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honeydumplin · 05-10-2014, 08:20 AM

From the book A.A. Comes of Age
copyright 1957

Appendix B page 286
Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous
By Bill

This article will be best understood by first recalling the anonymity Traditions. Tradition Eleven reads: “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and TV.” Tradition Twelve states: “Anonymity is the spirtiual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.”

As never before, the struggle for power, importance, and wealth is tearing civilization apart—man aginst man, family against family, group against group, nation against nation.

Nearly all those engaged in this fierce competition declare that their aim is peace and justice for themselves, their neighbors, and their nation. “Give us power,” they say, “and we shall have justice; give us fame and we shall set a great example; give us money and we shall be comfortable and happy. People throughout the world deeply believe such things and act accordingly. On this appalling dry bender, society seems to be staggering down a dead-end road. The stop sign is clearly marked. It says “Disaster.”

What has this got to do with anonymity, and Alcoholics Anonymous?
We of A.A. Ought to know. Nearly every one of us has traversed this identical dead-end path. Powered by alcohol and self-justification, many of us have pursued the phantoms of self-importance and money right up to the the disaster stop sign. Then came A.A.

We faced about and found ourselves on a new highroad where the direction signs said never a word about power, fame, or wealth. The new signs read, “This way to sanity and serenity. The price is self-sacrifice.”

Our textbook, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditons, states that “anonymity is the greatest protection our society can ever have.” It also says that “the spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice.”

Let's turn to A.A.'s twenty years of experience and see how we arrived at those beliefs now expressed in our Traditions Eleven and Twelve.

At the beginning we sacrificed alcohol. We had to, or it would have killed us. But we couldn't get rid of alcohol unless we made other sacrifices. Big shot-ism and phony thinking had to go. We had to toss self-justification, self-pity, and anger right out the window. We had to quit the crazy contest for personal prestige and big bank balances. We had to take personal responsibility for our sorry state and quit blaming others for it.

Were these sacrifices? Yes, they were. To gain enough humility and self-respect to stay alive at all we had to give up what had really been our dearest possession—our ambition and our illegitimate pride.

But even this was not enough. Sacrifice had to go farther. Other people had to benefit too. So we took on some Twelfth Step work; we began to carry the A.A. Message. We sacrificed time, energy, and our own money to do this. We could not keep what we had unless we gave it away.

Did we demand that our new prospects give us anything? Were we asking them for power over their lives, for fame for our good work, or for a cent of their money? No, we were not. We found that if we demanded any of these things our Twelfth Step work went flat. So these natural desires had to be sacrificed; otherwise our prospects got little or no sobriety. Nor, indeed, did we.

Thus we learned that sacrifice had to bring a double benefit, or else little at all. We began to know about the kind of giving of ourselves that has no price tag on it.

When the first A.A. Group took form, we soon learned a lot more about this. We found that each of us had to make willing sacrifices for the group itself, sacrifices for the common welfare. The group, in turn, found that it had to give up many of its own rights for the protection and welfare of each member, and for A.A. As a whole. The sacrifices had to be made or A.A. Could not continue to exist.
Out of thes experiences and realizaitons, the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics anonymous began to take shape and substance. Gradually we saw that the unity, the iffectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. Always would depend upon our continued willingness to give up our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice meant survival for the individual, so did sacrifice mean unity and survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire fellowship.

Viewed in this light, A.A.'s Twelve Traditions are little else than a list of sacrifices which the experience of twenty years has taught us that we mus make, individually and collectively, if A.A. Itself is to stay alive and healthy.

In our Twelve Traditions we have set our faces against nearly every trend in the outside world. We have denied ourselves personal government, professionalism, and the right to say who our members shall be. We have abandoned do-goodism, reform, and paternalism. We refuse outside charitable money and have decided to pay our own way. We will cooperate with practically everybody, yet we decline to marry our society to anyone. We abstain from public controversy and will not quarrel among ourselves about those things that so rip society asunder: religion, politics, and reform. We have but one purpose, to carry the A.A message to the sick alcoholic who wants it.

05-10-2014, 08:20 AM	#2
honeydumplin Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 115	anonimity From the book A.A. Comes of Age copyright 1957 Appendix B page 286 Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous By Bill This article will be best understood by first recalling the anonymity Traditions. Tradition Eleven reads: “Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and TV.” Tradition Twelve states: “Anonymity is the spirtiual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” As never before, the struggle for power, importance, and wealth is tearing civilization apart—man aginst man, family against family, group against group, nation against nation. Nearly all those engaged in this fierce competition declare that their aim is peace and justice for themselves, their neighbors, and their nation. “Give us power,” they say, “and we shall have justice; give us fame and we shall set a great example; give us money and we shall be comfortable and happy. People throughout the world deeply believe such things and act accordingly. On this appalling dry bender, society seems to be staggering down a dead-end road. The stop sign is clearly marked. It says “Disaster.” What has this got to do with anonymity, and Alcoholics Anonymous? We of A.A. Ought to know. Nearly every one of us has traversed this identical dead-end path. Powered by alcohol and self-justification, many of us have pursued the phantoms of self-importance and money right up to the the disaster stop sign. Then came A.A. We faced about and found ourselves on a new highroad where the direction signs said never a word about power, fame, or wealth. The new signs read, “This way to sanity and serenity. The price is self-sacrifice.” Our textbook, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditons, states that “anonymity is the greatest protection our society can ever have.” It also says that “the spiritual substance of anonymity is sacrifice.” Let's turn to A.A.'s twenty years of experience and see how we arrived at those beliefs now expressed in our Traditions Eleven and Twelve. At the beginning we sacrificed alcohol. We had to, or it would have killed us. But we couldn't get rid of alcohol unless we made other sacrifices. Big shot-ism and phony thinking had to go. We had to toss self-justification, self-pity, and anger right out the window. We had to quit the crazy contest for personal prestige and big bank balances. We had to take personal responsibility for our sorry state and quit blaming others for it. Were these sacrifices? Yes, they were. To gain enough humility and self-respect to stay alive at all we had to give up what had really been our dearest possession—our ambition and our illegitimate pride. But even this was not enough. Sacrifice had to go farther. Other people had to benefit too. So we took on some Twelfth Step work; we began to carry the A.A. Message. We sacrificed time, energy, and our own money to do this. We could not keep what we had unless we gave it away. Did we demand that our new prospects give us anything? Were we asking them for power over their lives, for fame for our good work, or for a cent of their money? No, we were not. We found that if we demanded any of these things our Twelfth Step work went flat. So these natural desires had to be sacrificed; otherwise our prospects got little or no sobriety. Nor, indeed, did we. Thus we learned that sacrifice had to bring a double benefit, or else little at all. We began to know about the kind of giving of ourselves that has no price tag on it. When the first A.A. Group took form, we soon learned a lot more about this. We found that each of us had to make willing sacrifices for the group itself, sacrifices for the common welfare. The group, in turn, found that it had to give up many of its own rights for the protection and welfare of each member, and for A.A. As a whole. The sacrifices had to be made or A.A. Could not continue to exist. Out of thes experiences and realizaitons, the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics anonymous began to take shape and substance. Gradually we saw that the unity, the iffectiveness, and even the survival of A.A. Always would depend upon our continued willingness to give up our personal ambitions and desires for the common safety and welfare. Just as sacrifice meant survival for the individual, so did sacrifice mean unity and survival for the group and for A.A.'s entire fellowship. Viewed in this light, A.A.'s Twelve Traditions are little else than a list of sacrifices which the experience of twenty years has taught us that we mus make, individually and collectively, if A.A. Itself is to stay alive and healthy. In our Twelve Traditions we have set our faces against nearly every trend in the outside world. We have denied ourselves personal government, professionalism, and the right to say who our members shall be. We have abandoned do-goodism, reform, and paternalism. We refuse outside charitable money and have decided to pay our own way. We will cooperate with practically everybody, yet we decline to marry our society to anyone. We abstain from public controversy and will not quarrel among ourselves about those things that so rip society asunder: religion, politics, and reform. We have but one purpose, to carry the A.A message to the sick alcoholic who wants it.