Page 26 - The Twelve Concepts for World Service

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“strong stand against the creation of unqualified authori- situations would be no defense whatever — namely,
ty at any point in our Conference structure.”
Warranty Four: “That all important decisions
should be reached by discussion, vote, and wherever
possible, by substantial unanimity.” This Warranty is,
on the one hand, “a safeguard against any hasty or
overbearing authority of a simple majority; and, on
the other hand, it takes notice of the rights and the
frequent wisdom of minorities, however small. This
principle guarantees that all matters of importance,
time permitting, will be extensively debated, and that resources of persuasion as we have. in the long run,
such debates will continue until a really heavy
majority can support every critical decision.”
Warranty Five: “That no Conference action shall
ever be personally punitive or an incitement to
public controversy.” Although practically all other
societies and governments find it necessary to
punish individual members for violations of their
beliefs, principles or laws, Alcoholics Anonymous
finds this practice unnecessary.
When we fail to follow sound spiritual principles,
alcohol cuts us down. No humanly administered
system of penalties is needed. This unique condition
is an enormous advantage to us all, one on which
we can fully rely and one which we should never
abandon by resorting to personal attack and
punishment. Of all societies, ours can least afford
to risk the resentments and conflicts which would
result were we ever to yield to the temptation to
punish in anger.
For much the same reason, we cannot and
should not enter into public controversy, even in self-
defense. Our experience has shown that, providen-
tially, A.A. has been made exempt from the need to
quarrel with anyone, no matter what the provocation.
Nothing could be more damaging to our unity and
to the worldwide goodwill which A.A. enjoys, than
public contention, no matter how promising the
immediate dividends might appear.
Some situations which may require Conference
consideration are:
A.A. may come under “sharp public attack or
heavy ridicule” — perhaps "With little or no
justification in fact. Our best defense in these
complete silence at the public level. If the criticism of
A.A. is partly or wholly justified, it may be well to
acknowledge this privately to the critics — with
our thanks.
Public violations of A.A. Traditions.
Our own members may try to use the A.A. name
for their private purposes. “Aggressive or punitive
action, even in this area, must be omitted. Privately,
we can inform Tradition-violators that they are out of
order. When they persist, we can use such other
though, we shall have to rely mainly on the pressures
of A.A. opinion and public opinion.”
“Another kind of problem is the severe internal dis-
agreement that comes to unwelcome public attention.”
As G.S.O. “is not a police operation,” we can only offer
A.A.’s experience as a matter of information.
Warranty Six: “That though the Conference may
act for the service of Alcoholics Anonymous, it shall
never perform any acts of government; and that, like
the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous which it serves,
the Conference itself will always remain democratic
in thought and action.”
The A.A. Traditions accord the individual member
and the A.A. group extraordinary liberties. In fact,
we A.A.s probably enjoy more and greater freedoms
than any Fellowship in the world. We claim this as
no virtue. We know we have to choose conformity
to A.A.’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions or else
face dissolution and death.
“Because we set such a high value on our great
liberties and cannot conceive that they will need to
be limited, we here specially enjoin our General
Service Conference to abstain completely from any
and all acts of authoritative government which could
in any way curtail A.A.'s freedom under God. We
expect our Conference always to try to act in the
spirit of mutual respect and love — one member
to another.
“Freedom under God to grow in His likeness and
image will ever be the quest of Alcoholics Anonymous.
May our General Service Conference be always seen as
a chief symbol of this cherished liberty.”