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].

July 22 in A.A. History

In 1873, William Duncan Silkworth [left, 1908] was born in Brooklyn, NY to Isabelle Duncan and William Silkworth, Sr. 

In 1917, Junius C., Jr. [right, as a midshipman] of Pike, Mississippi, was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy and later became one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 1980, Margaret “Marty” M. [left, at New Orleans in 1980], 75, died at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut, following a stroke. 

    She had been briefly married in her 20s but identified as a lesbian for the rest of her life. Marty had a distiguished career as a magazine editor, art critic, and photojournalist, contributing to such prominent publications as Vogue, Harper’s, and The Tatler [right: covers from Nov 1930]. However, alcoholism ultimately left her unemployable.
    Marty began attending Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) meetings at the home of Bill and Lois W. on 11 April 1939, the day after the pubthe publication of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, making her one of the earliest women involved in the Fellowship. 

    She developed a close friendship with Bill W. and was romantically involved with fellow alcoholic Priscilla P. [left: together at Fire Island, 1948] for 40 years. Priscilla served as an Art Editor at Vogue for 25 years. Together, they owned a home in Greenwich Village, a vacation property at Cherry Grove on Fire Island, and later in life, a residence in Connecticut.

    Marty wrote at least three books: Primer on Alcoholism, Marty M––’s New Primer on Alcoholism, and Marty M–– Answers Your Questions about Drinking and Alcoholism [right: covers], as well as many articles for multiple publications. She played a pivotal role in founding High Watch Farm, the world’s first recovery center based on A.A. principles, and founded the National Council for Education on Alcoholism (NCEA^*). Although she was a frequent and well-known breaker of her anonymity, Marty used her maiden name and the title “Mrs.” to protect her privacy.
    Her personal story, “Women Suffer Too,” appeared in the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th editions of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous. Her final public appearance had been two weeks earlier at A.A.’s 7th International Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she had been a featured speaker.

---

^*The NCEA evolved into the National Council on Alcoholism (NCA) in 1950, and subsequently became the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) in 1990, which continues to operate today.

July in A.A. History (day unknown)

In 1955, Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc. published the second edition [right: 4^th printing, 1960] of Alcoholics Anonymous, which included a new Foreword and thirty-three new stories.

In 1959, the name of Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc. was changed to Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. A.A.W.S. assumed responsibility for non-Grapevine publishing operations and for managing the General Service Office (G.S.O.), which had for many years been known as “headquarters.”

In 1962, the cartoon strip “Victor E.” [left], created by editor Jack M., first appeared in the A.A. Grapevine. It ran until the late 1970s, when Jack’s declining eyesight forced him to stop. Since then, all appearances of Victor E. have been reprints.

In 2021, a revised Preamble was published in the July 2021 issue of the A.A. Grapevine [right: cover]. In “A Letter From the Editor,” it was explained that,

    After two years of discussion by the Fellowship, and after much thoughtful deliberation at the 2021 General Service Conference, the AA Preamble has been updated. The new version can be seen on the inside cover of this issue.

    The 71^st General Service Conference (GSC) had previously adopted an Advisory Action that changed the phrase “men and women” to “people.” This decision sparked significant controversy; however, subsequent GSCs have chosen not to revert to the original wording or consider alternative proposals. 

July 20 in A.A. History

In 1898:	Q. What did the future Dr. Bob S. [faar right] do between his graduation from St. Johnsbury Academy on 24 Jun 1898, and his enrollment at Dartmouth College on 15 Sep 1898?
	A. He worked in the shipping department of E. and T. Fairbanks & Co. at the scale works in St. Johnsbury, Vermont [above near right: clippings from the St Johnsbury Republican (top), The St Johnsbury Caledonian (bottom) on 20 Jul 1898] .

In 1935, in a circular letter, Lois W. [left: PCI graduation, 1912] wrote to three of her oldest friends from Packer Collegiate Institute [right, 1910]: Elise Valentine Shaw1, Edith Roberts2, and Helen Cruden3, to share that…

     …Bill has stopped drinking thru the Oxford Group… Last December Ebby Thatcher [sic] appeared sober for the first time in years and with a very strange story to tell about a religion called the Oxford Group which had cured him just as he was about to be committed to an insane asylum.

---

¹Helen Elise Valentine (1890–1976) married Frank Stinson Shaw in 1916. They had three daughters and lived first in Brooklyn, then in Fairfield, Connecticut. Frank was a stockbroker who had worked closely with Lois’s husband Bill in the 1920s while Bill and Lois were investigating companies looking for under-valued stocks.

2Dr. Edith Adelaide Roberts [right] (1881–1977) became an American botanist who studied plant physiology and was a pioneer in plant ecology. She created the first ecological laboratory in the United States, promoted natural landscaping along with Elsa Rehmann, and proved that plants were the main source of vitamin A [from her Wikipedia page].
³Helen Cruden (1892–1992) appears to have married Frederick William Gerhard in 1920. If so, they had three children and lived mostly in or near Washington D.C.

In 1970, in a small room in Deira, Tom L. [left] started the first A.A. meeting in the United Arab Emirates. At 26, he had attended his first A.A. meeting in India, a moment that eventually would forever change his life through the 12 Steps and a new relationship with his higher power. By the late 1960s, alcoholism had stripped him of his job, family, and friends, leaving him homeless on the streets of Mumbai. In 1968, he moved to Abu Dhabi to work as a laborer.

July 19 in A.A. History

In 1939, The Medical Record: A Weekly Journal of Medicine and Surgery published [right: a cover from 1921] “Psychological Rehabilitation of Alcoholics” by Dr. William D. Silkworth [left]. In this paper, nine of the twenty-eight paragraphs from the second part of “The Doctor’s Opinion” in Alcoholics Anonymous were included. Silkworth also added additional passages that described, in his own words, aspects of the stories of Bill W., Hank P., and Fitz M.

July 18 in A.A. History

In 1918, Bill W. sailed on the H.M.T.^* Lancashire [right] from Boston, Massachusetts, to New York City Harbor. From there, the Lancashire would take him and his unit to England. After a two-week quarantine in Winchester due to a minor epidemic, they would be sent to France, where they would serve behind the lines for the remainder of the Great War (World War I), which would end in less than four months.

---

^*Hired Military Transport, i.e. non-commissioned

In 1938, Dr. Esther L. Richards [left] of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, responded very positively to the two-chapter prospectus for what would eventually become the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, which Bill W. had sent her.

    In her reply [right], she advised, “I think you should get an A No. 1 physician who has a wide knowledge of the alcoholic’s medical and social problem to write an introduction…” Within a few days, Dr. William D. Silkworth would write the “To Whom It May Concern” letter that would become the first letter of “The Doctor’s Opinion” in the book.

    Dr. Richards’ letter clearly indicates that Bill was already using the term “Alcoholics Anonymous” as both the working title of the book and the name of the Fellowship.

In 1940, the Richmond (Virginia) Times Dispatch published Pat Jones’ article titled “‘Alcoholics Anonymous’ Organizes in Richmond for Attack on Common Enemy” and subtitled, “‘It Changed Me From a Monkey Into a Man’ Says One Member.’” The article [left] begins:

    A national organization with no paid officers, no dues, no membership rolls, has gained a nucleus in Richmond and, in September, will start earnestly upon its self-appointed task of curing alcoholics who actually want to be cured.

In 1965, Frank B. Amos, [near right], 83, died in Anderson, Indiana. His obituary [far right] in The New York Times referred to him as “one of the five original co-founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.”

    However, he was actually one of the five original Class A (non-alcoholic) Trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation, a trusted associate of the Rockefellers, and a close friend of A.A. He was buried in Northwood Cemetery in Cambridge, Ohio.

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.