Am I the only one who is really underwhelmed with these recent pieces on whether anonymity in AA has been rendered quaint? To me, they seem to fundamentally misunderstand AA's anonymity. There's plenty of room within AA's traditions for activism and public education, AA members are just advised not to identify themselves as AA members in the media, avoid … Continue reading Top Posts of 2011 #9 – The second ‘A’ in AA
Category: Mutual Aid
Top Posts of 2011 #10 – How AA and NA work
Here is a summary of the knowledge presented at last year's conference on AA and NA: The preponderance of evidence supports the causal pathway that AA attendance leads to abstinence (Kaskutas, Zemore). 12-Step affiliation significantly enhances the odds of sustaining abstinence for multiple years among polysubstance-dependent individuals (Laudet). 12-Step involvement yields benefits above and beyond meeting attendance (Kaskutas, … Continue reading Top Posts of 2011 #10 – How AA and NA work
Number one, community.
"... Number two, a safe place to be in recovery." Local U-M recovery advocate, Jennifer Cervi, is interviewed by Bill White. Very cool. U-M is lucky to have this program.
Recovery is everywhere
From friends in Japan. It's difficult to overstate how awesome this is. Here's a little context: The US population is about 300 million, Japan's population is about 130 million AA membership in the US is estimated to be around 1 million, Japan's AA membership is estimated to be around 5000, with another 5000 to 10,000 … Continue reading Recovery is everywhere
Transformation of the Culture of Recovery in America by William White
Bill White at the Dawn Farm Education Series:
Helping and Owingness
A couple of items caught my eye because they illuminate some of the spiritual principles of AA. First on the magic that happens when a group of drunks get together and emphasize serving others: "I'm a churchgoing Catholic, and I do that as a matter of, it's good to stand with my family. It's good that I … Continue reading Helping and Owingness
Not-God
Ernie Kurtz explaining the title of his history of AA: ...the fundamental and first message of Alcoholics Anonymous to its members is that they are not infinite, not absolute, not God. Every alcoholic's problem had first been, according to this insight, claiming God-like powers, especially that of control. But the alcoholic at least, the message … Continue reading Not-God
The History of Gay People in AA
Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of a visit and presentation from Bill White (video will be posted later). His talk covered the history of the recovering community in the U.S. While he didn't discuss it, his talk made me think about the history of gay people in AA. So . . . here's … Continue reading The History of Gay People in AA
Recovering community as political fiction
Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the challenges and political fiction of political movements by unpacking this passage from a feminist: "She, who is so different from myself, is really like me in fundamental ways, because we are both": This is the feminist habit of universalizing extravagantly--making wild, improbable leaps across chasms of class and race, poverty and … Continue reading Recovering community as political fiction
Happy Birthday NA
Happy belated birthday, NA! [hat tip: Bill White]