This post is reply to +Tim Stoddart, a talented writer and
social media manager at Sober Nation, a site which I visit often. This is a
topic that comes up from time to time. AA gets a lot of flak from the outside
community for being too cultish.
The group meets, then before and after the meeting they do
have some ritualistic shit going on. They are chanting the few paragraphs about
AA and helping alcoholics, losing everything, having a spiritual experience,
going through 12 steps and getting it all back, unless you happen to be “constitutionally
incapable”, then you’re screwed.
I suggest you check out his post. He is talented and Sober
Nation has the drop on recovery news, that’s for sure. I repost and share his
content often. SN is a great resource for researching current trends in the
world of recovery and Tim has his thumb on the pulse of addiction news.
http://www.sobernation.com/3-things-to-remind-yourself-when-dealing-with-aa-haters/#comment-535506
I am a big fan of Sober Nation and your posts on the Sober
Nation web. I almost always agree with you and we have very similar viewpoints.
I think the fact that people find recovery anywhere, is awesome. This is by no
means an assault on the many steppers out there, who have gotten and stayed
clean through the AA/NA programs.
Lately, I've been trying to understand the reasons for some
of the decisions to structure AA the way it was, and is and forever shall
be.
AA had decades of better success than any ideology around.
There wasn't a competitor.
Naturally, they are so big that they have recovery
on lock. And, there is nothing wrong with that. I am convinced that when you
break through to people in a novel way and get the success that AA has had, you
must assume some of the social responsibility of things that happen outside of
a clubhouse.
The closest thing to a mission I see is in tradition number
five, "Each group has but one primary purpose; to reach out to the
suffering alcoholic."
I wish that AA hadn't locked itself into self-imposed limits
that may have not been thought out for a century ahead. Likewise, that's the
reason I keep thinking about the reason's that there had to be traditions
locked in as a constitution, making AA unchangeable in a fast moving world.
I guess that the founders had no idea what they were
beginning when the traditions were written. AA is the go-to for recovery and
everyone in recovery has been influenced by AA.
For the purpose of reaching out to the suffering alcoholic,
I applaud the program, but then almost all of the traditions restrict clubs'
and members' ability to do so.
I wonder how different the country would be, if we had had
an advocate in the 12-step programs. While the privatized prisons were building
their empire in the 80's, we had no one to combat that kind of lobbying and
political influence. AA missed a great opportunity to stand up for justice and
effect change in so many more lives.
I think the founders had no clue how big AA was going to be.
The rest of the traditions are kind of focused on the groups' well-being and
all the things that they shouldn't do. They ended up in a box unable to reach
for anything.
What if AA had become professional, had become organized, did
accept outside contributions, and did weigh in on public controversy in the
favor of the suffering alcoholic they wanted to reach for?
I think tradition 11 sums up their motives. When the world
kicks your ass, if you walk through those doors, you can find recovery here,
but we aren't reaching. We all found it here and have kept it. But, it's a
dangerous world out there and we don't want our last names to be known, for
baseless reasons.
Bill and Bob started something very special. When they
decided they were content just attracting, AA was set on the path of least
resistance. Maybe it wouldn't have survived any other way.
I still can't help
but to think; what if they had decided to promote instead of attract? What if
AA had been tenacious?
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