AA Conference Questions 2014 (contd)

AA Conference 2014 Committee No. 1 Q 2

(See the new aacultwatch forum)

“Learning from the US experience of Twelve Step Facilitation continued….

1993. Faced with the pressure of “Recovery” as the new organising paradigm, the US group conscience goes into Orwellian double think. AA loses its Circle and Triangle.

Whatever Happened to the Circle and Triangle? AA Grapevine December 1993, Vol. 50 No. 7 http://da.aagrapevine.org/

“…Adopted at the 20th Anniversary International Convention in St. Louis, the circle and triangle symbol was registered as an official AA mark in 1955, and has been widely used by various AA entities. By the mid-1980s, however, it had also begun to be used by outside organizations, such as novelty manufacturers, publishers, and occasionally treatment facilities. There was growing concern in the membership of AA about this situation…”

“…the AA World Services board began in 1986 to contact outside entities that were using the circle and triangle in an unauthorized manner, and to take action to prevent such use of the symbol. AAWS implemented this policy with restraint, and did not resort to legal remedies until all attempts at persuasion and conciliation had been unsuccessful. Of about 170 unauthorized users contacted, two suits were filed, and both were settled in the very early stages….”

“…Denying the use of the symbol to outside entities raised other problems, however. By early 1990, it was clear that some AA members very much wanted to be able to obtain medallions with "our" circle and triangle. Both the AAWS and Grapevine Corporate boards began receiving requests to produce sobriety chips and medallions, and the matter was discussed at a joint meeting of the two boards in October I990. Their consensus was that production of tokens and medallions was unrelated to our primary purpose of carrying the AA message, and they suggested that the matter be given a thorough airing at the General Service Conference in order to seek a group conscience from the Fellowship….”

“The ad hoc committee met prior to the 1993 Conference, for several full days of discussion and deliberation, and in turn presented its report and recommendations on the Conference floor….”

“…Immediately after the Conference, the General Service Board accepted AAWS's recommendation to discontinue protecting the circle and triangle symbol as one of AA's registered marks. And by early June, the trustees reached substantial unanimity in support of AAWS's statement that, to avoid the suggestion of association or affiliation with outside goods and services, AA World Services, Inc. would phase out the "official" or "legal" use of the circle and triangle…”

"Letting Go' of the Circle and Triangle As A Legal Mark" Box 4-5-9 August-September 1993 pp. 5-6: http://aa.org/lang/en/en_pdfs/en_box459_aug-sept93.pdf

“….By early 1990, some members of the Fellowship seemed to be saying two things: "we want medallions with our circle and triangle," while others were saying, "we don't want our symbol aligned with non A.A. Purposes."

“….Following lengthy considerations, the ad hoc committee presented their report and recommendations to the 1993 Conference…”

“…By early June, the General Service Board reached substantial unanimity in support of A.A.W.S.'s statement that, consistent with our original purpose lo avoid the suggestion of association or affiliation with outside goods and services, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc. will phase out the "official" or "legal" use of the circle and triangle symbol….””

Note: Conference Questions  can be downloaded in pdf from the GSO (GB) website. They are on pages  5-11, AA Service News, Issue 157, Winter 2013 http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/download/1/Library/Documents/AA%20Service%20News/157%20Winter%202013.pdf

Conference 2014 background material can be found on the GSO (GB) website. Follow the “Background Material for Conference 2014” link in the Document Library.  http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/Members/Document-Library

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS To use “comment” system simply click on “Comments” tab below this article and sign in. All comments go through a moderation stage

aacultwatch forum

Extract from our forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/aacultwatch under “Plymouth R2R infiltrating other 12-step”

"Hi ........ 

Thanks for your post. I think it is very relevant to this forum because I think all 12 step fellowships might be being targeted by the destructive cult(s). It may be that we are dealing with one international cult which at group level goes under a multitude of names and is spread across numbers of 12 step fellowships. I detect a movement operating under various descriptions and corporations targeting 12 step fellowship members with intent to amalgamate them into one evangelical neo-Oxford Group 12 step “recovery community”- a cure all for any addiction or compulsive behaviour. The movement has been powerful enough to split the national group conscience in USA/Canada, leading to AA losing official use of its Circle and Triangle trade mark to outside enterprises. A decision was taken in 1993 for AA World Services Inc. and AA Grapevine Inc. to stop using and protecting the symbol against the weight of around 170 unauthorised users. These included novelty manufacturers, publishers, and treatment centers. (Box 4-5-9 August-September 1993 ‘Letting Go' of the Circle and Triangle As A Legal Mark pp. 5-6: http://aa.org/lang/en/en_pdfs/en_box459_aug-sept93.pdf. This was also reported in AA Grapevine  December 1993, Vol. 50 No. 7: “Around AA Whatever Happened to the Circle and Triangle?”

Unfortunately there was a large enough lobby within the fellowship supporting novelty manufacturers' illegal misuse of the symbol on medallions; this combined with enough timid, complacent or apathetic conference delegates who avoided their responsibilities of leadership in concept IX, to stand firm on traditions and their duty to act as guardians of the fellowship; to actively provide the deterrent to outside entities described in the General Warranties of Conference (specifically Concept XII, Warranty Five). An alternative to letting go of the symbol according to Warranty Five would have been for conference delegates to instruct the boards of AA World Services Inc. and AA Grapevine Inc. to inform the general public of the symbol's illegal misuse, naming the publishers, treatment centers and novelty manufacturers who were using it illegally. And also, to ask Public Information committees throughout the AA world service structure, local and national, to deploy the protective action in warranty five by informing the general public also. 

I think the symbol is still copyright and used in some forms by general service boards in UK and some other countries. So let’s hope the general service boards in these countries can hold onto it before AA loses its identity completely to outside enterprises. The primary aim for cults is to gain power for their leaders, to make them money, and to recruit new members. The profits from cult study guides, sponsor guides, step guides, meeting guides, distorted AA history guides, workbooks, other pre-conference and non conference approved literature, sobriety chips, medallions and other novelty items all head up somewhere to someone's big fat wallet.

You might find it useful to read …...'s post under the “It has reached us too” thread.  Also, the  “TLM in Alanon UK?” thread by …..

I think it has helped me to learn how cults operate, which is why I put up the "Useful Resources" threads in section 3 of this forum. I think large international cults are difficult to recognise because they can have numbers of front companies and groups under different names, continue to evolve, change names, recruitment targets and sometimes locations.  They can be recognised more by their behaviour, group structures and type of language they use. The cult group in my AA intergroup was called “There is a Solution,” affiliated to the Primary Purpose Group, Dallas Texas and Dick B literature. Now that it has closed down, after much local opposition, I gather the person who started the group (and main driving force behind it) has relocated to another area. Thanks again for your post, I found the information useful to know.” 

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Around AA Whatever Happened to the Circle and Triangle, December, 1993

And:

Box 459, August-September issue, “'Letting Go' of the Circle and Triangle As A Legal Mark” (pp. 5-6)

Comment: For “'Letting Go' of” above read 'Abdicating Responsibility for'!

See also Links and downloads

PS For AA Minority Report 2013 click here

'Free-for- all' Franchises! Get your piece of the action!

For all those budding entrepreneurs out there eager to exploit the AA name in pursuit of that modern imperative – the fast buck! - one of our correspondents has helpfully supplied this extremely useful template – the Franchise Agreement (in this instance applied to 'juice bar' products with AACultwatch as the potential licensee – but of course these may be amended accordingly) Moreover in anticipation that the Primary Purpose Group will be one of the first to get into the act (they've already dipped their toes in the water – see Minority Report 2013 and in particular Appendix 1i Recovery Merchandise) we've already taken the liberty of inserting their name (although we were somewhat surprised to see that this has not been registered yet – an oversight perhaps?) You need have no worries though about copyright infringement (nor indeed the availability of the AA logo to add just that little bit more credibility to your scam - oops sorry! - to your business operation). You can be quite sure that when it comes down to it AA won't put up a fight! You see it's all to do with our 'spirituality' and not getting involved with all that messy litigation! It's so unbecoming after all and passivity is such an effective tool! Look where it's got us so far! So go ahead! Feel free! Sling the circle and triangle logo where you will – it's all absolutely fine with us. And of course such a strategy is sure to pay dividends when it comes to encouraging your 'marks' – oops .. sorry again … our mistake! – your DISCERNING CUSTOMERS to pay out for a whole range of tat! 

Happy hunting!

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous … and a bit of easy cash!)

In connection with the whole issue of the logo etc see the following:

“AA Grapevine December 1993, Vol. 50 No. 7:

“Around AA 

Whatever Happened to the Circle and Triangle?

Have you noticed that the circle and triangle symbol no longer appears at the top of the Grapevine's Table of Contents? The decision to remove it has its roots in recent events: actions of the 1993 General Service Conference, and subsequent actions by the Board of Trustees and the directors of AA World Services.

Adopted at the 20th Anniversary International Convention in St. Louis, the circle and triangle symbol was registered as an official AA mark in 1955, and has been widely used by various AA entities. By the mid-1980s, however, it had also begun to be used by outside organizations, such as novelty manufacturers, publishers, and occasionally treatment facilities. There was growing concern in the membership of AA about this situation. Some AA members were saying "we don't want our circle and triangle aligned with non-AA purposes." In keeping with the Sixth Tradition, that AA ". . .ought never endorse, finance or lend the AA name to any related facility or outside enterprise. . .", the AA World Services board began in 1986 to contact outside entities that were using the circle and triangle in an unauthorized manner, and to take action to prevent such use of the symbol. AAWS implemented this policy with restraint, and did not resort to legal remedies until all attempts at persuasion and conciliation had been unsuccessful. Of about 170 unauthorized users contacted, two suits were filed, and both were settled in the very early stages.

Denying the use of the symbol to outside entities raised other problems, however. By early 1990, it was clear that some AA members very much wanted to be able to obtain medallions with "our" circle and triangle. Both the AAWS and Grapevine Corporate boards began receiving requests to produce sobriety chips and medallions, and the matter was discussed at a joint meeting of the two boards in October I990. Their consensus was that production of tokens and medallions was unrelated to our primary purpose of carrying the AA message, and they suggested that the matter be given a thorough airing at the General Service Conference in order to seek a group conscience from the Fellowship.

At the 1992 Conference, there were presentations on why we should or should not produce medallions, and on the responsibility of AAWS to protect our trademarks and copyrights. The result was a Conference Advisory Action asking the General Service Board of trustees to undertake a feasibility study on the possible methods by which sobriety chips and medallions might be made available to the Fellowship, and to report its findings to an ad hoc committee of delegates.

The ad hoc committee met prior to the 1993 Conference, for several full days of discussion and deliberation, and in turn presented its report and recommendations on the Conference floor. After discussion, the Conference approved two of five recommendations: 1) that the use of sobriety chips/medallions is a matter of local autonomy and not one on which the Conference should record a definite position; and 2) that it is not appropriate for AA World Services or the Grapevine to produce or license the production of sobriety chips/medallions.

In substance, the ad hoc committee report said: "We began to see that the issue is 'What is best for AA as a whole' and not 'Does the Fellowship want AA sobriety chips/medallions?' or 'Can AA produce sobriety chips/medallions?' The committee did not focus on the use of sobriety chips/medallions--groups and individuals are free to use them if they wish. The question is whether it is best for AA as a whole to have a sobriety chip/medallion with the AA name on it authorized and/or issued by an AA entity.

"Some of the comments made during the Traditions part of the discussion included:

"The First Tradition --At the heart of the matter is unit. . ."

"The Second Tradition --Therein lies our solution. Where is our ultimate authority and where is our center? Is it internal or external--principles arising from a power greater than people, or values of the world? We must keep in mind that this is also the place where Bill W. points out that '. . .the good is sometimes the enemy of the best.'

"The Third Tradition --We were reminded that we are a self-correcting Fellowship. . . We felt that it is time for the whole Fellowship to get back to the simplicity and basis of our message.

"The Fourth Tradition makes it clear that we must separate the spiritual from the material. Keeping in mind that any action we take could affect AA as a whole. . .

"The fifth Tradition --The Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, AA Comes of Age, and 'The Twelve Concepts for World Service'--are the basic message, the core message of AA. Everything else is commentary on the basic message: all literature published, comments and sharing at meetings, even the Grapevine, is a sort of national commentary. Could chips/medallions be another form of commentary, another form of a pamphlet?

"The Sixth Tradition calls on us to 'divide the spiritual from the material.' Money is not a valid consideration in the question of whether or not litigation should be brought against misusers of our logo since AA is not in the business of making money. Similarly, the fear that others would be making money off our logo does not hurt the Fellowship on a fundamental level. How do we let go of this tiger we have by the tail?. . . We are at the tip of the iceberg of litigation right now. . . We went many, many years without lawsuits. To continue on this path threatens to keep our focus on money and property instead of allowing our view to widen spiritually.

"The Seventh Tradition reminds us 'Experience has often warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our spiritual heritage as futile disputes over property, money and authority.'

"The Eleventh Tradition --explicitly warns against the sensationalism that follows litigation. It is essentially negative attention and puts the Fellowship at risk.

"The Twelfth Tradition --Humility is the key, working from the internal to the external, from the smaller to the larger, from 'I' to 'We,' in a spirit of humility and trust. What course of action will keep us on the path of spirituality?. . .

"The committee spent a great length of time in the discussion of the Warranties. Warranty Five states:

"'Practically all societies and governments feel it necessary to inflict personal punishment upon individual members for violations of their beliefs, principles or laws. Because of its special situation, Alcoholics Anonymous finds this practice unnecessary. When we of AA fail to follow sound spiritual principles, alcohol cuts us down. Therefore, no humanly administered system of penalties is needed. This unique condition is an enormous advantage to us all, one on which we can fully rely and one which we should never abandon by a resort to the methods of personal attack and punishment. . . .

"'In case the AA name should be misapplied. . .it would of course be the duty of our General Service Conference to press for the discontinuance of such a practice--always short, however of public quarreling about the matter. . . . It was recognized that a public lawsuit is a public controversy, something in which our Tradition says we may not engage.'

"The chips/medallions and trademark questions were dealt with as separately as possible. The committee felt that a distinction could be drawn between the two in terms of their respective significance to AA. The trademark (logo) is the embodiment of the AA name. The significance of its shape is described in AA Comes of Age, page 139: 'The circle stands for the whole world of AA, and the triangle stands for AA's Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service. . . The priests and seers of antiquity regarded the circle enclosing the triangle as a means of warding off spirits of evil, and AA's circle and triangle of Recovery, Unity, and Service has certainly meant all of that to us and much more.'

"Medallions, on the other hand, are not universally considered an embodiment of the Fellowship as such. Many stories are told about the role that the coins play in an individual's continuing sobriety: the coins act as symbolic recognition of the length of sobriety. They are not the sobriety itself and any attempt to make medallions more than a symbol may lead perilously towards ego-inflation, self-glorification, rather than ego-deflation (see Tradition Twelve).

"The committee felt that the desire to protect the unique meaning of AA's symbol is at the foundation of litigation, as well as the fear of the trivialization of the mark. But despite the vehemence with which we feel 'ownership' of the symbol, we suspect that the belief that we (or anyone) can 'possess' the symbol is a fallacy.

 "It actually works against the foundation of the Steps that lead us to sobriety. Ownership necessarily involves control and to argue over that control through litigation takes the focus away from the fact that we are ultimately powerless. We can own the meaning of the symbol, and if someone uses die graphic, our meaning will not be diminished, as long as we keep the principles it represents in sight.

"The committee finally questioned the goals of litigation, what would actually he gained from a lawsuit. We suspect that the harm done internally as a result of litigation would be far worse than the harm others could do to our 'property" from the outside. At the base of this approach is the trust that is the foundation of AA. It is our trust that AA principles will work to protect our name, just as our trust in God is the foundation of our program and of our lives. Warranty Five says that we can '. . .confidently trust AA opinion, public opinion, and God Himself to take care of Alcoholics Anonymous. . . ."

"Concept Seven states '[The Conference] Charter itself is not a legal document. . ..it relies instead upon the force of tradition. . .for its final effectiveness.'

 "To us, the fear that the incorporation of the symbol by others outside the Fellowship would somehow detract from the significance of the symbol is really unfounded. No one outside the Fellowship can detract from AA's strength if we stick to the Steps, Traditions and Concepts, which unite us.

"The registered trademarks, service marks and logos are symbols of our spiritual Fellowship, Alcoholics Anonymous, and should be treated as such.

"The General Service Conference is a living entity. From the group conscience will eventually emerge an expression of the will of a loving Power greater than ourselves proven to be firmly linked to the Traditions and Warranties, keeping us safe for as long as we are needed."

The ad hoc committee report was debated on Tuesday and Thursday of Conference week, and the subject of chips and medallions came up again during a final sharing session on Friday. The chairperson of the AAWS Board made the following statement at that time: "The AAWS Board will immediately begin a thorough review of us policies regarding our marks, will do everything possible to avoid initialing litigation, and will prepare a revised policy statement to be ready for next year's Conference."

Immediately after the Conference, the General Service Board accepted AAWS's recommendation to discontinue protecting the circle and triangle symbol as one of AA's registered marks. And by early June, the trustees reached substantial unanimity in support of AAWS's statement that, to avoid the suggestion of association or affiliation with outside goods and services, AA World Services, Inc. would phase out the "official" or "legal" use of the circle and triangle.

If you're wondering how to identity Conference-approved literature in the future, it will carry the words "This is AA General Service Conference-approved literature." As pieces of literature are due for reprinting, the symbol will be deleted; and new materials will carry only the Conference-approved wording.

Like the Serenity Prayer and the slogans, which have never had official recognition, the circle and triangle will most likely continue to be used widely for many AA purposes. The difference from earlier practice is that its official use to denote Alcoholics Anonymous materials will be phased out.

(This material is adapted from the August-September issue of the GSO newsletter Box 4-5-9; portions of the ad hoc committee report are taken from the Final Report of the 1993 General Service Conference.)” http://da.aagrapevine.org/” 

Source: aacultwatch forum (“33yrs ago”)

Comment: A classic example both of our ability to cause our own problems by not applying the traditions in the first place compounded by our 'trusted servants' managing at every twist and turn to completely miss the point … again!

PS Our usual thanks to our correspondents

What's in a logo? Quite a lot apparently! (“Wessex Intergroup”)

It would seem (or so we have heard) that the newly formed “Wessex Intergroup” has jumped the gun somewhat so eager was this fledgling enterprise (or “cuckoo in the nest”) to establish its credibility as part of the AA service structure. In their efforts to give some semblance of authenticity to this “bastard” creation (note the use of the term “bastard” in this context does not imply invective, but merely an established reference to progeny who may not be entirely “legitimate”) the members in question purloined the AA logo, subsequently employing it as a letterhead on at least one of their “official” communications (see here). Apparently their use of the AA logo on this particular piece of correspondence aroused indignation in some quarters viz.

“A number of people have questioned the use of the AA logo and letterhead by an outside enterprise.”

The application of the terms “outside enterprise” so incensed the newly elected (?) chairman (?) of this “bastard” invention - “Wessex Intergroup” - that he was inspired to protest in a characteristically bombastic style (in our view he would definitely qualify as a “Mr Outraged from Tunbridge Wells”), and even managed to drag us into his objections. In another communication addressed to some unfortunate (in this case “sans logo”) he argues:

“Dear......

I think it should be remembered that the Wessex Intergroup is not an outside enterprise. All the constituent members are members of the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, this does rather sound like typical Cult Watch indoctrination twisting Guidelines and Traditions to suit their own questionable aims.

I have asked the Board to tell us on what authority they can deny the existence of an Intergroup which may make the use the logo quite legitimate. However, in the meantime we are not using the AA logo on our letter head as a matter of courtesy. Unfortunately the document that went out was written earlier and it was an oversight in my not changing the logo.

With love in Fellowship,

Paul P

On behalf of the Wessex Intergroup”

Well there you have it! Obviously it's all our fault! We really should know better by now! Remember: We (the cult) are ALWAYS right and you (the rest of the world) are ALWAYS wrong! Phew! That's a relief! For one horrible moment there the whole fabric of the cosmos seemed rent asunder! But now that the proper order of things has been fully restored we can continue with our little history. Unfortunately for Mr Outraged it would appear that it isn't in fact our fault at all! Who would have believed it! Nope.... Despite the new “Chairman's” protestations (and his fall back position “a matter of courtesy” …... Oh purrrrlllease!) it would seem that the General Service Board seem to hold to the same opinion ie.:

“ A number of people have questioned the use of the AA logo and letterhead by an outside enterprise.

The enclosed communication from ….... ( our board member ) clarifies the current situation :-

In response to …......'s request I can inform all parties, that the General Secretary of AA has sent a letter to all those who have an interest in "whether this Intergroup would be of benefit to the Fellowship".

A copy of that letter has also gone to Paul P along with a request NOT to use the logo until such times as the Fellowship accept the new Intergroup.

When all the replies are back from the Fellowship the Board will inform those concerned of their decision.

…....”

(our edits)

So it would seem that the novice “Chairman” of this new “Intergroup” has actually got it all WRONG! (sounds of the universe disintegrating all about us – we cower in terror!). Still this shouldn't be a problem because you MUST recall at this point that the cult operates on the basis of a completely different set of guidelines and principles to Alcoholics Anonymous – most notably their version of Tradition Four: “Each group should be completely autonomous, free to do absolutely anything it likes, and without any regard to any possible consequences for any other group or member or even AA as a whole”. (We think we got that right – feel free to correct us of course Mr “Chairman”!). But then if that particular sleight of hand doesn't do the trick they can always fall back on the “minority view” defence together with a bit of “punitive action” thrown in, and maybe even play the “martyr” role etc – but then what do we know? Who are we to question our betters? (Is it here that our sponsor is supposed to come to the rescue perhaps?)

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS We do hear that the “bastards” (see above on invective) are still actively involved in cult service activity in PI work, hospitals etc. Would the real AA like to stand up?

PPS We would request that if we are to be maligned by cult members (something, by the way,we enjoy greatly!) we would appreciate it if at least they got the name of our organisation right! It's aacultwatch

Ipswich Primary Purpose

“Hello,

My name is …... I am a member of AA , have been sober for nearly ….. years and regularly attend local meetings. I share your concern over the rise and development of cult groups and wish to offer my support to the efforts you are making.

I would like to make you aware of a group called Ipswich Primary Purpose. It was voted in by the local intergroup last summer at the first quarterly meeting which I attended….. There was little, if any, serious concern expressed and the only condition attached was that a link to a private therapists site from the groups site be removed. This has not been done but no further action has been taken by intergroup. The therapist is a retired senior staff member from the Priory. The Primary Purpose web site has other loose but visible links to other sites, one of which is to Dick B.* I have not attended any Primary Purpose meetings and cannot offer any evidence as to how they are conducted but the probability of a connection with the movement you have identified is sufficient for me to feel that I have grounds to raise the matter. I have spoken to one other member who did attend one of their meetings and found it disturbing. They can be found at ipswichprimarypurpose.co.uk.

I am one of the, I believe, growing number of people who feel that AA must change and adapt if it is to continue to be able to offer the compassionate support and understanding at group level that I have found to be so valuable. It is the perception of many people that AA has cult like characteristics. If the growth of the cult elements is allowed to grow unchecked this perception will be confirmed and almost certainly be exposed by the news media . AA is able to offer the only low cost (essentially free), long term,unconditional support service to people who cannot afford expensive private treatment and it would be a great sadness if complacency were to bring this to an end.

In fellowship,......”

(our edits)

* We received this communication some time ago and in the intervening period the above mentioned links have been removed. We note however some advertising for a Primary Purpose Mini Convention on the site (now past) and the use of a logo which again seems specific to this website. We have to assume that this is not an AA sponsored convention (ie. by the local intergroup) since it is not advertised as such (under AA Events on the AA website) nor does it carry the AA logo (which it may do if it falls under this category). For these reasons as well as its explicit use of the term “Primary Purpose” in the group title (although this is modified under the meeting list to “AA Primary Purpose”) its precise status as an AA meeting is questionable. If in fact this group is affiliated to the Primary Purpose movement we would say not (see here for a detailed analysis of this movement). Although the meeting is listed under the national Where to Find this does not imply that it is in fact an AA meeting (or run by an AA group). Under Tradition 3 (long form):

3. Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. 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 affiliation.

(our emphasis)

This group falls under the Eastern Region: South East Anglian IG

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

(our usual thanks to our reporter)

Tankerton (cult – East Kent) group outed!

A member of Alcoholics Anonymous has kindly brought to our attention a website news article (entitled: “How Alcoholics Anonymous can help” - although in this instance it might more aptly be renamed: “How the Tankerton group can help”, that is given the degree of self-promotion involved thereafter) which promotes the Tankerton cult group and even includes their own version of the Twelve Steps. This group (together with others in East Kent – see elsewhere on blog) is already notorious in the area for its activities, which include interweaving literature derived from non-AA sources into the readings employed at its meeting, and advocating moreover the much loved (much loved in the cult that is!) cult sponsorship 'DO EXACTLY WHAT YOUR SPONSOR SAYS' system. They have also produced a flier:

– note the use of the AA logo which is in breach of AA guidelines) publicising their group (this together with a map of its location) and which has formed a central part of this group's self-promotional campaign.

The article itself begins with a brief introduction relating to the death of a local man which is attributed to “his alcoholism and drug-taking”. We then go on to another account given by a “member of the Tankerton group of Alcoholics Anonymous” who outlines his own story (which in itself is fairly typical). However all of this seems merely a prelude to the 'advertisement' for the Tankerton group which then follows. Here it is explicitly acknowledged that this group pursued (and quite probably is still pursuing) a leafleting campaign publicising itself in local businesses. There is mention of the fact that there are actually other meetings in Kent (AA meetings that is) but of this there is no indication on the flier itself (perhaps they forgot). We are even treated here to a summary of the Tankerton group's meeting format before the article continues with a brief history of Alcoholics Anonymous. And now the coup de grace – and after such an authoritative rendition - we have the Tankerton group's very own version of the AA recovery programme! So impressed are we (NOT!) by this masterpiece that we simply couldn't resist reproducing it in full here. So for your edification (if not elucidation) - Voila!

“The Twelve Steps

1. Admit you are powerless to beat alcohol by yourself.

2. Recognise need for help from something bigger than you - a higher power.

3. Make a decision to seek help from your higher power.

4. Draw up an honest appraisal of yourself and things you have done in your life.

5. Admit to yourself and someone you trust what is in your appraisal.

6. Became willing to have your higher power remove your defects of character.

7. Ask this higher power of yours to remove your shortcomings.

8. List persons you have harmed.

9. Make amends where possible.

10. Continue to monitor self.

11. Seek help and direction in your life through prayer and meditation of your style and choosing.

12. Carry this message of recovery to other alcoholics.”

And there you have it! Now for our part we've got to admit (and contrary to our previously expressed negative attitude) that this is a blinding version and should be adopted post haste by Alcoholics Anonymous in place of its own rather timid 'interpretation' of the recovery programme. There really is no need for all that “God rot” anyway – and of course the main advantage of this particular formulation is that you can quite easily substitute the word “sponsor” for where it refers to “higher power” and Bob's your uncle – you've got the whole cult package nicely wrapped up! Genius! Pure genius! … Well maybe not.

What do you reckon?

Cheerio

The Fellas