[Businessmtg] Consideration: The WSO Works for Us per our Legacies
Emee Arthur
emee3x12 at hotmail.com
Tue Apr 30 06:29:50 PDT 2013
Sorry...I forwarded this to Raine instead of to the Group. After reading what I first wrote I added a little more..
From: emee3x12 at hotmail.com
To: raine.clara.shakti at gmail.com
Subject: RE: [Businessmtg] Consideration: The WSO Works for Us per our Legacies
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:52:18 +0000
Hi Raine and all,
Raine, thank you for your time and your research into the Traditions and Concepts. I agree with much of your interpretation but do have a slightly different understanding of some of them. As many of us know, WSO does have a responsibility to carry out the GROUP conscious but by means of the Word Service Committee, which IS one of the final links of our group conscious. Groups give their voices to a chain of trusted servants. The idea might start with one group, and then the GR from that group takes it to Area Assembly or gives it to their DR to take to the AWSC meeting. Our voice goes through a chain of service representatives to which we have elected & given our delegated authority. I think a lot of members believe that WSO runs Al-Anon and groups are not given a choice. This is just not true...WSO carries out our wishes as long as they have gone through the process. I'm not 100% sure how the chain of service proceeds past the WSC meeting but i believe I am right or close, to say that it is then given to WSO to carry out or it is deemed harmful to Al-Anon as a whole.
I believe WSO is doing for the on-line meetings what they can do, at this time. What is it we want from them that we are not getting? If it is a voice and a vote then we must become a registered GROUP and that starts with us, not WSO. We are Al-Anon members first and foremost so we ought to be happy to help support WSO. We have to remember that we are NOT an Al-Anon GROUP, we are still an Al-Anon online MEETING. There is a huge difference. A registered GROUP follows the links of service up to the WSO? By this I mean that registered GROUPS have Group Representatives who carry our group conscious to our Area's Delegate; our Delegate takes our Area's group conscious to the World Service Conference. It is discussed there and then it is presented to WSO to carry out as long as the Trustees and the legal department find that it will not harm Al-Anon as a whole. We are ultimately "in charge" but through a process. Individual members do not have the time to handle all the legal work and processing of each idea themselves and still work on their primary purpose...this is why we have the links of service... it is for our protection, not against WSO, but from ourselves. For some of us, this online meeting might be the only Al-Anon meeting we attend but we can still express our ideas and have them carried, by expressing our ideas to those of us who do belong to f2f groups. I believe that On-line meetings were meant to be suplimentary to f2f meetings and that these meetings agreed to follow Al-Anon's Traditions and the Concepts of service. It is quite a few steps-up from the old Lone Membership program of 'Pen-Pal meetings but basically the same idea. WSO helped the Lone Service program with what they could but the Lone Membership program was not the same as a registered GROUP either.
This voice process relies on using the principles found in the Traditions and Concepts. ASP is NOT a GROUP so we have no GR to carry our voice through this process. We have no District meetings or a District Representative to attend Area Assemblies or AWSC meetings because we do not have a GR, a DR, or and Area Delegate, or a Trustee. This is not WSO's fault! It is not ours either but right now it is just what it is. Has OLAOC become our registered voice? Can we figure out how we can become a registered GROUP instead of just a registered MEETING, and follow this chain of service links? I think we are being very greedy, by expecting that we should have more from WSO at this point. When we GIVE our support to WSO it should be done with NO CONDITIONS or it is not a gift at all...if we give with expectations of what WE get in return, it is an attempt to control them, not an attempt to try and carry the Al-Anon message.
I feel that we are holding, and have been holding for a long time, way to much money in our account. We need to share our abundance, so why not share a large amount with WSO now and then check on these other things before deciding what to do long term. By the time we decide what to do about AOLAC and those GSOs we will have excess funds again.
Emee
> From: raine.clara.shakti at gmail.com
> Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:41:19 -0400
> Subject: [Businessmtg] Consideration: The WSO Works for Us per our Legacies
> CC: businessmtg at asp-afg.org
> To: emee3x12 at hotmail.com
>
> Hi Al-Pals,
>
> One of the things that struck me as I was reading through all the opinions
> is that the WSO WORKS FOR US and not the other way around. We do not work
> for the WSO. They do not give us our authority; in fact it is the other way
> around. And if the WSO is not supporting us the way we believe we should be
> supported, it is our duty and our right to vote with our voices and our
> dollars.
>
>
>
> The idea that the WSO works for us and not the other way around is
> fundamental in multiple of our Traditions and Concepts. Specifically:
>
>
>
> Traditions
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Tradition 2 states that "For our group purpose there is but one authority-a
> loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders
> are but trusted servants-they do not govern." The WSO works for us and they
> do not govern us. They are our servants just like our greeters, chair
> people, group reps, etc. are trusted servants.
>
>
>
> Tradition 3 states that "Each group should be autonomous, except in matters
> affecting another group or Al-Anon or AA as a whole." This Tradition gives
> us the right to manage our money according to our needs and our conscience.
> The WSO cannot tell us that we have to give them money so if we do not
> believe we are being served the way we need to be served, it is within our
> purview to withhold funds, split our finds, etc.
>
>
>
> Tradition Seven states that "Every group ought to be fully self-supporting,
> declining outside contributions." To me this states that our primary
> responsibility is to take care of ourselves and to make sure that our needs
> are met before we funnel excess funds up the chain.
>
>
>
> Tradition Nine states that "Our groups, as such, ought never be organized;
> but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those
> they serve." This again reinforces the opinion that our service boards (such
> as the world SERVICE organization) are directly responsible to us.
>
>
>
> Concepts / Warranties
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Concept 1 states that "The ultimate responsibility and authority for Al-Anon
> world services belongs to the Al-Anon Groups." Again this reinforces the
> opinion that the WSO works for us and not the other way around.
>
>
>
> Concept 2 states that "The Al-Anon Family Groups have delegated complete
> administrative and operational authority to their Conference and its service
> arms." What I find very interesting about this is that we (the Al-Anon
> Family Groups) have dedicated ADMINISTRATIVE and OPERATIONAL authority to
> their Conference and its service arms. I read this to mean that the WSO
> only has the right to implement policy decisions that the groups have
> decided on. The WSO does not on its own have the right to decide that
> online groups are to be treated as less than F2F groups.
>
>
>
> Concept 3 "The rights of appeal and petition protect minorities and insure
> that they be heard." Our legacies give us the right to be heard and the
> right to speak up and if we do not believe that the WSO is servicing our
> needs than we have the right to vote with our dollars and our voices.
>
>
>
> Warranty 2 states "That no Conference member shall be placed in unqualified
> authority over other members." I struggle with this one because online
> groups have no seat at the table so by default every Conference member is
> placed in a position of unqualified authority over online groups.
>
>
>
> Warranty 5 states that "That though the Conference serves Al-Anon it shall
> never perform any act of government; and that like the fellowship of Al-Anon
> Family Groups which it serves, it shall always remain democratic in thought
> and action. " This again reinforces the idea that it is our duty and right
> to speak up and voice our opinion.
>
>
>
> Based on the above, I would like to suggest that when we send the donation
> to the WSO, we include a summary of our position and the fact that we are
> giving our fair share, but are not being adequately represented.
>
>
>
>
>
> Brightest Blessings,
>
>
>
> Raine
>
> Life is to be lived magnificently and gloriously
>
> And just one day at a time
>
>
>
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>
>
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>
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>
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