Nobody wants to talk about the Traditions. "We don't want to hear about all the politics stuff! Let's talk recovery program!"
What do we talk about when we take a newcomer to a meeting? We sure don't talk recovery program! Can you visualize a newcomer sitting, shaking, worried, fearful in the front seat of the car riding to his first meeting?
The AA sponsor announces, "We're going to help you recover from your alcoholism with this Twelve Step program. First, you'll admit you're powerless. Then, you'll surrender to God, take a moral inventory, and confess your faults."
The newcomer fumbles for the door handle. "Surrender to God? Confess my faults? Are you people some kind of religious nuts? Let me out of here!"
No, the AA sponsor talks soothingly about things like anonymity, no dues to pay, no bosses in AA, no affiliation with outside groups, no membership requirement except a desire to stop drinking __all to make our newcomer feel comfortable and protected. We talk Traditions to our people in AA long before we broach the sensitive subjects in the Steps.
We think AA will be around forever, but we have nothing to prove it __no AA buildings, towers, or monuments. We are no more permanent than the length of our office lease and the one year's prudent reserve in our treasury. Our groups are monthnth tenants in churches and meeting halls. The clubhouses are not allied with AA; there, the groups rent meeting space only. The groups aren't well organized, have no bylaws or charters.
Officers are elected for terms from six months to two years and resign at will. Meeting formats are loose and mostly unstructured. No policing force exists to make members confirm to any rules or regulations.
AA does have a service structure, but it is an upsidepyramid, with the groups in charge over the board of trustees. With groups as loosely designed as they are, one is tempted to think about comparison to the strength of a chain. If AA is as strong as its weakest link __just how well is AA equipped to survive?
What ever happened to the Washingtonian Society? In preWar days, they claimed half a million members who helped sober up other drunks. Abraham Lincoln gave a speech to them that we in AA treasure to this day. The Oxford Group, which sobered up Ebby T. to carry a message to our coBill W., is gone. Buchmanism, named for Frank Buchman, who started the Oxford Group, turned into Moral Rearmament; both are gone. Who is to say that AA won't have a similar obituary in some article about alcoholism treatment in the year 2085 AD.
Informed members in AA will tell you that if groups follow the Traditions, AA will survive and grow and, for a long time to come, continue to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
The Home Group: Heartbeat of AA, page 87, paragraphs 3_, page 88, paragraphs 1,2 & page 89, paragraph 3