AA Book Club

  Thoughts on Tradition Four from the Shropshire (UK) Intergroup (More HERE ): Short form Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole. Long form With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority other than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighbouring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.   **************** A member who does any amount of travelling finds the AA spirit much the same everywhere. But apart from this inward kinship, there are vast differences among groups. Here, the traveller finds three members discussing the Steps in somebody's living room; there, 300 listening to speakers in a church auditor...

  Saturday AA speaker/history post - Two talks by Ruth Hock, AA's first secretary and witness to its early history who typed the original manuscript of the Big Book: Two Talks by Ruth Hock, AA's first secretary  

 Throwback Thursday AA history post - Jay S on AA History (Part 1):  

  Bill W.'s original Grapevine article introducing Tradition Four: Tradition Four Tradition Four is a specific application of general principles already outlined in Traditions One and Two. Tradition One states : "Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. AA must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward." Tradition Two states: " For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as he may express himself in our group conscience." With these concepts in mind, let us look more closely at Tradition Four. The first sentence guarantees each AA group  local autonomy. With respect to its own affairs, the group may  make any decisions, adopt any attitudes that it likes. No overall or intergroup authority should challenge this primary privilege. We feel this ought to be so, even though the group might somet...

Throwback Thursday AA history post - "Alcoholics Anonymous Landmarks and Milestones Part Four" presented by Drew H.: Drew H. AA Landmarks and Milestones Part Four  

  Throwback Thursday AA history/literature post - Bill W. speaks on the Traditions, Part 2: Bill W. on the Traditions, Part 2  

  Tuesday AA literature post - Parallel Passages in the Big Book: Convictions and Beliefs are not enough "Here and there, once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences. To me these occurrences are phenomena. They appear to be in the nature of huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once the guiding forces of the lives of these men are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begin to dominate them. In fact, I have been trying to produce some such emotional rearrangement within you. With many individuals the methods which I employed are successful, but I have never been successful with an alcoholic of your description.”* Upon hearing this, our friend was somewhat relieved, for he reflected that, after all, he was a good church member. This hope, however, was destroyed by the doctor’s telling him that while his religious convictions were very g...