I’m interested in the future of the future.” - Robert Doniger, 1996

 

The Traditions War: a pathway to peace is a history book and roadmap to the future. “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” This is so true in our personal recovery and in the history of NA. We see this happening regularly in the Fellowship. Worse yet is that so few know our fellowship’s history. The future is also given short shrift by our inability to see the big picture, as a Fellowship, in the decisions we make in the present. Working the steps was a matter of life or death. Work the steps or die was to be heard many a time. 12 Step calls were done on a regular basis, even with the risk of being arrested for possession for entering a place where drugs could be found. Two or more addicts carrying the message to our most needy members was a staple of the Fellowship. This still happens today but not with much emphasis. We have ceded this function to Detox and Treatment Centers. It just is not convenient for most members to take time out of their day to carry the message outside the rooms or put someone on their couch to help them get started. Or so say. A friend of Jimmy K shares:

”The Traditions were what kept the Fellowship alive in our founder’s mind. He knew that NA would not survive without a strict adherence to the Traditions. If Jimmy K. were alive today, would he recognize his Fellowship? I think not. He may see glimpses in places that adhere to the old ways, and he might recognize some familiar faces, grown older and more weathered. But the Fellowship he helped start would not be what he saw in the majority of the world today. The opposite of evolution is devolution. Devolution in the case of a spiritual fellowship might be called ‘falling apart.’ You can only depart from a winning formula so far without getting off track entirely.“

 

Non-violent intimidation was valued because it got out attention. Many members first received their 12^th Step with the words, “Sit down and shut up!" And they were right. We knew jack about staying clean.  They knew how to stay clean, so we trusted them to show us how. If some of us that do remember what it was like don't keep those old school values alive they will surely DIE!!!

 

A member recalls what happened this way:

I guess the problems started around the same time as the Basic Text was being high jacked by bureaucrats who saw it as only a sales item and wished to control it. The Basic Text was called a ‘cash cow’ because it was the money that seemed important to them, not the loving, caring message. At that time several members were putting the finishing touches on our text by way of the World Service Conference Literature Committee. We all know the story of what happened next. It has been covered quite well in several places. What also happened to Narcotic Anonymous that does not get enough publicity is that Political Correctness entered into the Fellowship. This conclusion is reached by examining the after affects of the rise to power of the WSO. Prior to the Basic Text controversy, the Fellowship was run through the Groups and committed members who had a desire to carry the message, our primary group purpose. After the Basic Text and Literature Review process was taken away from us in the latter half of the 1980’s, several assumptions were formed by those in positions of power. One assumption was that no member could speak out against the power structure formulating within the WSO, let alone a large vocal protesting body of addicts. The ability and right to question decisions we had always made ourselves but had no voice in now was taken away from us and became the standard from which the power structure grew. This became the new corporate policy: “You will not question us and if you do we will brand you with a label to make you stand out as what is wrong with the Fellowship. Trouble makers, whiners, purists, and The Vocal Minority.” All terms used to stop the questioning and scare those who would not stand up. Scare tactics, innuendo, lies, manipulation, fear, and illegal business practices became the coin of the realm for the power structure to control the Fellowship. This started the Fellowship down the path to Political Correctness that is helping to keep the addict who still suffers out there. How many times have we seen members who had an idea to help the Fellowship progress beaten down by other members who did not want to see waves made? How long has it been since Groups banded together to fight for the right to self govern? How many times has an addict been told it is ok to keep on using after picking up yet another Welcome Chip? When was the last time someone shared in a meeting that newcomers needed to sit down and shut up and listen? When was the last time a speaker got fired up at a convention about how the 13th step kills? Can you remember the last time you heard “Work the Steps or die, M*****F****R!” in a meeting? When did nicety become an important issue as opposed to breaking through to people who needed to rethink their whole lives? These things do not seem to happen anymore for the most part. There was a good reason for putting people in their place, and there still is: ego deflation. I actually help someone by confronting their bullshit. Sometimes the only way to get through to some of the ignorant and dense slobs who walk through the doors and think they have a game or can run a game in the rooms ... is to give it to them raw. Ego deflation.

 

One “free thinking” NA member shares:

In my many years of experience the only ego God has directed me to deflate has been my own. I am grateful to Him for that. The members in this Fellowship I have accepted guidance from in that area have first displayed humility and understanding in their own lives. One of my friends I accept direction from tells me his idea of heaven is to perpetually be able to sit and visit with his friends. You might easily understand why he is a good friend. He enjoys my company and I enjoy his. When he gives me guidance he walks beside me. He does not stand behind me and shove or stand in front and pull. He treats me as an equal. I treat him and all my friends the same way. I regard everyone here I share with as my equal. When I forget that there are spiritual and emotional consequences I must pay. Some folks on the other hand seem to thrive on being intimidated and shouted at by strangers. Millions flock every Sunday to be edified, chastised and fortified by a single man in a pulpit. This seems to have worked for the multitudes for ages. Personally, I don’t want anyone telling me their foregone conclusions are the one and only truth. Admonishing me not to bother thinking for myself they have done that for me. Many of these shouters of the gospel try to push, pull and cajole the masses up the spiritual road of selflessness and ego-deflation without realizing they themselves are caught in the addiction of fundamentalism. The paradox of this situation is that no man can teach the selflessness of ego deflation while practicing the very essence of egocentricity. My own ever growing understanding of ego deflation is this. I must allow another person their own joy of self discovery. The way and means I choose to pass on information or experience is crucial if I am to remain as selfless as I possibly can be. For instance if a first grade teacher were to walk into a room and say two plus two is four and will always be four you bunch of little uneducated twerps, that teacher would have failed her task miserably. The joy is in the journey of learning the process and realizing you have the talent to learn the process. As a personal choice if I am not willing to be a part of the entire process then I just don’t say anything at all. As for violating our Twelfth Tradition and expecting deferential treatment for any reason whatsoever, count me out. If I ever had reason to correct someone in a meeting for their form of sharing and another member corrected me for doing so I would defend my position with integrity or defer to their point of view. My length of time in the program has nothing to do with my spiritual condition for any particular twenty-four hour period. I have seen men with 25 years on the brink of suicide. I have seen men and women with many years relapse and die. H-O-W means the same thing today as it did the first day I walked in the door. Being politically correct implies transience. I go to bed one night and the members of a certain race want to be called one thing. When I wake up they prefer to be called another. I blink my eyes and the members of the same sex are allowed to be legally married. Personally I could care less about that stuff. These are the whims of society. We are a Society or Fellowship of a spiritual nature. Our Steps are based on spiritual principles that are the same now as they were when man took his first breath and will remain the same until he takes his last. I however, am not twenty-three anymore I am fifty. I do not run around shouting profanities in reference to The Steps and Traditions I have come to love and revere. Here in Knoxville we still make sure our troublemakers get a sponsor and we allow the sponsor time to work with the new member. We call our members down only on the rarest of occasions. For the most part we once again rely on the member’s sponsor that needs correcting to do the correcting. I do know my sponsor and I have started a new FG meeting, hosted workshops together, co-hosted a literature conference, attended an out of state service workshop, hit a couple hundred meetings and are planning another conference. This is just in the last year. He has been asked to speak at a history conference in Texas and I have been asked to expound upon our Ninth Tradition here at the largest group in our area. I am the GSR of my group and am active with my H&I committee. I am the co- panel leader of a recently started jail meeting in a county adjacent to mine. I’m not saying all this to brag on myself. I say this to make a point. I am the best member of NA that I know how to be. I am a serious and informed member of this Fellowship. I want to do my best to lead by example. I can not browbeat or guilt trip another person into loving this Fellowship the way I do. I cannot encourage another suffering addict to share the joy of a relationship with a loving God and be of service to his fellow by behaving in an immature and arrogant fashion. I must behave in a confident but humble way. I must be a man of conviction with a sense of direction. I have that conviction. I have that direction. Let the mendacity of the past speak for itself. Let the current errors be as they may. Each of us as convicted members has the opportunity to practice to our best ability the timeless spiritual principles that made our recovery possible. We can choose to pass it along or not pass it along to another suffering addict. The closer my walk with the God of my understanding the better job I will do in sharing the message. A simple attitude of equality and humility is of the utmost importance in doing this. This is the heart and the spirit of our Twelfth Tradition.

Another area where Political Correctness has hurt the Fellowship is around a lack of knowledge of the true meaning of the 7th Tradition. We use dances, picnics, and Unity Days to support our areas. We do this because we do not hold Groups accountable financially for the Service bodies they have formed in their name. We have become complacent in demanding that we support ourselves and let events do the work the Groups should be doing themselves. Anyone who questions this is out of touch with the reality of the world we live in. This is thought control in action. That reality was brought on by an attitude of laziness which gets it’s most glaring example from the bottom of the pyramid that is the NA Service structure. When the WSO sells our Literature for their support, anyone paying attention realizes that they do not or will not live by the 7th Tradition and so the example is set. Yet to question this is just not done and has somehow been manifested as wrong because the Super Board and the Office must know what they are doing and we should be grateful they are doing it for us. All of those people have time in recovery and would never hurt the Fellowship or act in an unspiritual way.

 

To give a viewpoint that may be shared by many, we include this addict’s statement without editing:           

“I appreciate the enthusiasm and insights of all the post's on this subject. I was under the impression that the phrase "work the Steps or die mother fucker" was a statement used to voice ones own personal convictions. I always thought that when people said that they meant that's what they personally had to do. I understood that conviction, for that was the attitude I adopted in order to begin recovery.---Contrary to the basic text, I did come here to change my life.-------The first couple times I said it was to stop using, because I didn’t trust any of you enough to tell you the truth, that I was scared and didn’t know how to live hell I didn't even know I was scared an old timer had to point it out

 

“The last time I came to the rooms it was to change my life, stop using was a given. See it's not politically correct to say that. I almost always get chastised if I say that in a meeting, bet a few of you if you read that cringed.----Oh yes and it's politically correct in NA to say that the AA book catered to a symptom of addiction, and not the exact nature of when in all actuality the AA book is what NA had to begin with if it was good enough for JIMMY K. and I had an NA sponsor in 94"who had 30 something years who taught steps out of the AA book. We both used the clear cut directions.

 

“The statement that the AA book does not deal with the exact nature of addiction is foolish, misinformed and usually made by people who by there own prejudice are unwilling to really investigate what they are talking about and I guess it must give some small feeling of smug superiority - I don’t remember ever hearing or reading about prejudice, close mindedness, or self-rightiousness being a spiritual principle. I did read a quote by Herbert Spencer that said ---"there is a principle which is bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance--that principle is ---- contempt prior to investigation "----Just so you know I don’t talk about AA in NA ---- Yes, we speak of spiritual principles.---I get a lot of people that come to me, that have been in and out some for years. They have all the answers, know everything about recovery and cant stay clean!

 

“Why is that? They have been told by well-intentioned members: "stay on the first step for a year." What the heck is that???? Whole group aplaudes for the relapser [God Bless them] picking up there 40th white key tag; pat'em on the ass and say oh it's all right. When did it become "all right" to get high in NA ???? OK keep coming back OK how about keep coming back and don't frickin’ use in between call me here’s my number. Get their number, I call a lot of new comers if they have a phone. Most aren’t going to call you, they’re too scared. Yes "empathy becomes a healing therapy for all addicted people." we do recover. It is politically correct in NA to say "well I was clean for 8 yrs relapsed and used for 5 yrs and now I’ve been clean for 3 yrs so I really have 16 yrs of recovery"---I don’t know who taught them to add!

 

“Yes, clean time doesn’t equal recovery but it's kind of part of the deal don’t ya think?-----and on and on it goes----So when do we stop turning our back to the truth in the guise of love, compassion and tolerance.-----When does empathy become apathy !!???.--------As said earlier I don’t need to be screaming at people, and everything is a fine line when working with addicts, -----but come on if all I do is go to meetings and nuthin’ else the only thing I get is bad breath from to much coffee and a flat ass from hard chairs!!!!--------So how about the old Alanon saying 'if it is to be; let it begin with me" Yes they got it from somewhere but we got "just for today" from Alanon. How about sponsorship instead of lordship like one of our members wrote, "it takes time to explain to the newcomer." But people don’t want to take the time; just tell them to go to 90 in 90 and stay on the first step bla bla bla and then you dont have to explain any thing I thought sponsorship was an obligation. ----- Since words carry the power to kill I must be always checking my motives with God and with sponsor. -------- At the same time I will call people on it and I will call bullshit, bullshit and I do speak about and directly address 13 step and other issues, it doesn’t make me popular but at least I don’t walkaway ashamed of myself for participation and approval by default, because I was to fucking spiritual and had to much "humility" to say anything about at the risk of, prestige. I don’t remember a spiritual principle of being afraid of the simple truth. Walking the spirit path is not about being afraid to speak up for the truth. ----------and how do I put paragraphs on this thing.