[Businessmtg] supporting WSO & OLA-IS -Traditions

[Steve Rankin]

Hi ASPers,

Since crosstalk is not an issue in the business meeting, I'll post my
responses to Emee's post rather directly . . . 



1. "ASP falls under the catagory of an  AL-ANON MEETING and not an AL-ANON
GROUP."

This is only because the leadership at WSO has chosen to use this
interpretation.  Think about it for a moment . . . let's say that Al-Anon
never started until 5 years ago, and by that time electronic communication
via email, the web, etc was already well established and most folks took it
for granted just like they do the telephone.  I suspect that online meetings
would be considered "groups" if the leadership was already familiar with
online communication and the online community in general.  There seems to be
two reasons why WSO is not willing to call the online meetings "groups"
a. Because 15 years ago the leadership in Al-Anon had no understanding of
how anything worked online and was more than a little fearful of it, and 
b. Because there is a fear that some member who lives outside of the US &
Canada will get elected GR and that's somehow scary.




2.  "The service manual recognizes & guides Al-Anon GROUPS, not MEETINGS.  "

This is because the changes to the Service Manual were made by WSO without
participation by the online meetings. If the members of the online meetings
were given an opportunity to participate, it's just possible that the
situation might be different. 

 

3.  "On-line meetings are committed though to abide by the guidance of the
service manual, the same as a group would."

Hmmm.  I don't recall that any meeting has any requirement to abide by the
Service Manual.  The groups and meetings are expected to adhere to the
Traditions, not the Service Manual.



4.  "If we want to remain an on-line Al-Anon meeting, then we must follow
Traditions and guidelines."

Again, there is no MUST in Al-Anon. Plus the guidelines are merely
guidelines, not requirements. And just because a meeting chooses to not
follow a guideline does not mean that  it's a bad thing that's going to
affect Al-Anon as a whole.  For example, let's say that a group considers
some aspect of a guideline as contrary to the principles of our Traditions -
then the Group's decision to follow the Traditions would be a good thing and
an example for the rest of the fellowship.  


5.  "WSO has canot caught up with the needs of on-line meetings yet and
hopefully more infomation will be added into our service manuals about the
workings of on-line meetings."

Quite true.  However, how will the information in the Service Manual ever
reflect completely and appropriately on the online meetings without any
participation by the online community?  The leadership of Al-Anon has
focused primarily on controlling the online community than on making the
online community a functional part of the fellowship.  Representation in
government was a prerequisite 200+ years ago for reasonable and just
government and it is still a prerequisite.  



6.  "I can understand WSO's caution with this type of meeting and their need
to go slowly."

Ric B. and I had a long talk one afternoon in February 1996 in San Jose,
California.  The discussion centered around 'How to structure an online
Al-Anon meeting so that it resembled a face-to-face meeting AND adhered to
the Traditions."  Ric commented on what he saw for the future of online
Al-Anon . . . the leadership would decided to have a 3-year trial to 'study'
the situation.  Since they wouldn't have a solution in 3 years, they would
extend the trial for another 3 years.  Since they wouldn't have a solution
after 6 years, they would extend the trial another 3 years.  The gist of it
is that the leadership has an interest in maintaining the status quo that
outweighs their interest in making the online community an integral part of
the fellowship.


7.  "I am grateful that Caution is being used.     Also, if we, as an
on-line meeting, believe we need OLA-IS to help our on-line meeting in some
way (public outreach, institutions, and to help keep our meeting informed)
then I think we need to pioneer this new medium and support OLA-IS until WSO
tells us that we are hurting Al-Anon as a whole.  We are not breaking a
guildine or Tradition since there is no specific guideline written on this
yet.  If supporting OLA-IS does hurt Al-Anon as a whole, then we of course
would discontinue immediately."

Just because WSO says so doesn't make it so.  WSO has a long history of
making some serious errors of judgment (changing the Traditions in our
literature, blending stories in the literature, contracting with an
individual member to host the WSO web site, ignoring the online community at
the last AFG International, and most legal requirements on Alateen that are
contrary to the Traditions).


8.  "I believe WSO does recognize our needs . . . "

How can WSO know our needs without the online community having a voice in
the process?


9.  "I think they just aren't sure yet how to handle all of the issues that
on-line meetings present.  We just need to be patient and supportive"

One of the things that I've learned about in Al-Anon is setting boundaries.
One of the boundaries is time.  It's been over 16 years since CAFG started
and nearly as long since Ric & I had that conversation in San Jose.  Since
then over ten thousand members of Al-Anon have come through the doors of ASP
alone.  That's more Al-Anons than in many states, yet none of those members
has had a voice in the greater Al-Anon fellowship.  Those Areas have
Intergroups, GRs, DRs, and Delegates to the WSC.  We have nothing.  Isn't it
appropriate that we set a boundary on our patience? 


See, IF I thought that WSO was honestly attentive to the needs of the online
meetings and IF we had some legitimate form of voice in the process, then I
could muster the patience.  However, my personal experience in the last 16+
years tells me that the needs of the online meeting are just not there.


Hugs,
Steve