Clone mail!

From time to time we get mails from members which are generally intelligent, perceptive, moving, thoughtful, and well worth the read. And then unfortunately we get mail from cult members as well! These are usually the direct antithesis: banal, scripted, arrogant, myopic and sometimes even abusive. Occasionally one of the latter make an attempt at irony, presumably seeking to exercise what little capacity for independent thought and imagination they still retain. Oh dear, oh dear! Not a good idea! Here is the latest offering from a budding (but failing) Noël Coward: 

“I'd like to take the time to thank you for providing me with a list of all the AA meetings where I can find people practicing [sic] the true program of Alcoholics Anonymous as outlined in the literature. 

cheers and thanks for the great work! 

One real alcoholic.” 

(from someone calling himself Chris S – we always like to give 'credit' where credit's due!) 

We know – yawn! But there you have it. The very epitome of cult wit! But then that's as good as it gets! 

The author of this 'gem' is, as you have may have guessed, referring to our listings for cult meetings in Great Britain, the United States and the Rest of the world. Whilst these are far from comprehensive they give a rough idea of how extensively the rot has spread within AA, or at least in terms of this particular brand of fundamentalist dogma. You will note the reference to the “true program of Alcoholics Anonymous as outlined in the literature”. We have to say that to date we haven't come across a single cult member who seems to have even a nodding acquaintance with the aforementioned texts. Rather they have had the regurgitated version thrust down their throats by some so-called Big Book 'expert' who in turn no doubt was tutored by some equally ignorant sponsor - and so on up the line! A bad case of the blind leading the blind! And then of course he signs off: “One real alcoholic”. Only one! Is there only one real alcoholic in the whole of AA! Goodness gracious! Who have we been mixing with all these years? A bunch of fakes! 

Perhaps it would be better to leave this “one”, “true” alcoholic to his own private fantasy whilst the rest of us get on with the business of living in the “real” world 

Cheerio 

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous … and Noël Coward!)

aacultwatch forum daily reflections

Extracts from our forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/aacultwatch under thread: “advice on how to report a cult meeting ”

“Hi ….....

Thanks for voicing your concern. I admire you for doing it, well done. I hope you carry on. I have been doing it since 2009. I think more people are beginning to do it a bit more now, but I think it will still take some time to swing things around so that vulnerable newcomers are protected from these BBS (Big Book Study or if you prefer Big Bullsh-t Study) controllers. It’s a pity there aren’t more in AA like you; especially among the ape guru oldtimers (Three wise monkeys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_wise_monkeys). According to this Wikipedia article, a fourth ape guru oldtimer is sometimes depicted folding his arms. They'll throw a few bananas as soon as there’s action requiring a bit of responsibility while chanting the AA slogan “Live and Let Live!” When they’ve got no bananas, they’ll scramble to hide behind the yellow card:

“Who you See Here,

What You Here Hear,

When You Leave Here,

Let it Stay Here”

– Nothing to do with me, or him, or her, so why don’t you stop interrupting our chimp’s tea party, pop a plum in your mouth, smile serenely and keep it shut like us? This attitude cannot be found in the Steps, Traditions or Concepts, which all call for social responsibility.

I can only suggest you email aacultwatch and ask them to flag the group as a cult group. If you have any questions or want any info please feel free to ask, I’ll do what I can to find any info you may want. I think you'll find a fair bit on this forum and the aacultwatch blog. The long and the short of it, I think, is that AA history and sponsorship has been perverted by outside publications by a variety of individuals who have combined their recovery with their ambitions for power and money. This has created a cultish “Tough Love” controlling type of sponsorship, originating mainly from USA treatment centre programmes derived from the Synanon cult and the Little Rock Group. These have also been combined with teachings of a dictator who has been elevated to the status of the “prophet” Clarence S. and self- appointed fundamentalist Christian historians [viz Dick B] who have distorted AA history to make it look like the pioneering days with the Oxford Group were successful, when they weren’t. Hence the USA bible study cult phenomena has also become a Big Book Study cult phenomena. I think it is a dangerous cult which has damaged AA public relations and has perhaps turned away several hundred thousand newcomers who have walked into this abusive sponsorship style which has been increasingly pervading AA since the 1970’s. It is unfortunate that AA history has been so cleverly twisted by cult literature that its proponents believe that the AA program has now been watered down, when in fact Big Book Study and Big Book Sponsorship is itself an outside AA published watered down program with a treatment centre program called ‘Recovery Dynamics’ authored by an alcoholic called Joe McQ.

Incidentally, I noticed a version of the yellow card pictured on the Wikipedia “Three Wise Monkeys” article, a WWII poster directed at participants in the Manhattan Project; the Manhattan Project created the first Atomic Bombs:

What You See Here.

What You Do Here

What You Hear Here

When You Leave Here

Let It Stay Here

Perhaps that’s where the original idea for the yellow card and big book study came from, the brain of a mad alcoholic nuclear physicist. One never knows.”

(our edits)

 

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Cult meetings - Greater London

This list is far from comprehensive and we will be adding to it (and amending where necessary) as we receive the relevant information.

Greater London
　
SW19
Wimbledon: Design for Living Group
Sunday 10.30 William Morris Meeting Rooms, The Broadway
　
W8
Kensington: Road to Recovery/As Bill Sees It
Monday 19.30 Kensington United Reformed Church, Allen St
　
Kensington: Road to Recovery
Wednesday 19.30 Our Lady of Mt Carmel Church, Kensington Church St
　
W11
Notting Hill: Road to Recovery/ A Vision for You
Friday 19.30 St Johns Church, Lansdowne Crescent
　
N21
Winchmore Hill: There is a Solution
Monday 20.00 Winchmore Hill Methodist Church, Green Lanes
　
Winchmore Hill: Primary Purpose Beginners
Friday 20.00 Winchmore Hill Methodist Church, Green Lanes
　
SE10
Greenwich: Road to Recovery
Tuesday 19.30 Devonshire Drive Baptist Church, Devonshire Drive
　
SW4
Battersea: Beginners
Tuesday 19.30 St Barnabas Church, Lavender Gdns

More cult meetings in Kent

Kent

Gravesend: Beginners
Tuesday 20.00 Emmanuel Baptist Church, Windmill St

Rochester: There is a Solution Big Book Step & Tradition
Monday 20.00 The Quaker Meeting House, Northgate

Rochester:
Saturday 10.45 The Quaker Meeting House, Northgate

Cult meeting of the day

Kent
Strood: There is a Solution
Thursday 20.00 St Nicholas with St Mary's Church

Cult meetings: Plymouth

PLYMOUTH: Road to Recovery
Tuesday 19.30 Church of Christ the King, Armada Way
Thursday 13.00 Quaker House, Mutley Plain
Friday 19.30 St Mathias Church Hall, North Hill
Sunday 17.30 (Sept-Dec)- Big Book study
18.45 Mini Meeting
19.30 Topic Meeting
St Mathias Church Hall, North Hill