Based on your being active for 22 years in AA and being a conservative, I wonder if you could weigh in (when you have the time) on the particular root issue/concern that I am currently seeing in AA. (I realize that the issues that I had with that particular sponsor and meeting are very localized issues that just need to be dealt with via separation. I assume that you don't browbeat your liberal sponsees over political issues, I would further assume that you don't bring it up at all, and discourage it from them as well.)
The core issue that I am struggling with now has to do with the thinking and motivation behind those few phrases that are so often used (at least around here):
- "my best thinking got me here..."
- "don't re-join the debating society..."
- be very afraid of "your/my stinking thinking"
While I can see appropriate applications of these guideposts, as I'm sure that most reasonable people can (AAs or not), I have been observing a lot of blind adherence to these "principals" to the detriment of people accepting responsibility for their lives (especially in terms of being a good citizen). Have you seen any evidence of this around you over the years? What are your thoughts about this?
As I mentioned in the thread starter, I truly believe that when you combine the above with:
- people feeling very bad/guilty about their past acts
- people very sincerely wanting to make changes a live a better life (and do good)
- the fact that our public education system and state-controlled media constantly churns out the message that "liberals/democrats = GOOD, want to help people, especially the under-served... -and- Conservatives/Republicans = BAD, greedy evil forces that want to help the rich and hurt the poor"
You end up with a lot of people that will just blindly support leftist, Statist candidates and public policy. In my view it is almost inevitable.
I personally take it as a strong given that the only hope that we (as a Country) have that things can get turned around fast (via the ballot box) is that a large enough number of people throughout the Country will need to wake up. Waking up entails thinking that maybe there are alternative sources and news, data, and information. It further requires them to act upon that "thought" and either read what someone gives to them with an open mind, or make the effort to find it themselves. Then it requires them to actually think about what they have discovered, and decide how that contrasts with what they have previously considered to be "truth."
Very often the next step is that the person must be willing to "re-join the debating society" within the form an internal debate. We all need to go through this step before we are willing to engage in the discussions ("debate") with others.
I guess that I can't help being so totally blown away by my former sponsor's reaction and response (even though it was a week ago!). In particular when I asked him why he was unwilling to even entertain the thought that the garbage that he was feeding himself in the guise of "news and information" may not be telling him the complete story, his immediate reply was "my stinking thinking got me here..." I immediately responded, "You've been sober for over 25 years at this point. It is "OK" to think again! What are you so afraid of?" He was silent for quite a bit of time (a rather awkward point in the conversation!), and then just muttered some more AA lingo and changed the conversation. I am simply stunned by that, and believe that it is very emblematic of a real core problem.
THanks again, interested in your take on the above as time permits!
The main purpose of the program of AA is to enable us to become helpful and useful members of society. That means we rejoin the world around us, all of it, not just our enclave of fellow alcoholics. Of course, how much we choose to participate is voluntary.
My other observation is that currently we seem to be expecting a drastic and unwelcome change in our country. There are plenty of bothersome signs, but I think our increased access to news and opinion has warped our sense of reality. Our we on a dangerous path? Certainly, and I was pretty confused by the 2006 & 2008 elections. I couldn't imagine that there were so many imbeciles voting for candidates who are destroying the fabric of our society. I thought we were irreversibly doomed. But then the Tea Party movement arose and we see that the Democrats are having real trouble in popular opinion polls and in governing. We need to be careful about writing our epitaph too soon.
It appears that many of our fellow AA's are among the group that voted for these Democrats. In my case, I simply dismiss this as evidence of a sickness. One thing that has baffled me for a while is that it's common for us to describe insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Yet, many of our fellows looks at liberal policies and utterly fail to apply that wisdom to it.
Many people in AA and outside of AA are unwilling or unable to grasp the concept that when you do something for someone, you deprive them of the ability to learn how to do it themselves. But that is the liberal model of government assistance. We recognize it as a addictive relationship. Yet others do not see it.
Your real challenge is to learn to live among people who are unable to look beyond the simple adages. In AA, slogans are common and repeated over and over. In a way, independent thought is discouraged. That seems to be another paradox of AA. We let people develop their own conception of God, yet we chastise them for thinking differently from the rest of the group in other matters. Don't let this bother you a bit. Keep thinking on your own, but use the 12 steps as your framework. Step 11 is among the most powerful steps, as it calls for as much development as you dare.
I have to admit that I am a bit of a lone wolf on many AA matters. I am active in my group and service, and have a small group of regular friends. But I am not a big part of the local AA fellowship scene. Nor am I active in local politics. That's my choice, however, not a pillar of my recovery. I have my family and my church and plenty of hobbies to keep me engaged beyond my AA life. Wear the world as a loose garment is the advice from St. Francis, and it is far more useful than most of the pithy slogans heard around the tables.
Keep in touch.