[Businessmtg] FW: Gea

[Steve Rankin]

Hi folks - this message is identical to the last except with better paragraph breaks that the server deleted.  ☹

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Rankin 
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2024 2:08 AM
To: ASP Business Meeting <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Subject: RE: [Businessmtg] Gea

Hi Missy,

Your questions remind me of a time when I was in in Beijing, China about 25 years ago making a presentation to the Beijing University leadership.  One evening I was having a discussion with an engineering professor about freedom - something he had no concept of since it doesn't exist in China.  Gradually, he started to grasp that freedom meant the individual has the freedom to make choices - all kinds of choices.  As he grasped the breadth and depth of freedom of choice we enjoy in the USA, he asked . . . What happens if you make a mistake and make a bad choice?"  The answer is simple; there are consequences.  Or at least that's the way it is supposed to work.  

While I agree that the Task Force recommendations are not in accordance with the Service Manual, please note that my #1 suggestion was:

"Follow the Service Manual, unless the GRs make an INFORMED group conscience to do differently."

In other words, follow the Service Manual UNLESS there is a well-informed reason to do differently.  

There are some folks that seem to believe that the Service Manual is something that must be followed as if it was a Bible of Al-Anon.  It is not.  The latest version of the Service Manual is published every 3 years because it changes frequently.  The other thing is that the Service Manual is mostly a book of suggestions.  
Al-Anon's Tradition Four of group autonomy applies to the GEA just as much as it does to ASP or any other Al-Anon group.  

I am not ready to say that the Task Force and/or the leadership of the GEA is out of line with the Traditions, Concepts and Warranties.  Yet.  Rather, it is my impression that what we are seeing is a classic case of Al-Anons in service being Al-Anons.  The fourth paragraph in the Suggested Al-Anon Opening reads:

   "The family situation is bound to improve as we apply the Al‑Anon/
   Alateen ideas. Without such spiritual help, living with an alcoholic is
   too much for most of us. Our thinking becomes distorted by trying
   to force solutions, and we become irritable and unreasonable without
   knowing it."

The last sentence says it all.  Having been in buckets of Al-Anon service for a long, long time, I've seen it over and over again that Al-Anon trusted servants try to solve a problem by forcing a solution.  And they typically become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it when they experience push back like what happened at those two meetings in December.  

Along with Tradition 4's group autonomy, Concept 3 gives Al-Anon leaders the right of decision.  Sometimes, Al-Anon trusted servants treat those ideas as absolutes; they are not.  

Back to my story. . . Al-Anon groups have the right to be wrong.  But that comes with consequences.

Just because a group of Al-Anons vote to do something does not mean that something is not a mistake.  In fact, groups make mistakes all too frequently, and many groups die as a result of their mistakes.  Five times I have seen my face-to-face home group die as a direct result of a group conscience that was a mistake.  

A groups best insurance against making a mistake is ensuring that the members are fully informed - that is why it is called an Informed Group Conscience.
Interestingly, there are 12 references to "informed group conscience" in the Service Manual.  The best is on page 49:
   "In order to make an informed group conscience decision, members
   need access to all the information about the issue they are
   being asked to discuss, they need clarity on what their discussions
   hope to accomplish, and they are asked to trust each other’s motives
   and capabilities. By sharing information as equals, taking time for
   discussion, and maintaining principles above personalities during
   the discussions, groups are often able to reach unanimity in their decisions.
   If unanimity is not reached in the allotted timeframe of the
   meeting, discussions may continue at another time. Once a group
   conscience decision is made, the entire group supports the decision."

Where I see the GEA Task Force lacking is not providing the GRs with "access to all the information about the issue they are being asked to discuss, they need clarity on what their discussions hope to accomplish."

I believe that the GEA Task Force idea of using Time Zones to sort Groups into Districts has SOME merit, however, I am not convinced that it should be the primary parameter.  Likewise, I could agree with the GEA restricting individual groups LIMITED autonomy to choose a District to belong to.  

I'd love to see others join in this conversation, even if it is on just one facet of the districting issue.

Love and SERENITY,
Steve







-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg On Behalf Of Missy S
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2024 11:47 PM
To: steve at serenitysys.com
Cc: ASP Business <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Subject: [Businessmtg] Gea

Hi,

My head is spinning with statistics! Thanks for all the information Steve and Anne. I agree with continuing to point out where the task force actions are not in line with the service manual, traditions, concepts, warranties.

Can we turn to the program service structure for support? Especially since Steve's letter was not appropriately addressed? Can we turn to the next level to ask that some "higher ranking" trusted servants attend the upcoming meeting? As stated, decisions made will likely have consequences for Al-Anon as a whole.

Missy s.
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