We quote:
“As a
newcomer in Alcoholics Anonymous back in the 90’s, I remember being
on the lookout for anything that I thought was even remotely
cult-ish. I thought if I spotted something, it might just be my ‘get
out of AA free card.’ While I needed to get my court card signed
and may have even wanted to learn how to control and enjoy my
drinking, I sure as hell didn’t want to join a cult or find God. So
at the beginning of the meeting when they read the Twelve Traditions
and everyone chanted in unison ‘principles before personalities’
I thought, WTF have I gotten myself into?! The chanting and the
holding of hands at the end when the serenity prayer was recited in
unison seemed like something straight out of the Jonestown Massacre.
After six
more years of hard drinking and sixteen years of sobriety after that
(weekends and holidays included) I now realize that our Traditions
are actually what prevent us from becoming a cult and that they have
actually kept us from going the way of the long defunct
Washingtonians and the Oxford Group. So when I heard about the
cult-like activities happening here in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation
Council) countries and about how our Traditions were being routinely
and systematically violated, I was shocked. If I had even heard
rumors about what is currently happening in the Fellowship back then,
when I was a newcomer, I would have used it as a ‘get out of AA
free card’ for sure.
Like other
extremists, the ultra-orthodox among us pine for a time when the
ideals that set our spiritual movement in motion were ‘pure.’
They want to ‘get back to basics’ by working the AA program in
the way they believe it was before it became ‘corrupted’ and
‘diluted’ by Hazelden Treatment Centers, self-help books and new
age philosophy. Like all zealots, the leaders of these groups in AA
claim a lineage to the founding members which they say makes their
way, the only true path to salvation.
And now,
thanks to a host of workshops and local proselytes in the Persian
Gulf who preach a lock-step interpretation of the AA doctrine, this
form of spiritual extremism has been brought to the Middle East, a
corner of the world all to familiar with those of their ilk. What’s
sadly ironic is that while these hardliners from the Pacific &
Atlantic Groups in our midst long to get ‘back to basics’ and
consider themselves a ‘By The Book Group,’ they have actually
pushed aside one of our main textbooks, The Twelve Steps & Twelve
Traditions, in order to do so. They are violating, in both letter and
spirit, most of our Traditions including One, Two, Five, Eight, Ten,
Eleven and Twelve.
Tradition
One states that our common welfare should come first; personal
recovery depends on AA unity. While their intentions may be good,
these fanatics are destroying the most cherished quality our society
has - unity. They are doing this by differentiating themselves from
what they call ‘mainstream AA’ or ‘AA Lite.’ While most of
us identity ourselves as ‘alcoholics’ or ‘recovering
alcoholics’ they are, on the other hand, self-professed ‘recovered
alcoholics.’ They are ‘recovered’ because unlike the rest of us
who are just recovering, they are actually working the program as it
was supposed to be worked, like they did back in 1935 (or even
pre-Big Book) when it was ‘pure.’ This creates an ‘us’ versus
‘them’ dynamic that gives these sponsorship cult members a false
sense of spiritual superiority, of ‘better than’ recovery that is
splitting our Fellowship apart.
Tradition
Two states that for our group purpose there is but one ultimate
authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group
conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
Within these extremist groups in AA, sponsors govern the lives of
their sponsees. If obligations are not met, calls not made at exact
times or detailed, daily inventories not delivered into inboxes when
they should be, there are punishments to be doled out, usually in the
form of the sponsee not being able to proceed with the step he is on
or not allowing him to move on to the next step, a sort of spiritual
blackmail that governs their lives by their ultimate authority -
their sponsor. Sponsors in other Fellowships such as NA are also
strictly forbidden.
Tradition
FIve states that each group has but one primary purpose - to carry
its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. These ‘back to basics’ groups in AA violate this tradition by insisting that their
sponsees buy workbooks that are not conference approved literature.
The workbooks, may not be photocopied nor may they be passed on to
another alcoholic. All sales proceeds go to their maker, not to AA
as a whole. Carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers
does not mean selling it to him for profit. Nor does it mean
targeting newcomers, the most psychologically vulnerable of all which
is what one ‘by the book’ group is doing in a major metropolitan
area by falsely advertising their praetorian gatherings as beginner
meetings (the only two such meetings listed for this particular
area).
Tradition
Eight states that Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever
non-professional but our service centers may employ special workers.
These splinter groups within AA seem to have forgotten the ancient
words used in this tradition, ‘freely ye have received, freely
give’ and that ‘at the point of professionalism, money and
spirituality do not mix.’ Leaders of these fundamentalist groups
often set up foundations with slightly modified AA symbols on them to
hoodwink the unsuspecting and channel profits from the sale of their
workbooks, personal programs (and even an AA board game in the case
of Wayne B.) into their pockets. They fly around the world, all
expenses paid on the AA speaker circuit - famous in their anonymity.
In so professionalizing the 12th Step, they have defeated our
singleness of purpose, opting instead to exploit the AA name for
personal prestige, power and money.
Tradition
Ten states that Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside
issues; hence the AA name out never be drawn into public controversy.
These sponsorship cults seem to have forgotten the fate of the
Washingtonians, a precursor to AA. While they once had a membership
of over 100,000, their opinions on outside issues destroyed them. In
much the same way, these sepratist groups in AA have an opinion on a
variety of outside issues that range from the very dangerous practice
of non-medical personnel restricting the use of antidepressants and
other prescribed medications for members who suffer from mental
illness to policing the use of profanity and even telling sponsees
how they ought to dress.
Tradition
Eleven states that our public relations policy is based on attraction
rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at
the level of press, radio and films. Leaders of these sponsorship
cults are heavy self-promoters with their own websites, foundations
and self-help books. The essence of this tradition is self-denial,
not self aggrandisement as practiced by those on the AA speaker
circuit selling their own version of recovery.
Tradition
Twelve states that anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our
traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before
personalities. These AA gurus lead cults of personality that
routinely break anonymity by using their first and last names at
meeting level. While only using their first names and last initials
at the level of press, radio, films and on social media, they have
nevertheless become household names in AA and in the case of Clancy
I., Wayne B. and Wally P. deity like figures within the Fellowship.
Like all cult leaders they demand absolute submission and compliance
to their dogma. Any resistance is dismissed as self-will which will
inevitably doom the one rebelling to surely drink again. These
practices are the antithesis of Tradition Twelve. Just as we couldn’t
afford to have any self-appointed messiahs representing AA when the
Twelve Traditions were written in 1952, nor can we afford to have
them with us today.
Therefore,
for the sake of unity and for our own collective survival, groups
that violate any of the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics
Anonymous in word or in spirit should not be associated or linked
with those who do not. Any use of the AA name, logo or listing on an
AA website should be banned by those breaking the Traditions that
bind us together.”
Comment:
All sounds VERY familiar
Our thanks
to our correspondent
The Fellas
(Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
