Chapter 8.3
THE ORTHODOX MOVEMENT
New York and Mid-West A.A.
Coming of Age
I explain this at some
length because I want you to be successful with yourself and
the people with whom you work. We used to pussyfoot on this
spiritual business a great deal more out here (New York City)
and the result was bad, for our record falls quite short of
the performance of Akron and Cleveland, where there are now
about 350 Alcoholics, many of them sober 2 or 3 years, with
less than 20% ever having had any relapse. Out there they have
always emphasized the spiritual way of life as the core of our
procedure... [Personal correspondence from Bill Wilson. mid
1940.]
Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham, THE
SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION - Modern Wisdom from Classic Stories
(Bantam Books, 1992) p. 109f.
Clarence
summarized to the author his view of the difference between
New York and Mid-West A.A. Clarence felt that the approach in
Ohio was, "Trust God, Clean House, and Help Others." He felt
that the approach in New York was, "Don't Drink and Go To Meetings.
Clarence
felt, the emphasis on spirituality was what had made Ohio A.A.
so successful. He pointed out that New York A.A. had but a few
members who were maintaining any sort of abstinence from alcohol,
and that most Ohio members had achieved what was to become permanent
sobriety and had numerous, strong A.A. meetings in evidence.
Clarence
felt that if the primary purpose of A.A. were only to stop drinking
and, in order to maintain that abstinence, only go to meetings,
A.A. was doomed to failure. Clarence remembered that Dr. Bob
was once saying:
"There
is an easy way and a hard way to recovery from alcoholism. The
hard way is by just going to meetings."
Clarence
stated that nowhere in the Steps of A.A. does it say one has
to stop drinking. He was speaking of the A.A. statement that
the only REQUIREMENT for membership is "a desire to stop drinking."
If
an A.A. member puts the steps into their lives, beginning with
the first three steps, they have admitted that they were powerless
over alcohol, they could not manage their own lives, and that
they had made a decision to turn their lives and their wills
over to the care of God. They were no longer in charge. A Power
Greater than themselves had been asked to take over.
If
an A.A. member is constantly, on a daily basis, fighting taking
a drink, there is no one in charge but the A.A. member. There
is no power greater than oneself. The A.A. book states:
And
we have ceased fighting anything or anyone - even alcohol.*
*Alcoholics Anonymous (New York; Works Publishing
Company, 1939) p. 84
Mid-West
A.A. puts the reliance on God, a Higher Power, and not the A.A.
meetings or other A.A. members. New York places reliance on
a human power. The A.A. book clearly states,
That
probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.*
*Alcoholics Anonymous (New York; Works Publishing
Company, 1939) p. 60
Bill
Wilson made numerous trips to Ohio to try and find out what
they had that worked so well. He spoke with Clarence and with
Dr. Bob and attended meetings. He tried to bring back the program
of recovery as it was in Ohio to the New York members, but they
would not assimilate the spirituality into their brand of A.A.
Clarence
felt that what Ohio had was special. He spent the rest of his
life speaking around the country and the world relating what
A.A. and God had done for him. Many people seemed to find Clarence's
personality abrasive, and he occasionally stated that he was
the one who had started A.A. This might have been a reason,
that many refused to listen. They placed what Clarence said,
and his way of saying things, before the importance of what
A.A. had been. They were more concerned with the messenger's
personality than with the principles of his message.
In
the late 1940's and early 1950's, A.A. was beginning to come
of age. Meetings were growing both in the number of meetings
and in the number attending the meeting. Members were attaining
sobriety and retaining it for long periods. Even today, A.A.
continues to grow in numbers far beyond the dreams of the early
members. However at what cost?
Is
the purpose of A.A. to have the greatest amount of membership,
making A.A. available to all those who claim to want it at any
means possible, including the watering down of the steps and
quality of recovery? Is the purpose of A.A. to help others recover
from "a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body" by following
the "prescription for a miracle" as written down in the basic
text?
Where
is God in A.A. today? Is it only "Don't drink and go to meetings,"
or is it the promise of a changed life? Are A.A. members "going
to know a new freedom," merely by not drinking? The promises
in the A.A. book are stated to come to fruition "before we are
halfway through" the ninth step. According to Clarence, simplistic
abstinence could never call these promises into being.
There
are vast differences in A.A. today. Tolerance demands of A.A.
members to allow other members to follow the path they have
chosen for themselves. What type of recovery does the alcoholic
wish to have? Which are his choices today? Are the alcoholic's
choices limited by the location of meetings? All brands of A.A.
should be offered to regular and prospective members.
The
main difference between New York A.A. and Mid-West A.A. is the
emphasis which is placed on spirituality. The basic text and
the Steps are completely identical. We stood at the turning
point*: What kind of recovery is it, that the
A.A. member wants to achieve?
*Alcoholics Anonymous (New York; Works Publishing
Company, 1939) p. 60
A.A.
as a whole stands at that turning point. It is once again "Coming
of Age," coming to the point of merely not drinking alcohol,
or having a program of recovery from a seemingly hopeless state
of mind and body.
Should
there be a New York A.A., a Mid-West A.A., a California A.A.,
or just an Alcoholics Anonymous Fellowship, available to those
who not only need it, but for those who want to recover?
Growth
and change are necessary parts of life. However, but to what
end?
