Against all odds, Alcoholics Anonymous continues to grow in numbers and renown with its unique blend of community, unconditional acceptance, shared experience, equality, diversity ( membership ranges from Yale to jail and sometimes both), and practical spiritual principles practiced as a way of life.
Like an anonymous airline travel club whose cachet is enhanced by a set of unmarked doors in the middle of a busy airport terminal, Chester County’s Pennsylvania) Malvern Center, inconspicuous between a convenience store and a copy center in the middle of the bustling Rt. 202 high-tech corridor, leverages its anonymity to attract hundreds of recovering alcoholics to dozens of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings there each week.
Alcoholics Anonymous shuns the spotlight, opting for attraction rather than promotion as a public relations strategy. I thoroughly respect that policy but at the same time, I would like to draw some attention to AA’s model these days, especially with the advent of President Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
The opinions here are my own and not those of AA or Malvern Center. That said, I would argue that Alcoholics Anonymous wrote the book on faith-based initiatives with is pioneering, spirituality-centered approach to alcoholism.. As policy makers and religious leaders of all stripes engage in a new offensive to combat social ills such as alcoholism, drug addiction, out-of-wedlock pregnancy and the like, they would do well to acquaint themselves with the AA approach.
The basic texts of AA are where to begin. Like a modern mission statement AA ’s Preamble defines what the organization is (and just as important, what it is not), the 12 Steps codify its spiritual principles, and the 12 Traditions are the means by which AA ” maintains its unity and relates itself to the world about it, the way it lives and grows.”
The Preamble declares that Alcoholics Anonymous is a ” fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.” The only requirement for membership is “a desire to stop drinking.” AA is self-supporting through its own voluntary contributions; not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. A member’s primary purpose ” is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.” Unlike many modern nonprofits, AA solicits no dues or fees, employs no professional class of fund raisers, lobbyists or therapists, seeks no alliances or endorsements. As Clint Eastwood once said, a man has to know his limits. AA knows its limits, choosing to concentrate on doing what it does best than try to be all things to all people. Membership has no privileges, not even a free lunch.
Yet, against all odds, Alcoholics Anonymous continues to grow in numbers and renown with its unique blend of community, unconditional acceptance, shared experience, equality, diversity ( membership ranges from Yale to jail and sometimes both), and practical spiritual principles practiced as a way of life. All function within a bottom-up framework which ensures that the voice of even the newest newcomer is heard and respected This grassroots democracy, rooted in the 12 Traditions and manifested through the group conscience of thousands of AA groups world wide, underscores why the 12 Traditions merit equal credit with the 12 Steps as cornerstones of AA’s longevity and success. Just as the perfect crab cake contains as little filler as possible, so AA functions with as little organization as possible, eschewing managers and bureaucrats and rules and regulations, trusting that a sober alcoholic living by spiritual principles most times will act not only in his or her own best interests but also in the best interests of AA as a whole and the world around them.
Politicians and religious leaders will want to keep these precepts in mind as they weigh the billions of dollars soon be on the table for faith-based initiatives if President Bush gets his way. Early-on John D. Rockefeller cautioned AA’s founders about the risks of economic dependency. Leaders of faith-based organizations owe it to themselves and those they serve to determine whether the inevitable rules, regulations and bureaucracy that follow the money might not only mute their message, but worse, preempt it. A visitor to the Malvern area on a sleepy Sunday morning might be surprised to see the many SUVs, motorcycles, pickup trucks and BMWs clustered around an unremarkable store- front in an otherwise deserted shopping center. The visitor might also be surprised to learn that the dozens of congenial, well-dressed men and women milling about and coming and going who drive those vehicles are sober alcoholics of all backgrounds, each of whom was rescued from the depths of hell by the helping hand of other alcoholics who themselves had been similarly rescued.
Chances are the visitor wouldn’t know that he was witnessing the fruits of the extraordinary blend of freedom coupled with personal responsibility that AA offers. It is a formula that not only works but that from its founding has made AA so attractive to alcoholics with nowhere to turn. And all this without dues, fees, organization, federal aid, association, affiliation or fanfare.
gmcoscar@msn.com
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