here

Comment: By and large the document consists of a range of pretty sensible suggestions although we would question whether in fact a “strong home group is paramount”. We would argue of far greater importance is a solid grasp of Step One, something which can only be accomplished by the individual concerned. The remainder of the programme consists largely of what might be described as 'trimmings' which are entirely optional. You don't need to believe in God (just so long as you don't think you ARE God!) to get and stay sober nor do you need to get on your knees to pray (or pray at all), and it certainly isn't a requirement to get a sponsor or assign to anyone the right to run your life. That's your responsibility.

We would strongly endorse the notion that AA members should be fully conversant with all the literature relating to newcomers specifically Chapter Seven Working WITH Others (our emphasis), a section of which cult members seem to remain totally ignorant. As for “greeters” one or two are quite sufficient rather than the customary hordes of 'happy clappers' which assail any poor unfortunates who happen to cross their path. As for the 'men for men' and 'women for women' recommendation this seems to assume a particular sexual inclination which is by no means universal. We know of plenty of gay members who find a reverse pairing more helpful. It's also worth noting that no mention is made of AA members asking people new to the fellowship for their contact details. They may offer their own but this implies no reciprocity. Your phone number, email address etc are your business and no one else's! It's called 'anonymity'. Finally as for so-called “Newcomer” meetings ALL AA meetings are newcomer meetings. Too often the former simply serve simply as 'hunting grounds' for cult predators searching out 'fresh meat'.

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Prison and Alcohol

Another offering from the AA conference (2016)

3. Pamphlet Prison and Alcohol

Some quotes from the pamphlet:

“In Alcoholics Anonymous, there is no "right" or "wrong" way to get sober.” - tell that to the Big Book nutters, sponsorship 'addicts', Step Nazis and all the other self-appointed 'experts' on recovery!

“And, as we stayed sober ourselves, we started to see how our experience could help others, passing it on freely, as it had been passed on to us.” - note the word “freely” - no contracts to sign or deals to be made, or conditions set! “Freely” means …. freely!

“many of us feel they [the Steps] are a necessary pathway to contented sobriety.” - and many of us don't!

“Acceptance of the Twelve Steps is not mandatory in any sense” ie. it's all VOLUNTARY!

“An alcoholic who has made some progress in the recovery program shares that experience with [does not dictate] another alcoholic who is trying to stay sober through AA It’s usually someone we can feel comfortable with, someone with whom we can talk freely and confidentially, and we ask [they don't offer] that person to be our sponsor, to help us learn how to live sober.” (our emphases) - This section will necessarily exclude all cult style sponsorship (ie. do what you're told blah di blah di blah)

“there are no bosses” - see above

“But, the decision was up to us” - see above

And finally:

“As you stay sober, you will find what works best for you. But one of the things we realized is that nobody could do the AA program for us. We had to do it ourselves” (our emphases) – the buck stops where? YOU.... not your sponsor, not the local 'big cheese' … YOU!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Variations on the violence theme

See here

Comment: It all sounds great doesn't it? But it doesn't really deal with the more subtle, less overt bullying that goes on in AA under the guise of 'sponsorship' ….... cult style that is..... We reckon telling newcomers that they'll drink if they don't get a sponsor (the implication being that a human power is the deciding factor as to whether you get sober or not), or slapping someone across the face for failing to complete their Step Four on time, or interfering generally in their relationships, work life, religious (or not) beliefs etc ie. generally micromanaging their lives, is all bullying as far as we're concerned. These guidelines don't deal with these issues at all. So here are a few suggestions of our own. If you meet someone who seems to think they have the right to run your life point out to them they are being offensive and would they kindly take a hike! If anyone 'suggests' to you that you're incapable of making your own decisions or exercising your own judgement politely point out to them they're being a prat and 'suggest' ….... they take a hike. If indeed you should have the misfortune to encounter any kind of recovery 'expert', Big Book aficionado or guru (you know the type – the super sobers!) run for it .... or if they persist politely 'insist'..... they take a hike. It saves a lot of trouble all round!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Conference questions 2016 (contd)

Committee 5 Q3 Violence and Personal Conduct Structure Handbook final version

Comment: Oh this is a juicy one! We'll be coming back to this. In the meantime kindly read and inwardly digest.......

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Conference questions 2016 (contd)

Sundry committees and their various (proposed) deliberations

See here

Comment: Do please try and stay awake!

(nudges reader)

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)