I’m gonna owe an amend for this, but I’d buy this man a bottle of the finest scotch.
The bastard forgot the entire thing about “powerless over other people, places, and things.”
Amen Laz...outside of a Ultimate Moral Authority we addicts are screwed. We have to submit to a Master...and draw strength from the same, no matter what we call it.
I think this guy has a major point.
World Services, Inc., through the Toronto Intergroup, delisted Beyond Belief and We Agnostics - meetings that were for atheists. Attendees at those meetings were driven to those meetings, it is alleged, by “the exclusionary and fundamentalist behavior of some of its members who force their religious beliefs on others.”
Tradition 10 states, “Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.” Yet here, WSO expressed an opinion by delisting.
There is also the Tradition 3 old saw, “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking,” which will give WSO a problem.
You don’t need to affirm a belief in God, or drive out those who won’t please you after telling them they have to. Thumping like this is a violation of Tradition 1, “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.” Tradition 1 is the fist tradition for a reason. So the real problem is policing thumpery, which can’t be done. All you can do is go to meetings that thumpers don’t attend.
WSO lists meetings only that use approved literature - you can’t rewrite the steps. Fair enough. However, Tradition 4 states, “Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.”
So the question is does listing Beyond Belief and We Agnostics through intergroup “affect other groups or AA as a whole.” Probably yes, because a newcomer seeking an AA experience should be exposed only to approved literature. A bait an switch on the language of the steps could prevent a return trip to a meeting. This can affect AA as a whole.
Simple solution is Beyond Belief and We Agnostics post the unadulterated 12 steps at their meetings, then, if group conscience allows it, have the leader tell the attendees that, “This meeting does not follow the steps to the letter, like other meetings where members make suggestions about God as a higher power.” After all, the steps are only suggestions - “Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery.”