Many Paths to Spirituality

Many Paths to Spirituality

(An AA conference approved booklet)

“Newcomers are approaching A.A. at the rate of tens of thousands yearly. They represent almost every belief and attitude imaginable. We have athe­ists and agnostics. We have people of nearly every race, culture and religion. In A.A. we are supposed to be bound together in the kinship of a common suffering. Consequently, the full individual liberty to practice any creed or principle or therapy what­ever should be a first consideration for us all. Let us not, therefore, pressure anyone with our individual or even our collective views. Let us instead accord each other the respect and love that is due to every human being as he tries to make his way toward the light. Let us always try to be inclusive rather than exclusive; let us remember that each alcoholic among us is a member of A.A., so long as he or she so declares.”

—Bill W. (A.A. Grapevine, July 1965)

“A misconception about Alcoholics Anonymous is that it is a religious organization. Since A.A. groups often rent space in churches, attending an A.A. meeting in a church basement can reinforce that impression, and the possibility of hearing a prayer at the end of a meeting can further cement the idea for some.

Yet A.A.’s pioneering members realized from the beginning that their sole purpose was to help people gain sobriety, and they went to great lengths to ensure the broadest membership among all who suffer from alcoholism. A.A. is a Fellowship, a com­munity of like-minded sufferers who have found a way out of a hopeless condition.”

Comment: Happy reading!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

General Service Conference-Approved Literature

“Service Material from the General Service Office

CONFERENCE-APPROVED LITERATURE

“Conference-approved" - What It Means to You

The term “Conference-approved” describes written or audiovisual material approved by the Conference for publication by G.S.O. This process assures that everything in such literature is in accord with A.A. principles [see Traditions]. Conference-approved material always deals with the recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous or with information about the A.A. Fellowship.

The term has no relation to material not published by G.S.O. It does not imply Conference disapproval of other material about A.A. A great deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and A.A. does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or may not read [a fairly self-evident statement. Most people could probably work out that one out by themselves. However such material would not have to conform to AA principles eg. Primary Purpose material viz. the AA programme according to Joe and Charlie's so-called “Big Book study”, Wally P Back to Basics etc].

Conference approval assures us that a piece of literature represents solid A.A. experience [which presumably doesn't imply that any non-Conference approved literature doesn't represent solid AA experience – but then how would a newcomer know that for example?]. Any Conference-approved booklet or pamphlet goes through a lengthy and painstaking process, during which a variety of A.A.s from all over the United States and Canada read and express opinions at every stage of production.

How To Tell What Is and What Is Not Conference-Approved

Look for the statement on books, pamphlets and audiovisual materials:

“This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature”

Not All “A.A. Literature” Is Conference-Approved

Central offices and intergroups do write and distribute pamphlets or booklets that are not Conference-approved. If such pieces meet the needs of the local membership, they may be legitimately classified as “A.A. literature.” There is no conflict between A.A. World Services, Inc. (A.A.W.S. – publishers of Conference-approved literature), and central offices or intergroups – rather they complement each other. The Conference does not disapprove of such material [we have to assume that such material is subjected to the same degree of rigorous inspection as that applied by AAWS – or do we? Moreover this licence to publish such material – if it may be called that – seems to fail to take into account Tradition Four ie. not only must it satisfy the needs of a “local membership” it must also satisfy the requirement that the respective publications produce no 'adverse' impact on “other groups or AA as a whole”. Moreover see Traditions relating to non-endorsement, non-affiliation etc. Those groups which use non-conference approved literature emanating from outside sources are effectively endorsing and aligning themselves with those same entities eg. Primary Purpose, Back to Basics amongst others thereby contributing to yet another breach of the Traditions].

G.S.O. does develop some literature that does not have to be approved by the Conference, such as Service Material, Guidelines and bulletins.

Available at Most A.A. Groups

Most local A.A. groups purchase and display a representative sampling of Conference approved pamphlets, and usually carry a supply of hardcover books. Conference approved literature may be available at central offices and intergroups, or it may be ordered directly from G.S.O. Groups normally offer pamphlets free of charge, and the books at cost [but see: The Big Book makes a tidy little profit!]

Grapevine and Conference Approval

An often asked question is whether or not Grapevine is “Conference-approved.” General Service Conference approval is a lengthy review process that can take years for longer projects, with several stages of committee evaluation along the way.

Since Grapevine comes out 12 times a year, and the Conference meets only once a year, the magazine would never come off the press if it had to go through the Conference review process. However, the Conference has always supported the concept of Grapevine and, in 1986, a Conference Advisory Action specifically addressed the issue of Conference approval for the first time with the following statement: “Since each issue of (the) Grapevine cannot go through the Conference approval process, the Conference recognizes (the) Grapevine as the international journal of Alcoholics Anonymous.” In addition, the Conference Charter guarantees the right of Grapevine’s editor to accept or reject material for publication; there is a Conference Committee on Grapevine, formed in 1954; and any Grapevine or La Viña matter of importance to the Fellowship as a whole is brought to the Conference through that committee.

So, the concept of Grapevine has been endorsed by the Conference as a whole and the use of Grapevine and its publications as recovery tools has been encouraged throughout the Fellowship year after year [however this does suggest - editorial discretion notwithstanding - that information published in this fashion should be treated with rather more circumspection than approved literature. Grapevine, in particular, at one stage might better have been described as the 'Plymouth (Road to Recovery) Echo' (cult group) so infested was it with articles relating to their particular sponsorship-obsessed brand of recovery!].

Copyright

Conference-approved literature is copyrighted with the Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., U.S.A. To insure the continued integrity of A.A. literature, and to make sure the A.A. recovery program will not be distorted or diluted, permission to reprint must be obtained from A.A.W.S. in writing. Permission to reprint Grapevine content must be obtained from A.A. Grapevine, Inc. (AAGV) in writing [but see copyright law, in particular Fair Use and Fair Dealing].

However, A.A. newsletters, bulletins, or meeting lists have blanket permission to use the material, providing proper credit is given to insure that the copyrights of A.A. literature are protected. Please visit aagrapevine.org http://www.aagrapevine.org/website-policy for the copyright and reprint policy that applies to AAGV, Inc. content.

The A.A. Preamble is copyrighted by A.A. Grapevine, Inc. (not by A.A. World Services). Beneath it, these words should appear: “Reprinted with permission of A.A. Grapevine, Inc.” The Steps and Traditions should be followed by these words: “Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.”” [but see Fair Use above]

(our emphases)(our observations in red print)

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

aacultwatch forum daily reflections

Extracts from our forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/aacultwatch under thread: “aacultwatch forum daily reflections”

“1933-1934

"In the autumn of 1933, when Bill found himself in Towns Hospital for the first time, the affliction of alcoholism was generally viewed as a mystery and a terrible shame. An alcoholic could expect to receive little understanding or compassion.” (Pass It On page 100)

"When Bill described Towns as ‘a nationally known hospital for the rehabilitation of alcoholics,’ he was not exaggerating, but someone else who remembered the hospital described it simply as a place where alcoholics were ‘purged and puked.’ The purging was most probably the effect of the liberal doses of castor oil that the patients were given, together with belladonna.” (Pass It On page 102)

"How long Bill stayed sober is unclear; he thought it was two to four months; Lois thought it was ‘a month or so."(Pass It On page 105)

"By midsummer 1934, he was back in Towns.” (Pass It On page 108)

“Suppose, for instance, that during the last twenty five years, AA had never published any standard literature – no books, no pamphlets. We need little imagination to see that by now our message would be hopelessly garbled. Our relations with medicine and religion would have become a shambles. To alcoholics generally we would today be a joke and the public would have thought us a riddle. Without its literature, AA would certainly have bogged down in a welter of controversy and disunity”

Bill W. (AA Grapevine May 1964; Language of the Heart page 348)

“In the years ahead we shall, of course, make mistakes. Experience has taught us that we need have no fear of doing this, providing that we shall always remain willing to confess our faults and to correct them promptly. Our growth as individuals has depended upon this healthy process of trial and error. So will our growth as a fellowship. Let us always remember that any society of men and women that cannot freely correct its own faults must surely fall into decay if not into collapse. Such is the universal penalty for failing to go on growing. Just as each A.A. must continue to take his moral inventory and act upon it, so must our whole society do if we are to survive and if we are to serve usefully and well."

Bill W. 1955, St Louis 20th anniversary convention;AA Comes of Age page 231 -233)”

Comment: Well it would seem Bill was right … again! How annoying! Indeed we are “of course, mak[ing] mistakes” …. and at a considerable rate of knots! What seems to be missing however is a willingness to 'fess up and do something about them. We certainly can't rely on the AA conference for leadership and perhaps that's the way it should be. But all the signs are there for anyone who cares to take a look. Membership is stagnant if not actually falling. We're failing to get our central message across even to our own membership. We're a spiritually 'powered' movement and should not be driven by dogma (religious or otherwise) or reliant upon 'personalities' of any kind and yet the talk is constantly of sponsorship ….. sponsorship .. do what your sponsor says .. and so on ad infinitum and ad nauseam.... Our critics are pointing out to us our faults (sometimes constructively, sometimes destructively) ever more vociferously and still we're not prepared to look. The choice is very much ours as to where AA is going to end up – growth and development … or decay and collapse! And the buck stops where? Take a guess!

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

aacultwatch forum daily reflections

Extracts from our forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/aacultwatch under thread: “aacultwatch forum daily reflections”

“(The original strong and simple group purpose was thus dissipated in fruitless controversy and divergent aims.) And again, ‘Some [of the Washingtonian local groups] dipped into their treasuries to finance their own publications. There was no overall editorial policy”. -Bill W. (AA Grapevine August 1945. Language of the Heart page 5)

“We are sure that if the original Washingtonians could return to this planet they would be glad to see us learning from their mistakes. They would not regard our observations as aimless criticism. Had we lived in their day we might have made the same errors. Perhaps we are beginning to make some of them now.” - Bill W. (AA Grapevine August 1945. Language of the Heart page 5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washingtonian_movement

“We envisaged the writing of a uniform A.A. literature, the development of a sound public relations policy..” – Bill W. 1962 (Concept I)

“Our literature is a principle means by which A.A. recovery, unity, and service are facilitated” – Bill W. 1962 (Concept XI).

"1939, Psychiatrist Dr. W.D. Silkworth M.D.

“These ex-alcoholic men and women number about one hundred at present. One Group is scattered along the Atlantic seaboard with New York as a center. Another and somewhat larger body is located in the Middle West… … … The fellowship is entirely indifferent concerning the individual manner of spiritual approach so long as the patient is willing to turn his life and his problems over to the care and direction of his creator. The patient may picture the Deity in any way he likes. No effort whatever is made to convert him to some particular faith or creed. Many creeds are represented among the group and the greatest harmony prevails. It is emphasized that the fellowship is non-sectarian and that the patient is entirely free to follow his own inclination. Not a trace of aggressive evangelism is exhibited… … … Considering the presence of the religious factor, one might expect to find an unhealthy emotionalism and prejudice. This is not the case, however; on the contrary there is an instant readiness to discard old methods for new ones which produce better results.” Dr. W.D Silkworth M.D. (A New Approach to Psychotherapy in Chronic Alcoholism,” Journal Lancet, July 1939; A.A. Comes of Age, appendix E:a, pages 304-305)"

"1942

“Most of us in Akron didn’t like all this praying,’ said Oscar. ‘We’d had enough of it in the Oxford Group. I still don’t like praying in A.A. I don’t like the Serenity Prayer. New York brought it in, and we resented it. We thought they were bringing back the Oxford Group” - Akron 1942, recalled by Oscar W. (Dr.Bob and the Good Old Timers, page 271)"

(our emphases)

Comment: So there is some point to AA Conference Approved literature after all!

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Conference Approved Literature

See the following quotes:

“SOME GENERAL SERVICE CONFERENCE LITERATURE COMMITTEE ADVISORY ACTIONS

It was recommended that:

1968: Conference-approved literature and G.S.O. Guidelines be displayed and distributed at assembly meetings.

1969: One group member be chosen to be solely responsible for the distribution of Conference-approved literature and its display.

1971: The delegates assume responsibility for informing A.A.s of all available Conference-approved literature, and that the updated spring and fall literature order blanks which are mailed with Box 4-5-9 be reviewed at district and assembly meetings.

1972: It be suggested that when a local A.A. facility (central office, intergroup, group, etc.) sells non-Conference-approved literature, it be clearly designated as such.

1977: It was suggested that A.A. groups be discouraged from selling literature not distributed by the General Service Office and the Grapevine.

1986: In an effort to strengthen our network of literature representatives to ensure that A.A. literature is available at meetings, as well as catalog order forms for books and cassettes that individuals are likely to want, it is suggested that groups appoint literature coordinators.

1986: The spirit of the 1977 Conference action regarding group literature displays be reaffirmed, and recommended the suggestion that A.A. groups be encouraged to display or sell only literature published and distributed by the General Service Office, the A.A. Grapevine and other A.A. Entities.”

(From: AA Guidelines – Literature Committees pp. 3-4)

“LET LITERATURE CARRY THE MESSAGE, TOO

Today, as in the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous, the A.A. Message of recovery from alcoholism is carried by one alcoholic talking to another.

However, since the publication of the first edition of the Big Book in 1939, literature has played an important role in spreading the A.A. Message and imparting information about the A.A. Twelve Step program of recovery.

A.A. co-founder Bill W., who often called the influence of A.A. literature “incalculable,” wrote in the May 1964 issue of the Grapevine, “Suppose, for instance, that during the last twenty-five years A.A. had never published any standard literature…no books, no pamphlets. We need little imagination to see that by now our message would be hopelessly garbled. Our relations with medicine and religion would have become a shambles. To alcoholics generally we would today be a joke and the public would have thought us a riddle. Without its literature, A.A. Would certainly have bogged down in a welter of controversy and disunity.” (The Language of the Heart, p. 348)

Bill’s words ring just as true today. The newcomer, walking into an A.A. group for the first time, may be given a meeting list, basic recovery pamphlets and, depending on the individual group conscience, perhaps a copy of Living Sober or the Big Book. In 1992, the Conference Literature Committee suggested that the trustees’ Literature Committee develop literature committee guidelines comprised of shared experience from the Fellowship.

These guidelines provide a summary of shared experience of A.A.s in the groups, central and intergroup offices, general service areas and districts who have formed literature committees.”

(From; AA Guidelines – Literature Committees p. 1)

"The term 'Conference-approved' describes written or audiovisual material approved by the Conference for publication by GSO. This process assures that everything in such literature is in accord with AA principles. Conference-approved material always deals with the recovery program of Alcoholics Anonymous or with information about the AA Fellowship."

"The term has no relation to material not published by GSO. It does not imply Conference disapproval of other material about AA. A great deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and AA does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or may not read."

"Conference approval assures us that a piece of literature represents solid AA experience. Any Conference-approved booklet or pamphlet goes through a lengthy and painstaking process, during which a variety of AAs from all over the United States and Canada read and express opinions at every stage of production."

(our emphases) 

(From: Service Material from the General Service Office)

(AA Service Manual – s. 80)

and:

“Conference Approval: A Lengthy, Careful, and Necessary Process”

Finally:

THIS IS AA CONFERENCE APPROVED LITERATURE

Comment:

From the above it may be seen that the question of whether literature has been “approved” or not should NOT be taken lightly. Most of the material we have studied that has been produced by 'outside sources' - although relying heavily on existing AA literature (approved) - contain references which quite definitely run contrary to AA principles and are even actually misleading in some instances e.g. prescribed medication issues, directive sponsorship styles, religious bias, recovery rates etc (and from sources such as Joe and Charlie, Dick B, Primary Purpose, Back to Basics). All such should be assessed judiciously and where they fail to meet appropriate standards of validity be discarded forthwith.

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Literature

AA conference approved literature section has been added to the site

Alcoholics Anonymous Conference approved literature

With the increasing proliferation of “other” (ie. non conference approved) literature being dispensed at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (or in some instances meetings that “represent” themselves as being such) we thought it would be helpful to direct newcomers (and others) to the relevant pages on the official AA website which contain information relating to our approved literature. If you come across anything (books, booklets, pamphlets, CDs, DVDs, wall notices, prompt sheets, “suggestions” etc) that is not included on the website then it is NOT conference approved and should be treated with some circumspection.. This is not to say that these sources are necessarily unhelpful (or that they have been “banned”) but then again some of the content is – how shall we say? - quite barking mad!

Alcoholics Anonymous website - literature section

Comment: A member has drawn our attention to the fact that the literature section on the site has now been dubbed a “Shop”. In our view this is most unhelpful to the Fellowship since it lends to our critics further ammunition in support of their claim (unsubstantiated) that AA is in any way involved in commercial activity. Nice one! Or how to shoot yourself in the foot!

We will also be introducing a section shortly which will include links to all conference approved literature (see here) which is now available free online together with some downloads relating to guidelines etc. It is our view moreover that ALL Alcoholics Anonymous literature should be provided free online and that hard copies should be made available at cost price only (this in line with our Traditions – specifically Tradition 7).

Happy reading!

Cheerio

The Fellas