A friend said: "I recently heard about AA traditionalists being upset because they think these other 12 step groups have no business using the Big Book, that the information in the Big Book is only relevant to alcoholics."
(1) I've learned that, if I'm upset, I'm playing God.
(2) There are seven billion people on the planet. I would have quite a nerve suggesting I know whether a particular (large) body of information is or is not relevant to any or all of said seven billion. That would require quite a degree of omniscience.
(3) If you do not want people to 'use' information (whatever 'use' means), you might want to think about not publishing it.
(4) My business is my business. Your business is your business. What is or is not your business is not my business.
(5) Every single idea contained in the Big Book was learned. We learned of the physical craving from Silkworth. We learned of the connection between a spiritual awakening and the removal of the mental obsession from Jung. We learned about reliance on God from millennia of teachings. To suggest that this information, which predates the Big Book and AA, has use only in AA is comical.
(6) We are sticklers for facts and results. Are people other than alcoholics benefitting from using the Big Book? Yes. Are we going to say that other people recovering is somehow not God's will?
(7) We give freely. Full stop.
(1) I've learned that, if I'm upset, I'm playing God.
(2) There are seven billion people on the planet. I would have quite a nerve suggesting I know whether a particular (large) body of information is or is not relevant to any or all of said seven billion. That would require quite a degree of omniscience.
(3) If you do not want people to 'use' information (whatever 'use' means), you might want to think about not publishing it.
(4) My business is my business. Your business is your business. What is or is not your business is not my business.
(5) Every single idea contained in the Big Book was learned. We learned of the physical craving from Silkworth. We learned of the connection between a spiritual awakening and the removal of the mental obsession from Jung. We learned about reliance on God from millennia of teachings. To suggest that this information, which predates the Big Book and AA, has use only in AA is comical.
(6) We are sticklers for facts and results. Are people other than alcoholics benefitting from using the Big Book? Yes. Are we going to say that other people recovering is somehow not God's will?
(7) We give freely. Full stop.