MajestyJo
05-01-2011, 11:03 PM
Bill W. says in the language of the hearts, page 94.
The Twelve Points of Tradition are little else than a specific application
of the spirit of the Twelve Steps of recovery to our group life and to
society in general. The recovery steps would make each individual AA whole
and one with God; the Twelve Points of Tradition would make us one with
each other and whole with the world around us. Unity is our aim.
From: GrapevineŠ, April 1946
Twelve Suggested Points of AA Tradition
Nobody invented Alcoholics Anonymous. It grew. Trial and error has
produced a rich experience. Little by little we have been adopting
the lessons of that experience, first as policy and then as Tradition.
That process still goes on and we hope it never stops. Should we ever
harden too much, the letter might crush the spirit. We could victimize
ourselves by petty rules and prohibitions; we could imagine that we
had said the last word. We might even be asking alcoholics to accept
our rigid ideas or stay away. We never stifle progress like that!
Yet the lessons of our experience count for a great deal -- a very
great deal, we are each convinced. The first written record of AA
experience was the book "Alcoholics Anonymous". It was addressed to
the heart of our foremost problem -- release from the alcohol obsession.
It contained personal experiences of drinking and recovery and a
statement of those divine but ancient principles, which have brought
us a miraculous regeneration. Since publication of "Alcoholics
Anonymous" in 1939 we have grown from 100 to 24,000 members. Seven
years have passed; seven years, of vast experience with our next
greatest undertaking --- the problem of living and working together.
This is today our main concern. If we can succeed in this adventure
-- and keep succeeding -- then, and only then, will our future be secure.
Since personal calamity holds us in bondage no more, our most challenging
concern has become the future of Alcoholics Anonymous; how to preserve
among us AA's such a powerful unity that neither weakness of persons
not the strain and strife of these troubled times can harm our common
cause. We know that Alcoholics Anonymous must continue to live. Else,
save few exceptions, we and our fellow alcoholics throughout the world
will surely resume the hopeless journey to oblivion.
Almost any AA can tell you what our group problems are. Fundamentally
they have to do with our relations, one with the other, and with the
world outside. They involve relations of the AA to the group, the
relation of the group top Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole, and the
place of Alcoholics Anonymous in that troubled sea called modern
society, where all of humankind must presently shipwreck or find
haven. Terribly relevant is the problem of our basic structure and
our attitude toward those ever pressing questions of leadership, money,
and authority. The future way well depend on how we feel and act about
things that are controversial and how we regard our public relations.
Our final destiny will surely hang upon what we presently decide to do
with these danger-fraught issues!
Now comes the crux of our discussion. It is this: Have we yet acquired
sufficient experience to state clear-cut policies on these, our chief
concerns? Can we now declare general principles which could grow into
vital Traditions -- Traditions sustained in the heart of each AA by his
own deep conviction and by the common consent of his fellows? That is
the question. Though full answers to all our perplexities may never
be found, I'm sure we have come at least to a vantage point whence
we can discern the main outlines of a body of Tradition; which, God
willing, can stand as an effective guard against all the ravages of
time and circumstance.
Acting upon the persistent urge of old AA friends, and upon the
conviction that general agreement and consent between our members
is now possible, I shall venture to place in words these suggestions
for an Alcoholics Anonymous Tradition of Relations -- Twelve Points
to Assure Our Future.
Our AA experience has taught us that:
1. Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great
whole. AA must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence
our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close
afterward.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority --
a loving God as he may express himself in our group conscience.
3. Our membership ought to include all who suffer alcoholism. Hence
we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought AA membership ever
depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered
together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group.
4. With respect to its own affairs, each AA group should be responsible
to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans
concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought
to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should
ever take any action that might greatly affect AA as a whole without
conferring with the trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation [now the
General Service Board]. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
5. Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having
but one primary purpose -- that of carrying its message to the alcoholic
who still suffers.
6. Problems of money, property and authority may easily divert us from
our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable
property of genuine use to AA should be separately incorporated and
managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An AA group,
as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to AA such as
clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought
to be so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by
the groups. The management of these special facilities should be the
sole responsibility of those people, whether AA's or not, who
financially support the. For our clubs, we prefer AA managers. But
hospitals, as well as other places of recuperation, ought to be well
outside AA -- and medically supervised. An AA group may cooperate with
anyone, but should bind itself to no one.
7. The AA groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the
voluntary contributions of their own members. We think that each group
should soon achieve this ideal; that any public solicitation of funds
using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous is highly dangerous; that
acceptance of large gifts from any source or of contributions carrying
any obligation whatever is usually unwise. Then, too, we view with much
concern those AA treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves,
to accumulate funds for no stated AA purpose. Experience has often
warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our spiritual heritage
as futile disputes over property, money, and authority.
8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non professional. We
define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for
fee or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to
perform those full-time services for which we might otherwise have
to engage non-alcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed.
But personal Twelfth Step work is never to be paid for.
9. Each AA group needs the least possible organization. Rotating
leadership is usually the best. The small group may elect its secretary,
the larger group its rotating committee, and the groups of a large
metropolitan area their central committee, which often employs a
full time secretary. The trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation are,
in effect, our general service committee. They are the custodians
of our AA Tradition and the receivers of voluntary AA contributions
by which they maintain AA general Headquarters and our general
secretary at New York. They are authorized by the groups to handle
our overall public relations and they guarantee the integrity of
our principal publication, the AA Grapevine. All such representatives
are to be guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in AA
are but trusted and experienced servants of the whole. They derive
no real authority from their titles, Universal respect is the key
to their usefulness.
`0. No AA group or members should ever, in such a way as to implicate
AA, express any opinion on outside controversial issues -- particularly
those of politics, alcohol reform or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics
Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can
express no views whatever.
11. Our relations with the outside world should be characterized by
modesty and anonymity. We think AA ought to avoid sensational advertising.
Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction
rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel
it better to let our friends recommend us.
12. We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity
has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to
place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice
a truly humble modesty. This to the end that our great blessings may
never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation
of him who presides over us all.
May it be urged that while these principles have been stated in
rather positive language they are still only suggestions for our
future. We of Alcoholics Anonymous have never enthusiastically
responded to any assumption of personal authority. Perhaps it is
well for AA that this is true. So I offer these suggestions neither
as one man's dictum nor as a creed of any kind, but rather as a
first attempt to portray that group ideal toward which we have
assuredly been led by a Higher Power these ten years past.
The Twelve Points of Tradition are little else than a specific application
of the spirit of the Twelve Steps of recovery to our group life and to
society in general. The recovery steps would make each individual AA whole
and one with God; the Twelve Points of Tradition would make us one with
each other and whole with the world around us. Unity is our aim.
From: GrapevineŠ, April 1946
Twelve Suggested Points of AA Tradition
Nobody invented Alcoholics Anonymous. It grew. Trial and error has
produced a rich experience. Little by little we have been adopting
the lessons of that experience, first as policy and then as Tradition.
That process still goes on and we hope it never stops. Should we ever
harden too much, the letter might crush the spirit. We could victimize
ourselves by petty rules and prohibitions; we could imagine that we
had said the last word. We might even be asking alcoholics to accept
our rigid ideas or stay away. We never stifle progress like that!
Yet the lessons of our experience count for a great deal -- a very
great deal, we are each convinced. The first written record of AA
experience was the book "Alcoholics Anonymous". It was addressed to
the heart of our foremost problem -- release from the alcohol obsession.
It contained personal experiences of drinking and recovery and a
statement of those divine but ancient principles, which have brought
us a miraculous regeneration. Since publication of "Alcoholics
Anonymous" in 1939 we have grown from 100 to 24,000 members. Seven
years have passed; seven years, of vast experience with our next
greatest undertaking --- the problem of living and working together.
This is today our main concern. If we can succeed in this adventure
-- and keep succeeding -- then, and only then, will our future be secure.
Since personal calamity holds us in bondage no more, our most challenging
concern has become the future of Alcoholics Anonymous; how to preserve
among us AA's such a powerful unity that neither weakness of persons
not the strain and strife of these troubled times can harm our common
cause. We know that Alcoholics Anonymous must continue to live. Else,
save few exceptions, we and our fellow alcoholics throughout the world
will surely resume the hopeless journey to oblivion.
Almost any AA can tell you what our group problems are. Fundamentally
they have to do with our relations, one with the other, and with the
world outside. They involve relations of the AA to the group, the
relation of the group top Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole, and the
place of Alcoholics Anonymous in that troubled sea called modern
society, where all of humankind must presently shipwreck or find
haven. Terribly relevant is the problem of our basic structure and
our attitude toward those ever pressing questions of leadership, money,
and authority. The future way well depend on how we feel and act about
things that are controversial and how we regard our public relations.
Our final destiny will surely hang upon what we presently decide to do
with these danger-fraught issues!
Now comes the crux of our discussion. It is this: Have we yet acquired
sufficient experience to state clear-cut policies on these, our chief
concerns? Can we now declare general principles which could grow into
vital Traditions -- Traditions sustained in the heart of each AA by his
own deep conviction and by the common consent of his fellows? That is
the question. Though full answers to all our perplexities may never
be found, I'm sure we have come at least to a vantage point whence
we can discern the main outlines of a body of Tradition; which, God
willing, can stand as an effective guard against all the ravages of
time and circumstance.
Acting upon the persistent urge of old AA friends, and upon the
conviction that general agreement and consent between our members
is now possible, I shall venture to place in words these suggestions
for an Alcoholics Anonymous Tradition of Relations -- Twelve Points
to Assure Our Future.
Our AA experience has taught us that:
1. Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great
whole. AA must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence
our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close
afterward.
2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority --
a loving God as he may express himself in our group conscience.
3. Our membership ought to include all who suffer alcoholism. Hence
we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought AA membership ever
depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered
together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group.
4. With respect to its own affairs, each AA group should be responsible
to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans
concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought
to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should
ever take any action that might greatly affect AA as a whole without
conferring with the trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation [now the
General Service Board]. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
5. Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having
but one primary purpose -- that of carrying its message to the alcoholic
who still suffers.
6. Problems of money, property and authority may easily divert us from
our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable
property of genuine use to AA should be separately incorporated and
managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An AA group,
as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to AA such as
clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought
to be so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by
the groups. The management of these special facilities should be the
sole responsibility of those people, whether AA's or not, who
financially support the. For our clubs, we prefer AA managers. But
hospitals, as well as other places of recuperation, ought to be well
outside AA -- and medically supervised. An AA group may cooperate with
anyone, but should bind itself to no one.
7. The AA groups themselves ought to be fully supported by the
voluntary contributions of their own members. We think that each group
should soon achieve this ideal; that any public solicitation of funds
using the name of Alcoholics Anonymous is highly dangerous; that
acceptance of large gifts from any source or of contributions carrying
any obligation whatever is usually unwise. Then, too, we view with much
concern those AA treasuries which continue, beyond prudent reserves,
to accumulate funds for no stated AA purpose. Experience has often
warned us that nothing can so surely destroy our spiritual heritage
as futile disputes over property, money, and authority.
8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non professional. We
define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for
fee or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to
perform those full-time services for which we might otherwise have
to engage non-alcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed.
But personal Twelfth Step work is never to be paid for.
9. Each AA group needs the least possible organization. Rotating
leadership is usually the best. The small group may elect its secretary,
the larger group its rotating committee, and the groups of a large
metropolitan area their central committee, which often employs a
full time secretary. The trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation are,
in effect, our general service committee. They are the custodians
of our AA Tradition and the receivers of voluntary AA contributions
by which they maintain AA general Headquarters and our general
secretary at New York. They are authorized by the groups to handle
our overall public relations and they guarantee the integrity of
our principal publication, the AA Grapevine. All such representatives
are to be guided in the spirit of service, for true leaders in AA
are but trusted and experienced servants of the whole. They derive
no real authority from their titles, Universal respect is the key
to their usefulness.
`0. No AA group or members should ever, in such a way as to implicate
AA, express any opinion on outside controversial issues -- particularly
those of politics, alcohol reform or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics
Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can
express no views whatever.
11. Our relations with the outside world should be characterized by
modesty and anonymity. We think AA ought to avoid sensational advertising.
Our public relations should be guided by the principle of attraction
rather than promotion. There is never need to praise ourselves. We feel
it better to let our friends recommend us.
12. We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the principle of anonymity
has an immense spiritual significance. It reminds us that we are to
place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice
a truly humble modesty. This to the end that our great blessings may
never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation
of him who presides over us all.
May it be urged that while these principles have been stated in
rather positive language they are still only suggestions for our
future. We of Alcoholics Anonymous have never enthusiastically
responded to any assumption of personal authority. Perhaps it is
well for AA that this is true. So I offer these suggestions neither
as one man's dictum nor as a creed of any kind, but rather as a
first attempt to portray that group ideal toward which we have
assuredly been led by a Higher Power these ten years past.