Conference Steering Committee: Terms of Reference

With reference to the AA Minority Report 2013 rejected under the Terms of Reference provision:

“7. Submission not accepted for reasons other than the above”

Apparently the authors of the AA Minority Report 2012 having carried out the recommendations proposed by the committee previously ie. removal of direct references to outside organisations (placing these in series of separate appendices outside the main body of the report), have not quite jumped through enough hoops to satisfy this august body. Indeed the committee was faced with the awful prospect that it might have to allow the minority report through. Fortunately someone had had the presence of mind to ensure that a 'catch all' clause was available to ensure that such eventualities did not occur ie. Clause 7. As you can see this means that the committee can reject anything … and for any reason it likes! Think of an excuse and Bob's your uncle ….the offending item just disappears!

So the new “reason” for not accepting the submission was, and we quote:

“..the principle of the report was based on “issues outside of AA GB”.

Apart from the fact that the “reason” (?) given is about as opaque as you can make it according to our interpretation the committee seems to be of the opinion that AA unity only refers to that bit of it inside Great Britain whereas “the principle of the report” actually refers to AA unity everywhere ....... as do indeed our Traditions! (see here).

Somehow we don't think the “ostrich” manoeuvre is going to work for much longer. This problem is NOT one that's just going to disappear!

But never fear! In the immortal words of Arnie “The Terminator” Schwarzenegger: “WE'LL BE BACK!”

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Minority report 2012 (continued)(17)

Are today’s AA members generally being made fully aware of the depth of the mental illness of alcoholism?

Dr. Harry M. Tiebout. M.D. (Therapeutic Mechanism of Alcoholics Anonymous, The American Journal of Psychiatry, January 1944.

“Characteristic of the so-called typical alcoholic is a narcissistic egocentric core, dominated by feelings of omnipotence, intent on maintaining at all costs its inner integrity. While these characteristics are found in other maladjustments, they appear in relatively pure culture in alcoholic after alcoholic. In a careful study of a series of cases, Sillman reported that he felt he could discern the outlines of a common character structure among problem drinkers and that the best terms he could find for the group of qualities noted was ‘defiant individuality’ and ‘grandiosity’. In my opinion these words were accurately chosen… … … This experience I label for want of a better term, a ‘psychological awakening.’… … … In retrospect, it is apparent that the patient became aware of his basic ego centricity. For the first time he was able to penetrate behind the façade of his rationalisations and defence reactions and to see that always hitherto he had put himself first. He was literally unaware that other souls existed except insofar as they affected him… … … While one can question the permanence of this new pattern, there can be no question as to the fact that the experience itself occurred…. … … The narcissistic component in the character is submerged, at least for the time being… … Regardless of his final conception of that power, unless the individual attains in the course of time a sense of the reality and nearness of a Greater Power, his egocentric nature will re- assert itself with undiminished intensity, and drinking will again enter into the picture…” (Extracts) (AA Comes of Age, Appendix E:b, page 309-317)

ALCOHOLISM AS A MANIFESTATION OF ALLERGY W.D. Silkworth

Medical Record, March 17, 1937

“Alcoholism is considered by many physicians a chronic condition that gradually unfolds itself to a dismal end… … … It is our purpose to show that there is a type of alcoholism characterised by a definite symptomatology [sic] and fixed diagnosis of a constant and specific pathology; in short, that true alcoholism is a manifestation of an allergy… … … he now has to drink from necessity in order to keep going… … Later, irritability and lack of concentration supervene. He is not the man temperamentally that he used to be… … …he is compelled to increase the amount he consumes, and a prolonged spree replaces a short intoxication… … …He has a feeling of anxiety which amounts to a nameless terror… … …At this point, even during periods of partial or complete sobriety, he develops a state of vague fear, then depression and lack of concentration… … … He is under such tension in the effort to control himself that he has to have a drink in order to hold himself together… … But he believes he must have it, even though he realises that, in his particular case, a single drink will plunge him into such a condition that a prolonged spree will be the inevitable result. After the first drink, and only then, does he experience the physical phenomenon of craving… … … I can not emphasis too strongly the point that this man does not go on a spree for pure deviltry or desire…… The inevitable conclusion is that true alcoholism is an allergic state, the result of gradually increasing sensitization by alcohol over a more or less extended time…” (Extracts) (Medical Record, March 17, 1937)

Bill. W. Letter to Dr. Carl Jung, 1961:

“My Dear Dr. Jung … … This letter has been long overdue…. … … Though Rowland H., has long since passed away, the recollections of his remarkable experience while under treatment by you has definitely become part of A.A. history…. … … … Having exhausted other means of recovery from his alcoholism it was about 1931 that he became your patient … … … I believe he remained under your care for perhaps a year… … … He then relapsed into intoxication ... … … … Then followed a conversation between you that was to become the first link in a chain of events that led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous…. … … First of all, you frankly told him of his hopelessness, so far as any further medical or psychiatric treatment might be concerned. This candid and humble statement of yours was no doubt the first foundation stone upon which our society was built … (Extracts) (AA Grapevine January 1963. Language of the Heart page 276-279)

Dr. Bob:

“You see, back in those days, we were groping in the dark,” Dr. Bob said. “We knew practically nothing of alcoholism.” (Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers page 104)

“Medical textbooks weren’t very helpful, either, Bob said. ‘Usually, the information consisted of some queer treatment for D.T.’s, if a patient had gone that far. If he hadn’t you prescribed a few bromides and gave the fellow a good lecture.” (Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers page 105)

A list of some of A.A.’s other roots:

Dr. W.W. Bauer; American Medical association. A.A. Comes of Age p.4

Dr. Earl M. A.A. Comes of Age p.4

Dr. John L. Norris, (non-alcoholic trustee), Pass it On page 268

Dr. O. A. Kilpatrick, psychiatrist [in charge New York State mental institution, nonalcoholic, spoke 2nd Intentional Convention St. Louis 1955], Pass it On, page 358

Dr. Ester L. Richards, Pass it On, page 201

Dr. Leonard V. Strong, Jr.(non-alcoholic trustee), Pass it On, pp181-184

Dr. A. Wiese Hammer [wife Helen; Philadelphian; told friend Judge Curtis Bok owner publisher Saturday Evening Post about A.A.; had Jack Alexander do story; secured Philadelphia Group 1st meeting rooms, introduced Dr. Stouffer chief psychiatrist Philadelphia General Hospital to A.A., visited other cities with A.A. members to talk A.A. up; paid their expenses, offered buy club house], Language of the Heart, page 362

Dr. Stouffer, Chief psychiatrist Philadelphia General Hospital Language of the Heart, page 363

Dr. Dudley Saul [chief resident of St. Lukes’s and Children’s Hospital], Language of the Heart, page 363

Dr. Kirby Collier [psychiatrist, with Dr. Harry Tiebout; Dr. Foster Kennedy responsible for Bill speaking at 2 medical societies, endorsed paper Bill read 1944 Medical Society New York annual meeting, early advocate A.A], Language of the Heart, page 370

Dr. Dwight Anderson [with Dr. Kirby Collier persuaded Medical Society of New York State, 1944, and Psychiatric Association, 1949, to let Bill W. read papers about A.A. at annual gatherings], Language of the Heart, page 370

Dr. Dan Craske, [Chicago doctor with spinal fluid theory of alcoholics], AA Comes of Age, page 22

Dr. Brown, [Evanston, Indiana, introduced several patients to Earl T], AA Comes of Age, page 22

Dr. Johnstone, psychiatrist, AA Comes of Age, page 29

Dr. Foster Kennedy, [world renowned neurologist; attended and spoke at John D. Rockefeller's A.A. dinner February, 1940, represented medical profession; with Dr. Harry Tiebout and Dr. Kirby Collier ; responsible for Bill speaking to two medical societies; defended A.A. in A.M.A.; endorsed the paper Bill read at the 1944 Medical Society of New York annual meeting; used term "X factor." "There is something at work in A.A. that we do not understand. We call this 'the X factor.' You people call it God. You can't explain God and neither can we -- especially at the New York Academy of Medicine."], AA Comes of Age, page 183

Do statements such as the following in public relations give an impression of A.A. As being religious?

“The origins of Alcoholics Anonymous can be traced to the Oxford Group, a religious movement popular in the United States and Europe in the early 20th century. Members of the Oxford Group practiced a formula of self-improvement by performing self-inventory, admitting wrongs, making amends, using prayer and meditation, and carrying the message to others”.

http://www.aa.org/aatimeline/timeline_h1.php?lang=_en

Early A.A. history does appear to tell us that the more we focus on the “religious /spiritual” aspect in our public relations and newcomer relations, the less appealing we will be to the majority of still suffering alcoholics, and to the

professionals who refer them to us. It would appear the same is true today.

“Scared Off” AA Grapevine November 1998

“I could not agree more that when a meeting is closed with hand-holding the Lord's Prayer, we may lose many a newcomer. This has been my experience over the years. I have "lost" many a hard-bitten alcoholic who has scornfully left, saying: "I want none of that religious stuff!" and the like.”

For myself, I also have a feeling that once more organized religion, in this case, Christianity, is being subtly introduced into our program.”

“Cult-like or welcoming? Reluctant conformity” AA Grapevine December 2010

“I am a former member of a religious cult, and my children consider AA to be similar in some ways. I am also not comfortable with holding hands and saying the Lord's Prayer at the end of a meeting for the same reason. AA is a spiritual, not a religious, program. I conform because that is how I've been taught and I don't want to appear different, but I would love to see this change for the benefit of everyone in the Fellowship, regardless of beliefs.”

“Why are we shouting? Chanting is bad for AA’s public relations, an old-timer asserts”. AA Grapevine September 2010

“…By 1988, in my experience, the "Hi, Bob!" chant was pretty much commonplace at meetings in the Northeast. This is a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, where we share our experience, strength and hope.

It is not a cult, religion or group therapy… … … An AA friend was watching television in the late 90s' when a show portrayed a facsimile of an AA meeting… … … My friend said that her husband actually laughed out loud when the group chanted: "Hi, Bill!" she said her husband asked sarcastically, "Is this the AA that you go to?" What does this mean? It means that we are a joke to much of the public. Our public relations are harmed, therefore reducing the effectiveness of Alcoholics Anonymous. … … … I had my last drink of alcohol in February 1970 and was active in AA through the '70s… … How many more alcoholics must perish before we reverse this religious cult thing that I feel Alcoholics Anonymous has morphed into… …Anyone listening?”

“Cult-like or just welcoming? Meetings filled with religiosity”, AA Grapevine December 2010

“Oh yes, I am listening, Bob. And I have done just that . . . stopped going to meetings, pretty much. I got sober in Chicago 37 years ago and have been sober one day at a time since, all thanks to AA, its members, service work and regular attendance at meetings. But about 10 or so years ago I noticed my attendance at meetings was dropping off. That started the round of checking out all sorts of groups in my area, only to find a level of noise, chanting and cult-like religiosity that I found very off-putting. One day at a time might change how I see things, but for now my Higher Power, AA friends and the Big Book will have to be enough”.

“Dear Grapevine, My AA” AA Grapevine November 2010

“I have been sober since 1968 and am afraid that I won't recognize my AA in another 15 years… … it seems that no one realizes that the Lord's Prayer is not in agreement with our Preamble. And I personally don't care for the chanting and pumping of the hands… … I have three alcoholic children, two of whom are in recovery. I have grandchildren and great-grandchildren and I want the program to be there when they need it.”

Bill W:

“Finally, I am often asked why I do not publicly acknowledge my very real debt of gratitude to the Oxford Group. The answer is that, unfortunately, a vast and sometimes unreasoning prejudice exists all over this country against the O.G. and its successor M.R.A. My dilemma is that if I make such an acknowledgement, I may establish a connection between the O. G. and Alcoholics Anonymous which does not exist at the present time. I had to ask myself which was more important: that the O.G. receive credit and that I have the pleasure of so discharging my debt of gratitude, or that alcoholics everywhere have the best possible chance to stay alive regardless of who gets credit.” (Bill W. Pass It On page 173)

Section 10

Conclusion

This report gives analysis of hazardous departure from Tradition, serious and growing internal divisions and public concerns.

There is evidence Alcoholics Anonymous is being influenced by outside business interests; a minority of A.A. groups are adopting organised educational programs, hierarchical pyramid power structures and international affiliations. There is evidence of fundamentalist Christian literature distorting AA history to the extent that it presents early A.A. groups as evangelical Christian Oxford Groups and which advocates their return. There is evidence in the press, internet and within the fellowship that AA is beginning to get the reputation of being a religious cult.

A widespread and hazardous misconception in the application of A.A. Traditions presents a situation in A.A. where neither A.A. Tradition, nor General Warranties of Conference are withstanding. Unless remedial action is taken at all levels, the present dynamics in A.A. parallel that of the Washingtonian movement and signal an early warning of impending collapse.

This report makes recommendations.

“Of highest importance would be our relations with medicine and religion. Under no circumstances must we get into competition with either. If we appeared to be a new religious sect, we’d be done for. (Bill W. AA Grapevine June 1955, Language of the Heart page 150)

“Education will not only pay off in numbers treated; it can pay off even more handsomely in prevention… … it is both a community job and a job for specialists… … but AA as such cannot, and should not, get directly into this field.” (Bill W. AA Grapevine March 1958. Language of the Heart page 186-187)

“We are sure that each group of workers in world service will be tempted to try all sorts of innovations that may often produce little more than painful repetition earlier mistakes. Therefore it will be an important objective of these Concepts to forestall such repetitions by holding the experiences of the past clearly before us. And if mistaken departures are nevertheless made, these Concepts may then provide a ready means of safe return to an operating balance that might otherwise take years of floundering to rediscover.”

The “AA Service manual combined with the Twelve Concepts for World Service” online:

http://www.aa.org/pdf/products/en_bm-31.pdf

Minority report submitted August 2011, revised and re-submitted October 2011.

Background documents enclosed.

THE END

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS See also:
  

Do People Think AA is a Cult?

Alcoholics Anonymous: Of Course It’s a Cult!

The Dark Legacy of a Rehab Cult

You Can Pray Relapses Away. Really

The Puzzling Role of Religion in Recovery

How Not to Preach Recovery

Toronto Ban on AA Atheists Sparks Global Flap

The above are the more thoughtful ones ….. otherwise the list goes on .. and on ….ad …..

PPS We're looking forward to the revised version of the Minority report with great interest

AA Minority report 2012 (continued)(16)

Section 9

Are we communicating the A.A. Message in the right way?

Most A.A. members are probably aware the numerical growth in AA has stagnated in recent years. While there may be many contributing factors, we question only one aspect here, whether A.A’s roots in both medicine and religion are being communicated truthfully and holistically in present day A.A. public and newcomer relations. Or has there been too far a shift toward promoting A.A. as a spiritual/religious program, away from that which is essentially a pragmatic program of coping with alcoholism as an illness?

It would appear from the earliest days to the present, the presentation of A.A. as a spiritual program is misunderstood and a great barrier to overcome for many if not most newcomers. For many people in society, the words “spiritual” and “religious” are interchangeable, for others they mean the same thing. A question to ask is: Do people now think A.A. is religious? Do the use of the word God and the serenity prayer in public relations/ newcomer literature give a religious impression and put numbers of alcoholics off from making initial contact? Would the removal of the word God and the serenity prayer from public relations/newcomer literature and replacing them with terms such as “some power beyond themselves” be more effective in attracting and retaining sceptical newcomers?

“Just before leaving for Akron, Dr. Silkworth had given me a great piece of advice. Without it A.A. might never have been born. ‘Look, Bill,’ he had said ‘you’re having nothing but failure because you are preaching at these alcoholics… …talking to them about the Oxford Group precepts… … then you top it off by harping on about this mysterious spiritual experience of yours… … …why don’t you turn your strategy the other way round? … …

Aren’t you the fellow who once showed me that book by the psychologist William James? … … … Have you forgotten Dr. Carl Jung in Zurich… …Bill you have got the cart before the horse… … You’ve got to deflate these people first… … So give them the medical business, and give it to them hard. Pour it right into them about the obsession that condemns them to drink and the physical sensitivity or allergy of the body that condemns them to go mad or die if they keep on drinking… … Maybe that will crack their egos deep down…. … Only then can you try your other medicine, the ethical principles… ..” (Bill W. AA Comes of Age page 68)

“The word God still aroused some antipathy. When the thought was expressed that there might be a God personal to me this feeling intensified. I didn’t like the idea. I could go for such conceptions as Creative Intelligence, Universal Mind or Spirit of Nature but I resisted the idea of a Czar of the Heavens… … My friend suggested what then seemed a novel idea “Why don’t you choose your own concept of God?” – Bill W. (Alcoholics Anonymous “Big Book” page 12)

“Fitz fell at once into a hot argument with Henry about the religious content of the coming volume. A newcomer Jimmy B., who like Henry was an ex salesman and a former atheist also got into the hassles. Fitz wanted a powerfully religious document; Henry and Jimmy would have none of it. They wanted a psychological book which would lure the reader in; when he finally arrived among us, there would then be enough time to tip him off about the spiritual character of our society.” (A.A. comes of Age page 17)

“Dr. Howard a psychiatrist… … made an important contribution… … Bill said the psychiatrist’s ‘idea was to remove all forms of coercion, to put our fellowship on a ‘we ought’ basis instead of ‘you must’ basis… … … ‘Dr. Howard read [the manuscript] and brought it back the next day’… ‘You have to take out the must. You have to take out the God – the complete God.’ ” (Pass It On page 204)

“.. Dr. Harry Tiebut, [sic] the first psychiatrist ever to hold up the hands of our fellowship for all to see… … … The year was 1939, and the book Alcoholics Anonymous was about to hit the press… …we had made prepublication copies in multigraph [sic] … … One of them fell into Harry’s hands… …he at once resolved to show the new volume to a couple of patients, since known to us as Marty and Grenny … …At first the book made little impression … … its heavy larding with the word God so angered Marty that she threw it out of the window, flounced off the grounds… … and proceeded… on a big bender… … Back in her quarters, Marty finally brought herself to leaf through its pages once more. A single phrase caught her eye and it read ‘We cannot live with resentment’… … Forthwith she attended a meeting… … Returning … … she found Grenny intensely curious…

… Her first words to him were ‘Grenny we are not alone any more!’ ” (Bill W. A.A. Grapevine July 1966. Language of the Heart page 369)

“The unbeliever” (first edition “Big Book,” Alcoholics Anonymous)

“I asked the doctor to tell me the truth.” (Experience Strength and Hope page 5)

“Make it just a power that will help.” (Experience Strength and Hope page 5)

“Educated Agnostic” (first edition “Big Book,” Alcoholics Anonymous)

“He told me of other men who had found sobriety through the recognition of some power beyond themselves. If I cared to I was to consider myself invited to a gathering the following Tuesday where I could meet other alcoholics who had stopped.” (Experience Strength and Hope page 104)

“Of highest importance would be our relations with medicine and religion. Under no circumstances must we get into competition with either. If we appeared to be a new religious sect, we’d be done for. And if we moved into the medical field, as such, the result would be the same.” (Bill W. AA Grapevine June 1955, Language of the Heart

page 150)

“A NEW APPROACH TO PSYCHOTHERAPY IN CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM” Dr. W.D. Silkworth M.D., Journal Lancet, July 1939.

“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. [sic] 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 is 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.” (A.A. Comes of Age, appendix E:a, pages 304-305)

Bill W. AA Grapevine April 1961

“We much regret that these facts of A.A. life are not understood by the legion of alcoholics in the world around us. Any number of them are bedevilled by the dire conviction that if they ever go near AA they will be pressured to conform to some particular brand of faith or theology. They just don’t realise that faith is never a necessity for AA membership; that sobriety can be achieved with an easily acceptable minimum of it; and our concepts of a higher power and God as we understand him afford everyone a nearly unlimited choice of spiritual belief and action” … … … How to transmit this good news is one of our most challenging problems in communication, for which there may be no fast or sweeping answer. Perhaps our public information services could begin to emphasize this all-important aspect of AA more heavily. And within our own ranks we might well develop a more sympathetic awareness of the acute plight of these really isolated and desperate sufferers … … ... … Though three hundred thousand did recover in the last twenty-five years, maybe half a million more have walked into our midst, and then out again… … Yet we can’t well content ourselves with the view that all these recovery failures were entirely the fault of the newcomers themselves … … We didn’t communicate when we might have done so. So we AAs failed them. Perhaps more often than we think, we still make no contact with those suffering the dilemma of no faith.” (Language of the Heart page 251 -252)

It is clear the Oxford Group influence in the formative years of A.A. was as much negative as positive. When compared to the combined influence of others in organised religion and the medical profession, who kept AA on course as a non religious organisation, the time span of Oxford Group influence was very small; two years in New York and five years in Akron. The Oxford Group connection was also a public relations liability. In view of the influence in A.A. today of fundamentalist Christian non A.A. published literature which advocates early A.A. meetings as Oxford Group meetings, we question whether the Oxford Group connection ought now be confined to the A.A. history books, and not be mentioned at all in any public information and newcomer literature.

“The Oxford Groupers had clearly shown us what to do. And, just as importantly, we had learned from them what not to do as far as alcoholics were concerned. We had found that certain of their ideas and attitudes could not be sold to alcoholics. For example, drinkers would not take pressure in any form, excepting from John Barleycorn himself. They always had to be led, not pushed. They would not stand for the rather aggressive evangelism of the Oxford Groups. And they would not accept the principle of ‘team guidance’ for their own personal lives.” (A.A. Comes of Age page 74)

“He said he was an alcoholic too… … a chemistry professor who was barely managing to hold on to his teaching post. He had come to the Oxford Group at his wife’s urging, but he could not stand their ‘non- sensical’ [sic] talk about God, nor did he like all these ‘aggressive people’ who were trying to save his soul. And while he could not accept Bill’s ‘weird’ religious experience, he certainly did agree with what Bill said about alcoholism… …he stayed drunk on and off for 11 years before finally getting sober in the A.A. program.” (Pass It On page 132)

“By the time the article was written, A.A. had become separate from the Oxford Group in both New York and Ohio, and Frank Buchman’s remarks about Hitler had given rise to accusations that the O.G .was pro- Nazi. With war in Europe against the Nazis and feelings on all fronts running high, Bill understandably wanted to avoid being associated with anything controversial, particularly when the fellowship so needed favourable publicity.” (Pass It On page 246)

“But all of us East and West were placing increased emphasis on Dr. Silkworth’s expression describing the alcoholic’s dilemma: the obsession plus the allergy” (AA Comes of Age page161)

“This incident led Sam Shoemaker to apologize to Bill later, after he himself had broken with the Oxford Group in 1941. Shoemaker wrote: ‘If you ever write the story of A.A.’s early connection with Calvary, I think it ought to be said in all honesty that we were coached in the feeling that you were off on your own spur… … … You got your inspiration from those early days, but you didn’t get much encouragement from us and for my own part in that stupid desire to control the Spirit, as he manifested Himself in individual people like you, I am heartily sorry and ashamed.” (Footnote, Pass It On page 178)

“Bob and Sister Ignatia began to work more and more closely through the fall of 1939 in getting drunks into St. Thomas for treatment. One thing worried her, however: Alcoholics Anonymous seemed closely connected with the Oxford Group. ‘At the time, I feared we might become involved with a religious sect of some kind,’ Sister Ignatia recalled. She then asked Father Vincent Haas, a newly ordained priest, to investigate the meetings for her… … …

Fortunately, the group had moved to Kings School by this time, and Father Haas was favourably impressed.” (Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers” page 189)

“On the second day of the New Year, 1940, Dr. Bob wrote Bill: ‘Have finally shaken off the shackles of the Oxford Group.’ ” (Dr. Bob and The Good Old Timers page 218)

“Speaking for Dr. Bob and myself I would like to say that there has never been the slightest intent, on his part or mine, of trying to found a new religious denomination. Dr. Bob held certain religious convictions, and so do I. This, of course, the personal privilege of every A.A. member. Nothing however, could be so unfortunate for A.A.’s future as an attempt to incorporate any of our personal theological views into A.A. teaching, practice or

tradition.” - Bill W. (AA Comes of Age page 232)

“Beyond a Higher Power, as each of us may vision him, A.A. must never, as a society, enter the field of dogma or theology. We can never become a religion in that sense. Lest we kill our usefulness by being bogged down in theological contention.” - Bill W. (Letter 1954, As Bill sees It page 116)

“This was the great contribution of our atheists and agnostics. They had widened our gateway so that all who suffer might pass through, regardless of their belief or lack of belief.” - Bill W. (A.A. Comes of Age page 167)

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Minority report 2012 (continued)(15)

Section 8

A.A.’s Future: Adaptation or Evolution?

Bill W, - Extracts from “Lets Keep It Simple But How?” AA Grapevine July 1960; Language of the Heart page 303 - 307):

“We shall be stepping over a new threshold into our future. We shall rejoice as we think of the gifts and the wonders of yesterday. And, as we re-dedicate ourselves to fulfilling the immense promise of AA’s tomorrow, we shall certainly survey how we stand today. Have we ‘kept A.A. simple’? Or, unwittingly, have we blundered? ............ Therefore we ask, has A.A. kept faith with Dr. Bob’s warning, ‘lets keep it simple’? How can we possibly square today’s Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, General Service Conferences and International Conventions with our original coffee-and-cake AA? …… Genuine simplicity for today is to be found, I think, in whatever principles, practices, and services can permanently ensure our widespread harmony and effectiveness. Therefore it has been better to state our principles than to leave them vague; better to clarify their applications than to leave these unclear; better to organize our services than to leave them to hit-or- miss methods, or to none at all. Most certainly indeed, a return to the kitchen table era would bring no-hoped for simplicity. It would only mean wholesale irresponsibility, disharmony, and ineffectiveness ………… A formless AA anarchy, animated only by the ‘lets get together’ spirit, just isn’t enough for AAs here and now. What worked fine for two score members in 1938 won’t work at all for more than 200,000 of them in 1960. Our added size and therefore greater responsibility simply spells the difference between AA’s childhood and its coming of age. We have seen the folly of attempting to recapture the childhood variety of simplicity in order to sidestep the kind of responsibility that must be faced to ‘keep it simple for today’. We cannot possibly turn back the clock and shouldn’t try.”

1962 Bill W

“We are sure that each group of workers in world service will be tempted to try all sorts of innovations that may often produce little more than painful repetition earlier mistakes. Therefore it will be an important objective of these Concepts to forestall such repetitions by holding the experiences of the past clearly before us. And if mistaken departures are nevertheless made, these Concepts may then provide a ready means of safe return to an operating balance that might otherwise take years of floundering to rediscover.” (Introduction to the Twelve Concepts for World Service.)

1958, February, Bill W

“Now there are certain things that AA cannot do for anybody, regardless of what our several desires or sympathies may be.

Our first duty, as a society is to ensure, our own survival. Therefore we have to avoid distractions and multipurpose activity. An AA group as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of its members, let alone the problems of the whole world. Sobriety – freedom from alcohol – though the teaching and practice of AA’s twelve steps, is the sole purpose of an AA group. Groups have repeated tried other activities they have always failed. We have to confine our membership to alcoholics and we have to confine our AA groups to a single purpose. If we don’t stick to these principles, we shall almost certainly collapse. And if we collapse, we cannot help anyone … …

… … Therefore I see no way of making nonalcoholic [sic] addicts into AA members, Experience says loudly that we can admit no exceptions, even though drug users and alcoholics happen to be first cousins of a sort. If we persist in trying this, I’m afraid it will be hard on the drug user himself, as well as on AA. We must accept the fact that no nonalcoholic, [sic] whatever his affliction, can be converted into an alcoholic AA member.” (Problems Other Than Alcohol: What Can Be Done About Them, A.A. Grapevine February 1958. Language of the Heart page 223)

1958, January - August, Santa Monica

Synanon began with Charles E. Dederick. He had been an alcoholic for twenty years, and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. In January of 1958, he “had no job, two cents in my pocket, and was living off unemployment benefits, in a small apartment near the beach in Ocean Park, California.” (Yablonsky, L. 1965. Synanon: The Tunnel Back) He, and other friends from AA, started a regular weekly meeting. In this meeting, mainly because of Charles, or “Chuck” Dederick, as he became known, the discussions became heated…. …. … This AA group met until a dramatic break that solidified the difference between Synanon, and A.A. This is the story as told by Chuck:

“The break with Alcoholics Anonymous occurred about the middle of August (1958)

It happened right in the middle of an A.A. meeting. Our whole gang had taken over the Saturday night meeting of the Santa Monica A.A. group at Twenty Sixth and Broadway and built it up from its attendance of ten people to an attendance of about forty five or fifty. There was some objection on some issue by the members of the Board of Directors of the A.A. club. I recall the leader stopping the meeting. They didn’t like us. The alkies didn’t like the addicts, and they didn’t like me in particular… … and they didn’t like my gang because they were mostly addicts. They made things difficult for us. I remember getting up in the meeting and saying, ‘All right, let’s go home-the hell with this.’ So the whole meeting got up, and we all got into our automobiles and came down to the club, and we never went back to A.A. again…. … … We were building something new and different… … … We have a live-in situation, with family characteristics. We emphasize self-reliance rather than dependence on a higher being. We assumed a responsibility; we had to get up the rent, we had to feed the people when they came in, and so on. This was the point at which the few alcoholics in the club began to fall out. They didn’t want any responsibility. In fact, it was even verbalized. ‘We don’t want to do this; we want to have a lot of fun; we want to have a club as a club.’ The alkies began to say, ‘Well, it’s our club,’ and I said, ‘No, it’s my club.’ I became the champion of the addicts, chucked the alcoholics out, and Synanon was then fully launched for addicts.”(Yablonsky, L. 1965)

(From the Desk of Juan Lesende: How Drug Abuse Treatment Turns into Mistreatment By Juan E. Lesende - September 18th 2009)

The Washingtonian movement evolved into multi purpose activity and collapsed. The Oxford Group evolved renaming itself Moral Rearmament in 1938. The cult of Synanon evolved into multi purpose activity and collapsed.

AA has stood the test of time because it cannot evolve like other organisations, Traditions and Concepts prevent this. The direction of AA evolution was from diversity to simplicity. AA cannot evolve to get any simpler than groups with meeting rooms, single purpose, single affiliation, and a service structure to support them.

It is important to distinguish between adaptation and evolution. The service structure must organise and adapt to changes in society, but the A.A. group is bound by A.A. Tradition, its teaching of the twelve steps through least possible organisation.

Tradition Nine (Long form):

“Each A.A. group needs the least possible organization. Rotating leadership is the best. The small group may elect its secretary, the large group its rotating committee and the groups of a large metropolitan area their central or intergroup committee”

Bill W, New York 1939: “They were structured to the extent that there was always one speaker and Bill- maybe half an hour each - and then a long coffee session, a real get together. We were often there till 12 o’clock, started at eight.….. At this time there were no 90-days requirements. No birthdays – no recognition was made if you were sober a week or a year, If you felt you would like to speak in a year or in a month or two weeks they let you get up and speak, and they didn’t throw you out if you were drunk, either. They felt it was encouraging, hoping some word would stick.” (Ruth Hock, the first secretary of the New York General Service Office. Pass it on page 219)

AA. Grapevine 2010

I struggle to understand the "Twelve and Twelve," even with a college degree and help from my sponsor and other AAs. Meanwhile, my room-mate, also newly sober and with a grade school education, can't make any sense of her Step workbook and is about to give up. How many people do we lose this way? How many, when asked to read from the Big Book at a meeting, stumble through a few sentences, acutely embarrassed, and never come back? A literature-based program effectively shuts out people who desperately need help but do not have good reading skills”. (Dear Grapevine, Shut Out; A.A. Grapevine November 2010)

“Education will not only pay off in numbers treated; it can pay off even more handsomely in prevention… … it is both a community job and a job for specialists… … but AA as such cannot, and should not, get directly into this field.” (Bill W. AA Grapevine March 1958. Language of the Heart page 186-187)

Norman Y, 1977, joined AA in 1939

“‘I never read a word in A.A.’ he said. ‘You don’t have to read. You don’t have to have all these pamphlets they put out. You can learn to live this program by learning to think. A.A. is a wonderful thing to know and apply’ he said, ‘- but in your life. You’ve got to live it out in the street. You see somebody having a little problem, help them, no matter who they are. That’s A.A.” –Norman Y. (Dr. Bob and The Good Old Timers page 251-250)

“We have no doctrine that has to be maintained. We have no membership that has to be enlarged. We have no authority that has to be supported. We have no prestige, power or pride that has to be satisfied.” Bill W. (Concept 12, warranty Five)

What worked structurally in 1938 wouldn’t work in 1960, what worked in 1960 doesn’t appear to be working very well in 2011. Perhaps there needs to be a willingness to be open to change.

There are the new dynamics of non-AA published literature, global internet communication; the fellowship is much larger and yet the new communication channels make it more intimate.

If the fellowship has grown too big for the Trustees in the UK and USA to cope with the numbers of those who exploit the fellowship, perhaps some of this responsibility could be passed to the groups via communication to them.

There needs to be new thinking to suit new situations. The way in which groups are registered could be considered. The passing of responsibility of group registration from GSO to the intergroup would free the A.A. group conscience to discern whether a particular group that is operating outside the service structure is operating according to Tradition and warranties of Conference; whether it is one that is simply exercising its right to group autonomy by not being part of the intergroup; or whether the group is misusing the AA name by other purpose or affiliation. These matters could be settled locally by intergroup conscience.

Improved communication in the fellowship could be encouraged.

Where internationally affiliated cult groups exist, AA groups and intergroups could be encouraged to communicate with each other directly across regional and international boundaries instead of being isolated, giving information exchange and cooperation. As responsible individuals any A.A. member is fully entitled to act freely according to his or her own conscience. Letters or emails could be sent to any Traditions violator, group, or company that is misusing the A.A. name.

“I am responsible. When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that: I am responsible.”

(our emphases)

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

AA Minority report 2012 (continued)(14)

Section 7

Inventory

Extract from Bill W’s address to the 20th anniversary St Louis convention (AA Comes of Age page 231 -233):

“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.

I have great faith that we shall never embrace and persist in a fatal error; and yet we still might do so, fallible human beings that we are. This is the area in the future life of A.A. where we can never be too prudent or too vigilant. Let us not suppose, just because A.A. as a whole has never had a grievous problem, that it never will……..

Within A.A, I suppose we shall always quarrel a good bit……. We shall have our childish spats and snits……... Any bunch of growing children (and that is what we really are) would hardly be in character if they did less. These are the growing pains of infancy, and we actually thrive on them. ……

But there are nevertheless certain areas where anger and contention could prove to be our undoing. We know this because stronger societies than our own have been undone. The whole modern world is in fact coming apart as never before because of political and religious strife; because men blindly pursue wealth, fame, and personal power, regardless of the consequences to anyone, even themselves. These are the destructive drives that are inevitably spurred on by self – justification, and in all their disastrous collisions they are powered by righteous indignation, then by unreasoning anger, and finally blind fury. With the most heart felt gratitude I can report that we have never yet had to endure any such trials by fire in A.A. In all these twenty marvellous years no such thing as religious or political dissension has touched us. Very few have tried to exploit A.A. for wealth or fame or personal power……..”

This year, 2011 marked another A.A. anniversary, which a few might have acknowledged. This, the 40th anniversary in which A.A. has stood without Bill W’s ever prudent, ever vigilant “Stop Look Listen” (Concept 1) leadership. This passed away with him on January 26th 1971. As we can survey the fellowship today, perhaps it is now time to “Stop Look Listen.” Perhaps we have taken our eyes off the ball with “Our promoter friend”. Perhaps it is time to look very seriously at our Traditions, not as suggestions, but the very principles upon which the survival of our fellowship depends. Just to the degree that we deviate from these principles is precisely the degree to which the fellowship disintegrates.

Perhaps it is now time to look very closely at Concept IX. And ask ourselves, to which party do I belong to, the politician’s or the statesman’s?

A ‘statesman’ is an individual who can put the principle of A.A. Tradition before their own personality; self sacrificing, ever vigilant, prudently on guard, with an integrity that brooks no compromise; like the Statesmen who encountered Chuck D. in 1958.

“A statesman is an individual who can……..even in a small minority take a stand against a storm…… stick flat footed to ones convictions about an issue until it is settled…… face heavy and sometimes long-continued criticism………gobs of rumours, gossip, and general scuttlebutt…” (Concept IX)

Examples of non alcoholic Statesmen in A.A. history:

“Much later we realised what Mr. Rockefeller had really done for us. At risk of personal ridicule, he had stood up before the whole world to put in a plug for a tiny Society of struggling alcoholics” (Bill W. referring to the help given to A.A. by John D. Rockefeller Jr.) (A.A. Grapevine May 1955. Language of the Heart page 147)

“Dr. Silkworth let me work with a few people in the hospital at the risk of his reputation.” (Bill W. AA Grapevine July 1968. Language of the Heart page 285)

“At very considerable risk to his professional standing Harry Tiebout ever since continued to endorse A.A. and its work to the psychiatric profession.” (Bill W. A.A. Comes of Age page 4)

The following paragraph is an example of the voice of one of today’s Statesmen; though it is unfortunate the review committee could not come out with a unified voice on this principle:

“Finally Tradition Two tells me we have but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He expresses himself in our group conscience. It seems to me if we allow interpretations of the Big Book through study guides we will also undermine our ultimate authority.” (From A.A. World Services “Big Book Study Guides: Reviewing a position paper' – AA Service News, No.127 Summer 2006 / Box 459, vol.51, No.6. December2005)

A ‘politico’ is an individual who carries a principle only so far as for it not be of personal cost to himself; he absolves himself of his delegated responsibility and authority by trying to keep the peace, trying to please the people, one “who is forever trying to ‘get the people what they want” (Concept IX), by twisting sayings like “I have no opinion. I neither endorse nor oppose” “Live and let live!” “There’s nothing we can do, each group is autonomous.” “Keep your side of the street clean.” “Hand it over” “God will sort it out”, “Its God’s will!” “Vote with your feet!”

Politicians, please be aware, the disaffected are “voting with their feet.”

“No society can function well without able leadership at in all its levels, and A.A. can be no exception……but when he too meekly becomes an order- taker and exercises no judgement of his own – well, he isn’t a leader at all…. A ‘politico’ is an individual who is ‘forever trying to get the people what they want’…… Good leadership never passes the buck”…… “As individuals and as a fellowship, we shall surely suffer if we cast the whole job of planning for tomorrow onto a fatuous idea of providence. God’s real Providence has endowed us human beings with a considerable capacity for foresight and He evidently expects us to use it”. (Bill W, Concept IX).

Extract from the Conference Charter - Great Britain:

Article 3. Conference in relation to A.A.

“The Conference will act for A.A. in Great Britain in the perpetuation and guidance of its services and it will also be the vehicle by which A.A. in Great Britain can express its views on all matters of vital A.A. policy and all hazardous deviations from A.A. Tradition…….” (A.A. Service handbook for Great Britain section 9.1)

The General Service Board

“The General Service Board is the custodian of the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous in Great Britain. As such it has the responsibility to ensure that the Traditions are preserved intact and that the fellowship of A.A. In Great Britain acts in accordance with the Traditions.” (A.A. Service handbook for Great Britain section 9.1)

Perhaps it is time to reflect on all previous Conference recommendations regarding the use and display of non A.A. published literature and trinket business in A.A. meetings and in A.A. conventions, events; and also, recommendations on special purpose groups. Have previous recommendations stuck firmly to the principle of A.A. Tradition or have they deviated? Can the fellowship afford Conference to make compromises on Traditions? Is the fellowship suffering the consequences?

“The Conference, as we know, is the ‘guardian’ of the A.A. Traditions” (Concept 12, warranty five)

Is the broadside of A.A. Tradition being delivered in Conference recommendations, or is it the narrow side “To get the people what they want”?

UK General Service Conference 2011:

Extracts from conference question and committee response:

“Can Conference make suggestions on how groups and Intergroups can work better to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic? - There is evidence that strained relationships between some Groups and Intergroups could be inhibiting the effectiveness of our primary purpose.” (AA Service News 145, 2010)

“All service bodies are reminded that AA is an inclusive fellowship. Adherence to AA Traditions, concepts and warranties ensures inclusivity. This committee found that strained relations between some groups and Intergroups can inhibit the effectiveness of our primary purpose. The principles of Unity, right of participation, that minority opinion must be heard and that no service body has the authority to take punitive action were emphasised to help resolve some of the difficulties encountered.”(Committee 4, Question 2) (AA Service News 147, 2011).

Another side to A.A. Tradition:

“In AA, the group has strict limitations, but the individual scarcely any.”

(Bill W. AA Grapevine February 1958 - Language of the Heart pages 222-225).

Tradition One: “Our common welfare should come first…”

Tradition Two “There is but one ultimate authority…”

Concept 12 warranty six: “That our conference will be ever prudently be on guard against tyrannies great and small, whether these be found in the majority or in the minority.”

Concept 12, warranty five “Feeling the weight of all these forces, certain members who run counter to A.A.’s Traditions sometimes say that they are being censored or punished and that they are therefore being governed…..”

Tradition Two: “A few haemorrhage so badly that – drained of all A.A. spirit and principle - they get drunk. At times the A.A. landscape seems to be littered with bleeding forms.” (Tradition Two; Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions page 137-139).

Concept 12, warranty 6: “Finally, any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group provided that, as a group, they have no other purpose or affiliation”. (Concept 12, warranty 6)

Concept 12, warranty five: “These examples illustrate how far we have already gone to encourage freedom of assembly, action, even schism…….If they can do better by other means, we are glad.”

“A.A. started in a riot. It grows in riots” (Warren C. ‘Good Old timer’, joined A.A. 1939)

(Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers, page 209)

There can be no peace without justice, no serenity in anarchy, no unity without adherence to Tradition. Our history and Traditions tell us that we need never fear internal controversy, argument, split and schism. But what we do need to fear is a false unity at the price of Traditions and false pride at the expense of humility. We do need to fear public controversy caused by the communication of a garbled message and deviance from Traditions. The integrity of A.A. Traditions and warranties of Conference must be preserved in their active principles, because if they are compromised it will lead to our disintegration.

A quote of Dr. Bob on humility:

“...a thing which not too many of us are blessed.” This was not the “fake humility of Dickens’s Uriah Heep” Nor was it “the doormat variety.” (Dr. Bob and the Good Old Timers page 222).

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)