Tradition Ten

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AA Tradition Ten

"Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."


NEVER since it began has Alcoholics Anonymous been divided by a major controversial issue. Nor has our Fellowship ever publicly taken sides on any question in an embattled world. This, however, has been no earned virtue. It could almost be said that we were born with it, for, as one old-timer recently declared, "Practically never have I heard a heated religious, political, or reform argument among A.A. members. So long as we don't argue these matters privately, it's a cinch we never shall publicly."

As by some deep instinct, we A.A.'s have known from the very beginning that we must never, no matter what the provocation, publicly take sides in any fight, even a worthy one. All history affords us the spectacle of striving nations and groups finally torn asunder because they were designed for, or tempted into, controversy. Others fell apart because of sheer self-righteousness while trying to enforce upon the rest of mankind some millennium of their own specification. In our own times, we have seen millions die in political and economic wars often spurred by religious and racial difference. We live in the imminent possibility of a fresh holocaust to determine how men shall be governed, and how the products of nature and toil shall be divided among them. That is the spiritual climate in which A.A. was born, and by God's grace has nevertheless flourished.

Let us reemphasize that this reluctance to fight one another or anybody else is not counted as some special virtue which makes us feel superior to other people. Nor does it means that the members of Alcoholics Anonymous, now restored as citizens of the world, are going to back away from their individual responsibilities to act as they see the right upon issues of our time. But when it comes to A.A. as a whole, that's quite a different matter. In this respect, we do not enter into public controversy, because we know that our Society will perish if it does. We conceive the survival and spread of Alcoholics Anonymous to be something of far greater importance than the weight we could collectively throw back of any other cause. Since recovery from alcoholism is life itself to us, it is imperative that we preserve in full strength our means of survival.

Maybe this sounds as thought the alcoholics in A.A. had suddenly gone peaceable, and become one great big happy family. Of course, this isn't so at all. Human beings that we are, we squabble. Before we leveled off a bit, A.A. looked more like one prodigious squabble than anything else, at least on the surface. A corporation director who had just voted a company expenditure of a hundred thousand dollars would appear at an A.A. business meeting and blow his top over an outlay of twenty-five dollars' worth of needed postage stamps. Disliking the attempt of some to manage a group, half its membership might angrily rush off to form another group more to their liking. Elders, temporarily turned Pharisee, have sulked. Bitter attacks have been directed against people suspected of mixed motives. Despite their din, our puny rows never did A.A. a particle of harm. They were just part and parcel of learning to work and live together. Let it be noted, too, that they were almost always concerned with ways to make A.A. more effective, how to do the most good for the most alcoholics.

The Washingtonian Society, a movement among alcoholics which started in Baltimore a century ago, almost discovered the answer to alcoholism. At first, the society was composed entirely of alcoholics trying to help one another. The early members foresaw that they should dedicate themselves to this sole aim. In many respects, the Washingtonians were akin to A.A. of today. Their membership passed the hundred thousand mark. Had they been left to themselves, and had they stuck to their one goal, they might have found the rest of the answer. But this didn't happen. Instead, the Washingtonians permitted politicians and reformers, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, to use the society for their own purposes. Abolition of slavery, for example, was a stormy political issue then. Soon, Washingtonian speakers violently and publicly took sides on this question. Maybe the society could have survived the abolition controversy, but it didn't have a chance from the moment it determined to reform America's drinking habits. When the Washingtonians became temperance crusaders, within a very few years they had completely lost their effectiveness in helping alcoholics.

The lesson to be learned from the Washingtonians was not overlooked by Alcoholics Anonymous. As we surveyed the wreck of that movement, early A.A. members resolved to keep our Society out of public controversy. Thus was laid the cornerstone for Tradition Ten: "Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

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NA TRADITION TEN

"NA has no opinion on outside issues; hence the NA name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

One addict shared what many feel, "I am grateful that NA isn't involved with the politics and other issues of society. NA is a spiritual way of life and I feel this would be severely compromised if we let our opinions or non-recovery issues effect the groups in any way."

In order for us to recover, it is imperative that we be able to "focus" on recovery alone. The disease is always trying to defocus us so that we cannot concentrate all our energies on recovery. We suffer from a disease of spiritual deficiency and in order to achieve integrity the atmosphere of non-duality must be maintained in our groups.

Having an opinion is having an opinion. It doesn't matter if we fight for what is "socially acceptable" or unacceptable. Any type of opinion, used in conjunction with the words Narcotics Anonymous creates public controversy. In this case, it does not matter who is right. It does not matter what is right. What matters is that it is none of NA's business. It is difficult for addicts not to share our opinions. We must respect this Tradition and do this in our own NA family in a way that does not become available outside of NA. We do not encourage our members to wear NA shirts at political rallies, public or commercial events or occasions involving the press or media. This would indirectly make a statement. We need to encourage respect for our fellowship. Sometimes a member in a tee shirt or with a sticker on his car is the only thing society sees. If we allow ourselves to express an opinion while carrying an NA logo, this endangers NA as a whole. Perhaps only a little bit, but that little bit can make a big difference. Already our combined goodwill, ability to keep Fellowship commitments is helping us carry our message into areas where we just weren't welcome that long ago. Sometimes it is hard to see the benefits of doing the right thing, but as we come to ourselves, we begin to see patterns forming in our lives to take the place of ego, pain motivation, suspicion, greed and all the other self-limiting strategies addiction had rooted in our lives. You can't get a job at the bank if you steal money. We must surrender to this Tradition in our personal lives for the benefit of the integrity of NA as a whole.

The Tenth Tradition is vital for our growth and spiritual well-being as a fellowship. We cannot afford to be categorized or labeled by taking positions on outside issues. Public positions may attract some, but they would invariably alienate others. By remaining neutral on outside issues within the larger society, we are accessible to the broadest base of addicts. We do it this way so that no addict seeking recovery need ever die. As lofty and distant as that goal may seem at times, we can have it if we are willing to pay the price, don't back off and don't get side tracked.

The Tenth Tradition warns us about public controversy. Public controversy is to be avoided because it always damages us as a Fellowship. When someone out in the world thinks of NA, we want them to think of caring addicts who live clean. They don't really need to know our politics, our income level, our associations, and most important, our opinions on everything. Year after year, we have to let new members working in the sensitive areas of Public Information know they are not to use their last names with the press as NA members, not to address outside issues and not to respond to a reporter outside our area of responsibility. By being responsible, we make it possible for others to find out about NA, get to our meetings and achieve freedom from active addiction. Internal controversies have been with us from the beginning of our fellowship and are not necessarily negative. NA has often grown and matured through controversy. The Tenth Tradition distinctly applies to outside issues and public controversy outside NA. It is not meant to be used as a means to avoid involvement in our fellowship. Many problems will not go away until members are willing to make a stand.

This Tradition refers to "outside issues." Recently, many members have wanted us to take medical and socio-political positions on issues of racial prejudice, tobacco smoking and treatment for addiction. We must be careful. Stating opinions on these issues in the name of NA can be dangerous. The safest generalizations can be harmful. Are we doctors, lawyers and experts? If we are in out own right, let it be kept apart from our membership! It is so easy for an addict to be gulled into making rash statements on the air or to the press. We just have to repeat the warnings until they are heard. And, most importantly, members have to be trained and instructed in these matters by us; there is no one else to do it. When we don't do our job, we insure failure and confusion for Fellowship events and projects. When we have taken our turn at running things, it is all too easy to back off and let others rush in and take over. If they fail, is it their fault if we didn't set it up with a strategy to pass on what we had learned before turning the effort over to them? Think about it. Pray about it. It is your Fellowship.

What about "inside issues?" These are expressed as our experience, strength and hope on recovery, in our group conscience literature process. Our opinions on service and Traditions are expressed the same way. The word "conscience" is more accurate than the word "opinion" to describe this because it includes the spiritual component.