July 31 in A.A. History

In 1879, John Henry Fitzhugh “Fitz” M. [right] was born in Chelsea, New Jersey, to Robert A. and Annie Taylor M.

In 1949, Central Ohio’s first interracial Alcoholics Anonymous group was started by Charlie W. 
   Around the same time, a committee led by Bert P. was organizing the Central Ohio Group Fellowship and opening a new office. The bylaws governing the COGF were approved on this date, at Neil House in downtown Columbus, with Floyd W., Al B., and Harry C. as the primary architects. As always, Reverend Faust provided spiritual guidance during this process. Since its inception, the Central Ohio Group Fellowship has been dedicated to serving the groups and members in need.

In 1952, Henrietta Seiberling [far left] wrote a handwritten letter to Clarence S. [near left] of eight pages (four pages, double-sided). In part, it stated [underlining in original]:

    It looked for a while as if Bill W[—–] would like to crowd God out but we know that it is up to us to seek more & more of God’s power to help other people to know this way of Life & our fellowship. You certainly are doing your part & thank God, all those who have glimpsed the real vision are doing theirs. The joy of it is, to me, that those who have only been offered “the stone,” are so eager & grab at the “bread,” that we know we have to offer - as you say, it is appalling how little they have been offered by the would be “elder statesman” - but the 12 steps & the fact that, as Stanley Jones say, wherever man opens his mind to God, He reveals himself - they have helped the groping AA’s - who have been denied so much of the real “bread” - & given the “stone” of Bill W[—–]’s designs.
    But, Clarence, I have made one big whale of a surrender of Bill & his schemes - & all thought of him & the possibilities of what harm he could do just left me in the most amazing way. I don’t have to try to “not think of him” again, I just don’t - He is completely consigned to God by me & I know He can handle him - We will be closely knit - even with his taking the money & trying to take the book. I am sure he will need our pity & compassion because he has put himself apart from the real fellowship - more and more I see that the 16th Chapter of Luke that I read in answer to my asking to understand Bill & what he was doing, illuminated the situation - He has put himself with the “children of darkness” - he has his henchmen & ingratiates himself with those in the dark - Let us keep ourselves “children of the Light” & keep serving God, instead of “Mammon.” Bill has made his choice - Read the chapter over.
    I heard talk in Missouri 2 years ago about his connection with Sheen but I don’t imagine it is so. He imagines himself all kinds of things. His hand “writes” dictation from a Catholic priest, whose name I forget, from the 1600 period who was in Barcelona Spain - again, he told Horace C[—–], he was completing the work that Christ didn’t finish, & according to Horace he said he was a reincarnation of Christ. Perhaps he got mixed in whose reincarnation he was. It looks more like the works of the devil but I could be wrong. I don’t know what is going on in the poor deluded fellow’s mind.
    He must be wistful. He asked Bill D[—–] if he knew where I was & Bill said “on Park Ave” & he said “Have you seen her”?
    I learned from a Texas friend that a Chaplain in the prisons said the only way they really reached prisoners was thru Alcoholics Anonymous, even for the non alcoholic - so besides such things as that, Bill & his schemes pale into insignificance for us - I am sure.
    We can stand by & see him claim the “glory” if we can keep the “power” to help transform lives - Thank God, you & so many others are still doing that.…
    I saw Henry S[—–] in N.Y. - Bill D[—–] brought him over. Bill W. wouldn’t let him in the “convention.”…
As ever Faithfully
Henrietta

In 1970, Bernard B. Smith [right], 68, died of a heart attack at his home at 1165 Park Ave. in New York City. He was the longest-serving Trustee of Alcoholics Anonymous, holding the position from 1944 to 1970. Initially a member of the Alcoholic Foundation Board, he later became a Trustee of the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, serving as Chair from 1950 to 1956. Bill W. referred to him as “the architect of A.A.’s general service structure.”
    Earlier in the month, due to Bill’s poor health, “Bern,” as he was commonly known, stepped in for many of Bill’s scheduled appearances at the Fifth International Convention in Miami, Florida, which celebrated A.A.’s 35th anniversary.

In 1972, a sober Ralston "Rollie" H. [left], known as “Rollickin’ Rollie,” died at the age of 65 from a heart attack in Washington, DC. He had had a notable 18-year career in Major League Baseball as a catcher, earning five All-Star selections. Hemsley played for several teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds (twice), St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees (winning the World Series in 1943), and Philadelphia Athletics. Following his playing career, he managed various minor-league teams and coached the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics.
    His battles with alcohol were legendary while he played for the Indians. In 1939, while on a train trip, he got drunk, poured water on a sleeping porter, tossed lit matches into sleeping berths, and climbed into manager Oscar “Ossie” Vitt’s bed, blubbering incoherently. As a result, he was immediately suspended. When Cy Slapnicka, the Indians’ general manager, gave Hemsley a $1,500 [~$34,700 in 2025] diamond ring and told him it was a gift for his daughter, the tough catcher was deeply moved and teared up. He vowed to quit drinking on the spot, and Slapnicka arranged for him to meet with some members of Alcoholics Anonymous, who promptly admitted him to the hospital. After four days there, he joined A.A., becoming its 77th member.

In 2002, the first meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) concluded.
    During the meeting, representatives discussed several important issues affecting online A.A. groups. Topics included how to establish a group conscience online, the internet publication of A.A. copyrighted documents, online anonymity, relationships with "face-to-face" A.A. bodies, and other relevant concerns.
    The OSC representatives passed two actions:

• ratifying the Conference as beginning a general service structure for online A.A. and planning to meet again in January 2003; and 
• electing six members of a Steering Committee to stand for the Conference and prepare an agenda in the interim between meetings.

In 2003, the third meeting of the month-long Online Service Conference (OSC) concluded.
    Two key actions were discussed: defining online A.A. groups and recommending that these groups provide representatives to the OSC for two-year terms. However, neither proposal achieved substantial unanimity and both were referred for further study. Committees were formed to study the issues, and new members were elected to fill vacant positions on the Steering Committee.
    As with the previous assembly, no Online Advisory Actions were voted on during this third conference.

July 30 in A.A. History

In 1863, the military unit of Gardner Fayette Griffith [right], Vermont’s Company B, 14th Regiment, was mustered out in Brattleboro, Vermont, just a few weeks after its pivotal role in the Union’s decisive victory over Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania [left: a Vermont soldier c. 1863]. Griffith would later become the grandfather of Bill W.

In 1945, Silas B., 63, died in a Stamford, Connecticut hospital after a year of illness [near right: obituary, The Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle, 1 Aug 1945, p. 11]. He had been A.A. #3 (or 4) in New York City and, in January 1939, had written the first newspaper article ever published about Alcoholics Anonymous, but he had returned to drinking less than a year later [far right: gravestone].

In 1950, attendees at A.A.’s 1st International Convention at the Cleveland Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio, adopted the Twelve Traditions with near-unanimous acclamation.

In 1950, Dr. Bob S. [left] made a brief appearance at A.A.’s 1st International Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, to deliver his final public remarks. His now-famous talk included the following:

There are two or three things that flashed into my mind on which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis. One is the simplicity of our program. Let’s not louse it all up with Freudian complexes and things that are interesting to the scientific mind but have very little to do with our actual AA work. Our Twelve Steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words love and service.

July 29 in A.A. History

Today in A.A. History—July 29–August 2

In 1971, a 21-member General Service Board (GSB) of Alcoholics Anonymous met for the first time in New York City. With the election of nine new members at the April General Service Conference (GSC), the Board reached a 2:1 ratio of Class A (alcoholic) Trustees to Class B (non-alcoholic) Trustees. This completed a reorganization begun by the 1966 GSC and advocated by Bill Wilson since before 1955. Historically, the GSB had always maintained a majority of non-alcoholic members. The 2:1 ratio has remained largely unchanged since [right: Report of the Trustees’ Nominating Committee to the 1971 GSC; all nominees were were approved by the GSC Trustees’ Committee and elected by the GSC].

July 28 in A.A. History

1914, Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo, the capital of the recently annexed provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina [right: Achille Beltrame’s portrayal of the assassination]. This act provided Austria-Hungary with the justification it needed to initiate hostilities against Serbia, marking the onset of the Great War, later known as World War I. The United States would enter the war in April 1917, and by August, President Wilson would mobilize all National Guard units. At that time, Bill W. was a student at Norwich University and, as such, a member of the Vermont National Guard.

Today in A.A. History—July 28–30

In 1950, Alcoholics Anonymous held its first International Convention [left] in Cleveland, Ohio, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of A.A.’s founding. The event aimed to honor Dr. Bob S., who was seriously ill and would pass away in November, and to adopt the Twelve Traditions by acclamation. While up to 10,000 attendees were expected from an estimated total membership of 96,400, only about 3,000 people registered, with a few hundred attending without registering ahead of time.
    During the convention, Bill W. gave a talk titled “The Group Conscience and the Trusted Servant”* in which he discussed several key points, among them:

    I think that we have developed almost a fetish that this is some terrific infallibility in the group conscience, and I would like to modify it to this extent: that when the group conscience is thoroughly informed, and when experience backs a decision or conclusion it has reached, and when it isn’t too mad or too fearful, it can (and almost always is) supremely wise as to the best interests of Alcoholics Anonymous.

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* This talk is reprinted in Our Great Responsibility: A Selection of Bill W.’s General Service Conference Talks 1951–1970.

July 27 in A.A. History

In 1938, at the request of Bill W., Dr. William D. Silkworth [right] wrote a letter of recommendation titled “To Whom It May Concern” [left] to support fundraising for the book that would eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous. This letter, in modified form, constituted the first part of Silkworth’s contribution to the chapter “The Doctor’s Opinion.” The second part of his contribution was likely submitted just before the Multilith printing in February 1939.

In 1941, Dale A. [left], who had written the Alcoholic Foundation in March after reading Jack Alexander’s article in The Saturday Evening Post, attended his first A.A. meeting. Soon he would be holding meetings in his home across the street from the North City Tavern [right, c. 1927]* in Shoreline, Washington, and would eventually become what many people consider the founding father of A.A. in Seattle, Washington.

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^*17554 15th Ave NE: located 10.6 mi [17.06 km] north of Seattle, it was built as a grocery store in 1927, and is still there, known since 1990 as the North City Lounge.

July in A.A. History (day unknown)

In 1934, Bill and Lois W. returned to their home in Brooklyn after spending another month in the Green River, Vermont, on property owned by Bill’s sister Dorothy and her husband, Dr. Leonard V. Strong. Upon their return, Bill fell back into heavy drinking [below: map showing, south to north, Brooklyn, NY; Green River, VT; and East Dorset/Emerald Lake, VT (in gold)].

In 1934, Ebby T. [left] was approached in Manchester, Vermont, by his friends Cebra G. [near right], a lawyer, and Sheppard “Shep” Cornell [far right], a stockbroker from New York City.  Both were members of the Oxford Group and had previously been heavy drinkers, and specifically drinking buddies with Ebby. They had stopped drinking and were now sober. They told Ebby about the existence of the Oxford Group in Vermont, but he wasn’t quite ready to give up alcohol.

In 1934, Bill W. was admitted to Charles B. Towns Hospital [left] for the second time, again paid for by Dr. Leonard V. Strong, his sister’s husband. During this stay, Bill met Dr. Silkworth [right] for the first time. The doctor explained the concepts of obsession and allergy related to alcoholism. However, shortly after his release, Bill started drinking again. At this point, he was unemployable, over $50,000 in debt [~$1.2 million in 2025], suicidal, and drinking around the clock.

In 1935, [August?] Lois W. traveled to Akron, Ohio, to spend two weeks with her husband, Bill, at the home of Dr. Bob and Anne S., located at 855 Ardmore Ave. [left]. Bill had been in Akron since at least April and had been staying with the Bob and Anne since late May.

In 1935, encouraged by T. Henry Williams [left], Ernie G.—the “devil-may-care chap” in “A Vision for You” (pp. 158–159 of Alcoholics Anonymous)—reached out to Dr. Bob Smith and got sober. At just 30 years old, some believed he was “too young” to get sober. He became the fourth member of A.A. and authored “The Seven Month Slip” in the first edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous.

    In September 1941, he would marry Dr. Bob Smith’s adopted daughter, Sue, but he struggled with continuing to drink, leading to their marriage becoming a disaster. Tragically, on 11 June 1969, their daughter Bonna would take her own life after killing her 6-year-old daughter—Ernie and Sue’s granddaughter—Sandy. Ernie died exactly two years later [right: Ernie and Sue in happier times]. 

July 25 in A.A. History

In 1943, American Weekly published the third of a three-part series by Genevieve Parkhurst [left] titled “ALCOHOLISM—Laymen Join Science to Cure It.” The combined dimensions of the first two pages [below] measured nearly 5 feet² (32" × 22") [~½ m² (~81 cm × ~56 cm)]. The article continued over several additional pages and prompted 1,100 inquiries to the Alcoholic Foundation office in New York City.

In 1947, the U.S. House of Representatives District Committee released a conference report titled “Rehabilitation of chronic alcoholics in District of Columbia” to accompany H. R. 2659 (“act to establish program for rehabilitation of alcoholics, promote temperance, and provide for medical and scientific treatment of persons found to be alcoholics by courts of District of Columbia, and for other purposes.”) Julius S., a member of Washington, D.C.’s Cosmopolitan Group, had testified during the hearings for this bill, which was ultimately passed into law on August 4.

July 24 in A.A. History

In 1969, Bill W. [near right, 1966], the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and Marty M. [center right, 1964], the founder of the National Council on Alcoholism, testified before the United States Senate Special Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Narcotics. This subcommittee, part of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, was chaired by Senator Harold E. H. [far right, c. 1969-1975], who was himself an alcoholic. All three were known for publicly breaking their anonymity.

Today in A.A. History—July 24–26

In 1992, a “Freedom in Sobriety” event with the theme “Living in the Answer” (a reference from the Big Book) took place at the Best Western Executive Inn in Fife—near Tacoma—in Washington state [left: Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino in Fife, formerly the Best Western Executive Inn].

July 23 in A.A. History

In 1940, the Philadelphia Group of A.A. set a precedent for the 7^th Tradition by contributing 10% of their funds to the Alcoholic Foundation.

In 1943, Clarence S. and four other members of Alcoholics Anonymous 12^th-stepped Esther C. into sobriety while she was hospitalized in Cleveland, Ohio, just two months after her 34th birthday. She would become known for riding a “Little Indian Scout” motorcycle [right: Esther on her bike] from Cleveland to meetings in Akron, Ohio. Sixty-some years later, when told that someone from California was coming to ask her about A.A. history and the Big Book, Esther replied, “What's the matter with him, doesn't he have a Big Book?”

In 1946, Bill W. wrote a note to Ricardo “Dick” P. thanking him for translating the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, into Spanish. Dick, who had been an A.A. member since 1940, had worked on this translation with his wife, Helen, for three years. [Below: Text of Bill’s note and an unknown person’s translation into Spanish.]

To my friend of AA Ricardo P     In testimony and deep gratitude for his arduous labors of translation—that our Spanish-speaking brothers throughout the world may be led out of darkness into light—                                     Affectionately 7/23/46                       Bill W                                     + Lois 6/19/76

Para mi amigo de A.A. Ricardo P—–     En testimonio y profundo gratitud por sus arduas labores de traducción -las cuales posiblemente guiaron a nuestros hermanos de habla hispana alrededor del mundo, para salir de la obscuridad e introducirse en la luz.                                     Afectuosamente,                                     Bill W—– 7/23/46                                     6/19/46

 

	In 1985, Loran D. Archer [left], Senior Policy Advisor on Alcoholism and Other Health Issues at the Drug Abuse Policy Office during President Ronald Reagan’s administration, wrote [right: letter] to Mr. Hal Marley, an A.A. member in Arlington, Virginia.
The enclosed copies of President Reagan's letter of congratulation to what Archer referred to as “The Fiftieth International Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous”—actually the 8th International Convention celebrating the Fellowship's 50th Anniversary—were dated 24 June; the International Convention was held 5–7 July in Montreal, Quebec.

Today in A.A. History—July 23–25

In 1976, the 19th International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (ICYPAA) took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [far left: letter from U.S. V.P. Nelson Rockefeller; near left: SWAG].

Supporting A.A. in Ukraine

[Note that this post was written in March 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion of the Ukraine by the Russian Federation.]

An A.A. friend sent me a very well-done flyer for an online A.A. meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine. It's shown to the left, but I've removed the Meeting ID and Passcode; I don't want to make it that  easy to attend. When I first saw it, I thought, "I only wish that we could do something similar for all the Russian alcoholics, who must also be terribly distressed at this time" (especially those in the Russian military).

This flyer was immediately followed by a less well-done message, shown below, purporting to be from "Ukrainian AA Service Center and the Ukrainian AA Service Board" to "the AA World Community." I was skeptical. This looked so much like a myth that I expected to find it debunked at Snopes ("the internet’s definitive fact-checking resource"). I did not. But I did find an article titled, "UKRAINE: New Crisis, Grimly Familiar Disinformation Trends", which said, in part, 

It is a grim measure of the frequency of crisis events in recent years, and the ubiquity of online disinformation, that when a major story breaks — a terrorist attack, a mass shooting, or an act of war — the writers and editors at Snopes can typically predict what comes next. Recycled videos and photographs, stripped from their proper context, and the same old tropes, all designed to inflame or confuse, or even amuse, the reader.

This is followed by a "grim overview of the familiar disinformation trends and recurring memes… in the opening days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."

But, as I said, I only later looked on Snopes. First I searched the Internet. To my surprise, I immediately got a hit that looked very promising. It was on the aa.lviv.ua website and looked like this:

Since I don't know what I presumed was Ukrainian, and not having much patience, I immediately had the page automatically translated into English. It is indeed Ukrainian, and here's the English translation I got:

It was only later that I noticed that an English translation of the message follows the Ukrainian on the original, one click further down. I felt stupid and impatient for not looking.

Ultimately, I decided I'd check into the Kyiv online meeting and see if there was some way I could be helpful. I tried to log in a few minutes before it was to start. Due to the meeting having reached capacity, it was impossible to get in. It then occurred to me, If I'm having this much trouble getting in, there are probably Ukrainians who are also unable to get in. It horrified me to think that I could have had a part in disrupting their meeting. If, by some miracle, I had been able to get in, I sure hope I would have realized that the meeting was at capacity and left. But even if I had, my spot would have been filled by a non-Ukrainian.

I tried joining after the meeting was over. It was bedlam. It appeared that most people were unmuted and there were multiple conversations going on at the same time. I saw one man, who appeared to be that single Ukrainian member. He appeared to be quite stressed out. I also saw some A.A.friends of mine, which was disappointing. I only stayed a minute. The last thing they needed at that point was yet one more non-Ukrainian A.A. to join the fray.

Tonight, I learned from a reliable source that only one of the seven or eight regular Ukrainian group members was able to get into the meeting (presumably, the Zoom host). No doubt, many of the attendees had good intentions, although I'm also pretty sure some did not. Clearly, many also didn't think through the consequences of their actions.

And then, very late last night, My friend said that another friend of hers had found a Facebook post about the A.A. meeting in Kyiv earlier, shown at the left. It was so disheartening to read. Yes, many non-Ukrainians—maybe hundreds of them—got to feel good for a minute. Meanwhile, seven or eight locals never got to their meeting.

God As We Understand Him?

 I recently read Bill W.'s essay, “God As We Understand Him: The Dilemma of No Faith”, in The Language of the Heart (originally published as “The Dilemma of No Faith” in the April 1961 issue of the A.A. Grapevine). He begins this essay by saying, “The phrase ‛God As We Understand Him’ is perhaps the most important expression to be found in our whole AA vocabulary.”

For a long time, I've been vaguely uncomfortable with this wording, even though I knew what it meant the first time I heard it. In the last few years, but not in my early sobriety, I've sometimes heard newcomers asking about this expression, “How can anyone understand God?”  in a way that led me to think that perhaps this was an impediment for them. I realized my discomfort is just that. Perhaps understanding is not the best word. I think “God As We Conceive of God” is closer to the intended meaning. It will be interesting to see how the proposed plain language Big Book^* (i.e., Alcoholics Anonymous) will deal with this phrase. If at all.

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^* If you don't know what this is or what it means, check out Advisory Action #28 (on p 7) in this document: Conference Advisory Actions of the 71st General Service Conference, a list of all such actions adopted at the 71st General Service Conference last April.

19,560 days

Yes, I am still sober, still above ground. My posts slowed down drastically and then stopped altogether because I feared it would become too easy to identify who I was from my posts, due to circumstances of my life. Already, my brother had figured out this was me. For those who don't realize it, I was doing my best to respect Tradition 12. My brother already knew I was a deeply involved member of A.A.

Future posts will probably be less personal, on the whole. I hope this is, at least in part, because I have less interest in myself and more interest in others [v. Alcoholics Anonymous, p 84].

A.A. in these times of pandemic has been a great experience for me personally. Since mid-March 2020, I've attended online meetings on every continent that has them (Antarctica does not, due to insufficient bandwidth). I've been regularly attending meetings all over the US and Canada, as well as in Australia and South Africa. It has also become much easier to find workshops, conventions, conferences, and meetings that focus on topics like Traditions, Concepts, The A.A. Service Manual, and A.A. history. These are topics that I love learning about. I've been sober almost 29 years, been involved in General Service for 25½ of those years, but I sometimes think I've learned more about General Service in the last 16 months than in all the time before. Maybe not. Maybe it just feels that way.

Eighteen years

Still here, still sober, even if I'm not posting. Yesterday I celebrated 18 years of continuous sobriety.

Seventeen years

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of my first A.A. meeting, which marked the beginning of my current spell of continuous sobriety. I can't say I celebrated, because I was too busy doing things that are little more than the blessings of a sober life:

• Took my car in to have the oil changed and the engine light checked—I not only have a driver's license, I also have a car
• Worked—I am employable today
• Chaired a meeting of the local chapter of a professional organization—not only employed, but on the Board of Directors and also Program Chair
• Attended a funeral

The funeral, ironically enough, was for Bumblebee, someone I sponsored for a while. I suspect I was his last sponsor. I hadn't seem him in at least a year, and sometimes wondered if he named me when asked if he had a sponsor. Then I would wonder if he was even making meetings.

Apparently not. He was definitely out there. He committed suicide by stabbing himself to death in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he lived. In the femoral artery. Thank you, Bumblebee, for keeping it green for me on my anniversary.

Tonight I will celebrate with dinner and a meeting! Praise HP, from whom all blessings flow!

Is A.A. a religion?

On 17 March 2009, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion in an appeal of the case of Glenside Center, Inc. [a clubhouse hosting meetings of various twelve-step programs] v. Abington Township. A lower court had found that the Glenside Center violated local zoning laws, after the Township received numerous complaints regarding an "adverse parking situation" that "made driving difficult and dangerous and prevented emergency traffic from getting through." There were also complaints about "urinating in public, using obscene language and trash which had been left by members attending meetings." Excessive noise and loitering are also mentioned in the opinion. (Clearly demonstrating the danger of these kinds of totally inappropriate, inconsiderate and non-sober behavior at any A.A. meeting.)

The appeal was on the basis of four issues, namely that the Zoning Board:

1. had incorrectly found that the use of the building did not meet the requirement of being primarily used as an "office,"
2. had denied the clubhouse its rights under RLUIPA¹,
3. had violated the clubhouse's right to free exercise of religion by determining that the clubhouse was a "Community Center," and
   
4. had failed to prove a compelling governmental interest and had failed to use the least restrictive means to further that interest.
   

My interest is only in the 2^nd and 3^rd issues insofar as they relate to whether or not A.A. can legally be considered a religion. In its opinion, the Court essentially determined that Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religion:

Glenside argues... it is a protected entity under RLUIPA because its activities are a religious exercise.... Glenside argues that AA is not a religion, but its activities and programs constitute a free exercise of religion under RLUIPA. It contends that the 12-step program that AA follows is certainly based upon a belief in a higher power, and various AA members testified that they found a connection with God by attending AA meetings. Glenside directs our attention to a New York Court of Appeals case, Griffin v. Coughlin,... which held that an AA meeting constituted an exercise of religion.

The Board, however, argues and we agree that Glenside presents no binding authority for its proposition that an AA meeting is a religious exercise as that term is used in RLUIPA.² Glenside failed to prove that any of the meetings are administered by a religious leader, i.e., a minister, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader. Glenside does not hold any religious services or have any religious affiliations. Its Articles of Incorporation state nothing about being incorporated for a religious purpose, but only to assist people in recovering from addiction. Similarly, Glenside’s printed materials state that Glenside is not a religious organization and do not require that members possess any religious belief to participate. While Glenside argues that members have found a connection with God at its meetings, clearly, the primary purpose of the group meetings, whether they be for AA, NA or DA, is to support individuals who are recovering from alcohol, drug, gambling and debtor addictions, not to advance religion. Particularly where AA and NA meetings are concerned, the primary concern of those meetings is to treat substance abuse. Moreover, Glenside and others on its behalf testified that members come from all religious walks of life whether they be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or non-believers in a higher power. The fact that the 12-step program is used and it contains references to “God” and a “Higher Power” does not mean that all members believe that they are partaking in a religious experience when they are attending an AA or NA meeting.

Good for the Court, bad for Glenside Center, Inc. Bad, not because they lost their appeal, but for (1) encouraging the courts to consider A.A. a religion, (2) giving the appearance of violating A.A. tradition of having no opinion on outside issues, and (3) for providing a forum for a number of members of A.A. to violate A.A.'s tradition of anonymity at the level of press, radio and film (not to mention on television and on the Internet).

Glenside Center is not in any sense A.A. or part of A.A. It is a separately organized enterprise with the [presumable] purpose of providing meeting space for various twelve-step organizations. From the point of view of A.A. groups, it is in no respect different from a church, municipal building or community center providing space for meetings—all these entities are nothing more than landlords.

However, I suspect that all the principals of the Glenside Center are members of A.A. As stated in the opinion, many of those who testified on behalf of the Glenside Center are also members of A.A. One was identified by full name as a member of A.A. for 53 years (you'd think he'd know better after that long). The Center's argument included the following:

While AA or its related organizations do not claim to be an established religion, the constituent groups can and have been viewed as engaging in an exercise of religion. The Act broadly defines religious exercise to include "any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious beliefs."

I became aware of this ruling when a friend in A.A. sent me a link to an entry about it in a Washington Post blog named "Under God." In it, David Waters argues that the Court made a mistake on the basis of four objections. After each objection, I'll give my objections to Mr Waters' objections.

Objection 1: Any person of faith can be a spiritual leader.

Actually, I would go even further than Mr Waters. Lack of "a religious leader, i.e., a minister, priest, rabbi or other spiritual leader" should not preclude a gathering from being religious. A prime example would be an unprogrammed meeting for worship of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.

Objection 2: Assisting people in recovering from any addiction is a religious (and spiritual) purpose.

Accepting this argument would make every rehab and detox in the U.S. a religious organization. It would also make seeing any health-care practitioner for help with an addiction into a religious activity.

Objection 3: Any group that advances the healing of bodies and souls (and the forgiveness of debts and debtors) also advances religion.

By this argument, entering into any course of psychiatric or psychological therapy, participating in any of numerous self-help organizations or classes, going to see the doctor, going to the gym to work out, or seeking credit counseling would be considered a religious activity. This is patently absurd.

Objection 4: Clearly the court is unaware of the history and purpose of AA.

Clearly Mr Waters is not fully aware of the history and purpose of A.A. Let me address each of the facts he cites in support of his objection.

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded as a spiritual program, direct outgrowth of the Oxford Group at Calvary Episcopal Church in New York.

True. But it's also true that the Oxford Group (known since 2001 as Initiatives of Change) considered itself non-religious. Furthermore A.A. separated from the Oxford Group at least in part due to the latter's belief that alcoholism was a sin rather than a disease, and to sever what might appear as ties to a Christian organization.

AA meetings include recitations of The Lord's Prayer and the Serenity Prayer.

Actually, this seems to me to be a reasonably good argument. It's one reason I do not participate in saying the Lord's Prayer at meetings. Not all meetings use the Lord's Prayer, though I'd have to say that most in the U.S.³ do. As for the Serenity Prayer, so far as I know, it is not perceived to be associated with Christianity, despite its purported author being a Christian theologian. As insightful as it may be to us drunks, the idea would seem to be quite universal in thought and application among those who consider and practice such things. Indeed, the essential idea can be found in a Mother Goose rhyme:

For every ailment under the sun

There is a remedy, or there is none;

If there be one, try to find it;

If there be none, never mind it.

Back to Mr Waters' argument:

"AA indirectly derived much of its inspiration from the Church," Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Rector of Calvary Church, said in 1955.

Key word: indirectly. I'd say that a huge number of institutions of Western civilization were indirectly derived from Christianity, not the least of which is the United States of America. Furthermore, citing a single person—a non-A.A. member at that—saying this in a single speech is not much of an argument. Bill W., co-founder of A.A. and a much better source to cite, said of the phrase God as we understood him that it was "tremendously important," "a ten-strike," enabling "thousands to join AA who would have otherwise gone away," opening the door to "those of fine religious training and those of none at all," making "one’s religion the business of the AA member himself and not that of his society."⁴

AA's Twelve Traditions includes No. 2: "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority -- a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." Seven of AA's famous Twelve Steps reference God, including:

• 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
• 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
• 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
• 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Newcomers to A.A. are commonly encourage to find a power greater than themselves even if that power is nothing more than a doorknob or an ashtray. Many A.A. members attain long-term sobriety using A.A. itself as a higher power (God is sometimes identified as an acronym, standing for "Group of Drunks"). Even casual acquaintance with A.A.'s program makes it clear that this higher power can be of whatever conception one so chooses. See also the quote of Bill W.'s referred to above.

"Would that the Church were like this," Shoemaker said in 1955, "ordinary men and women with great need who have found a great Answer, and do not hesitate to make it known wherever they can - a trained army of enthusiastic, humble, human workers whose efforts make life a different thing for other people!"

Is Mr Waters saying that a non-religious group of people cannot exhibit these same characteristics? I suspect that any number of political activists would be happy with such a description.

If a group that meets under spiritual precepts, performs rituals, and seeks to heal its members isn't religious, what else is it?

Rituals? To what rituals does Mr Waters refer? He hasn't mentioned any up to this point in the article and doesn't mention any after this either. And without rituals, all that's left is a group that uses spiritual precepts and seeks to heal its members. In at least one sense of the word spiritual, a vast number of groups satisfy this description.

Indeed, much of the argument comes down to whether or not there is a difference between spirituality and religion, and what that difference might be. From the American Heritage Dictionary:

spir·i·tu·al
ADJECTIVE:1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material. See synonyms at immaterial. 2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul. 3. Of, from, or relating to God; deific. 4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred. 5. Relating to or having the nature of spirits or a spirit; supernatural.

As will be clear to anyone who is familiar with A.A. and its program of recovery, A.A. itself would not accept any definition other than one with the broadest possible meaning. The meaning of A.A. being a spiritual program could be that it is religious to the member who is herself religious. That meaning could be only that it is intangible or immaterial to the member who is himself not religious. A.A. itself doesn't care. A.A. is areligious.

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¹Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act—a federal statute passed in 2000 to provide stronger protection for religious freedom in the land-use and prison contexts.

²The opinion footnotes this sentence with the following:

RLUIPA defines “Religious exercise” as follows:

(A) In general. The term “religious exercise” includes any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.

(B) Rule. The use, building, or conversion of real property for the purpose of religious exercise shall be considered to be religious exercise of the person or entity that uses or intends to use the property for that purpose.

³I know from personal experience that the Lord's Prayer is rarely used in Australia, and that because of this Australian members of A.A. pride themselves on being more consistent with A.A. principles than A.A. in the U.S. is.

⁴Full quote, from A Conversation with Bill W., A Synopsis of the Question-Answer Period following Bill W.'s talk at the NCCA Syposium in New York in 1960:

When these Steps were shown to my friends, their reactions were mixed indeed. Some argued that six steps had worked fine, so why twelve? From our agnostic contingent there were loud cries of too much “God.” Others objected to an expression which I had included which suggested getting on one’s knees while in prayer. I heavily resisted these objections for months. But I finally did my statement about a suitable prayerful posture and finally went along with that now tremendously important expression, “God as we understand Him” — this expression having been coined, I think, by one of our former atheist members. This was indeed a ten-strike. That one has since enabled thousands to join AA who would have otherwise gone away. It enabled people of fine religious training and those of none at all to associate freely and to work together. It made one’s religion the business of the AA member himself and not that of his society.

Still above ground and sober

For anyone who's wondering, I'm doing okay. I got elected to another Area office and expect to continue in General Service for another two years. Nimue is divorcing me after nearly three years of separation. Despite that, I feel as good as I have in a long time. Despite some heavy bouts of depression over the last nine months, I recently thought to myself, "Ah, so this is what it feels like not to be depressed! I had forgotten."

Despite the fact that I haven't posted for over nine months, every now and then, someone adds a comment to an old post. This, if nothing else, sporadically reminds me that I'd like to taking up at least semi-regular posting again. Absolutely no promises, we'll see.

Today's reflection

The entry for March 4th in Daily Reflections has long been among my favorites:

The essence of all growth is a willingness to make a change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. AS BILL SEES IT, p. 115

By the time I had reached Step Three I had been freed of my dependence on alcohol, but bitter experience has shown me that continuous sobriety requires continuous effort. Every now and then I pause to take a good look at my progress. More and more of my garden is weeded each time I look, but each time I also find new weeds sprouting where I thought I had made my final pass with the blade. As I head back to get the newly sprouted weed (it’s easier when they are young), I take a moment to admire how lush the growing vegetables and flowers are, and my labors are rewarded. My sobriety grows and bears fruit.

The Bill W. quote inspires me, and the garden metaphor is beautiful and accurate. It describes where I am, where I have mostly been for quite some time.

I am a product of God's grace and mercy. Of his grace, because I got something I didn't deserve; of his mercy, because I didn't get what I did deserve.