[Businessmtg] ATTN: 24 hour notice

[Steve Rankin]

Hi ASPers,

There is no doubt that Al-Anon is under pressure to change.  There are
several sub-populations of Al-Anon that would like to see Al-Anon change to
embody their personal vision as well as many members of the mainstream
Al-Anon population that would like to please everyone & as a result are open
to just about any change suggested by just about anyone.  Naturally, those
folks see this 'change' as 'progress'.  IMHO, that's no different than
paving over a wildland and calling that progress.  

Similar issues face AA where sub-populations of the membership--such as drug
addicts--push for inclusion into the fellowship under the premise that a
drug is a drug is a drug.  The leadership of the AA fellowship has responded
with a "Singleness of Purpose" campaign.  The problem that faces Al-Anon is
that there are several sub-populations within our fellowship that feel their
other affliction merits inclusion in our program: drug addiction, food
addiction, alcoholics, gays & lesbians, etc.  History has shown that
organizations that try to be all things to all people wind up being nothing.


Personally, I don't find it surprising that Bill Wilson, the founder of AA,
was the one that suggested that Al-Anon keep the AAs out of our service
structure.  Who would know better how the AAs would take over Al-Anon than
the founder of AA himself?  If an Al-Anon had suggested the same thing,
everyone would assume that they simply hadn't resolved their resentments
towards the alcoholic yet.  

As for the idea that "These are not Al-Anon policy maker positions, they are
group service positions.  Our webmaster does not attend WSO meetings and
determine Al-Anon policy.  Our treasurer is the same."  This is less true
than you might think.  The reality is that a Group Rep from a f2f meeting
would never be invited to participate in a WSO committee regarding Al-Anon
policy--that is what that rare Group Rep that eventually gets elected
Delegate does at the World Service Conference.  Similarly, if a f2f member
of Al-Anon contacted WSO regarding starting a new group, WSO would mail them
a packet of information on how to start a new group--not very personal and
certainly very little opportunity for two-way communication on the issue.  

However, when I was developing my ideas for founding ASP I had the
opportunity to spend a half-day with Ric B., Executive Director of WSO in a
one-on-one f2f discussion on how to structure an online meeting that (a)
followed the Traditions without exception, and (b) was as much like a f2f
meeting as possible.  Over the next few years, I had several other
opportunities to continue that discussion with Ric as well as at least three
of the Trustees.  Subsequently, WSO has invited the leadership of ASP to
participate in a WSO committee that was developing Al-Anon policy regarding
online meetings as well as the guidelines for online meetings.  Since that
discussion of Al-Anon policy included discussion on web sites and finance,
it is clear that both the Web Master and Treasurer could participate in a
WSO committee at the next go 'round.

As we all know, Al-Anon meetings have their own personalities/flavors.  The
personality (flavor) of a meeting is a direct reflection of the members and
its leadership.  Meetings do sometimes change their flavor & focus, and as a
result what was considered unacceptable behavior in a meeting just a short
while ago can become the norm after some subtle changes.  I'm not talking
about global changes to the Al-Anon program, but about changes to an
individual meeting.  We have a very positive spirit of cooperation between
AA & AFG where I live.  Sometimes too positive as many of the AA's like to
sit on Al-Anon committees.  The problem with this is that like most AA's
they have difficulty maintaining clarity of separation in their programs.
As a result, they tend to make decisions based on their AA interpretation of
the Al-Anon program.  The AA's in Al-Anon don't recognize this, nor do the
newer folks in Al-Anon, but those of us who have been around for a while and
have a service background have no problem recognizing the subtle differences
that have a real effect on the work those committees do.  

Moving up through the chairs.  This is a common phrase used to describe the
path taken by GR's to DR to an Area Officer position and then to Delegate.
While individual GR's have negligible input on Al-Anon policy, the policy on
Dual members prohibits members of AA from serving as GRs even though that is
only the first stepping stone to becoming a Delegate.   regarding Dualo We
recently agreed that prior service in ASP is necessary to serve as an
officer of ASP.  

I was discussing this issue with my wife the other day.  BTW, my wife does
qualify for Al-Anon, goes to some AFG meetings, reads Al-Anon literature
daily, and is 27 years sober and has done at least twice as much service in
AA as I have in Al-Anon).  Her response was simple "Alcoholics Anonymous is
my primary program.  It must come before all other things.  My AA Traditions
tell me to practice these AA principles in all of my affairs.  Al-Anon will
always come after that."

Thanks for listening.

Hugs,
Steve