Category: Unity

An agnostic group, based on group conscience, rewrites Steps 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 11 of C.A. into their own version?

Step Two: Came to accept and to understand that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity. [Was: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.]

Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the C.A. program. [Was: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood Him.]

Step Five: Admitted to ourselves without reservation, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. [Was: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.]

Step Six: Were ready to accept help in letting go of all our defects of character. [Was: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.]

Step Seven: Humbly sought to have our shortcomings removed. [Was: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.]

Step Eleven: Sought through mindful inquiry and meditation to improve our spiritual awareness, seeking only for knowledge of our rightful path in life and the power to carry that out. [Was: 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.]

Clarifying Questions and Answers:

Can this group still be identified as part of C.A.? Explain Why or Why Not?

Does this group’s action affect other groups? If Yes: Should the group be expelled —no longer endorsed by C.A. at the Area Level and removed from the C.A. meeting list? 

How might the Traditions be used to resolve this schism—both within the group and at the Area Level?

Suggested Readings:

Cocaine Anonymous World Service Manual 2020 Edition p. 14

Cocaine Anonymous groups, meetings and service committees should only use, display, distribute or sell the following literature and materials: the WSC Approved Literature set forth in the Appendix, the books “ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS,” “TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS,” and “The A.A. Service Manual, combined with the 12 Concepts For World Service,” and Cocaine Anonymous World Service, Region, Area, District and group/ meeting approved flyers, meeting directories and other materials displaying the C.A. logo as described above

CA Newsgram, Second Quarter 2007, Vol. 24 No. 2 “Conference Approved Literature” (World Service Board of Trustees)

“Clearly, if the reading/writing that the group/meeting/committee wants to use is not on the Conference-approved list contained in the (WSC) Manual’s Appendix, and there has been no advisory opinion to date authorizing its reference and use, the subject materials should not be used. The language cited, therefore, is the clear conscience of our entire Fellowship regardless of whether we, as a board, or any member of the Fellowship or group argues or decides whether the word “should” is suggestive, as some members of the Fellowship argue, or directive, as others might argue. The intent and spirit of including that paragraph (WSC Approved Literature) was and is to set a base level of appropriate materials and readings for all groups of C.A. throughout our world.”

CA NewsGram, Fourth Quarter 2009, Vol. 26 No.3 “A.A.’s “How It Works” and Cocaine Anonymous (World Service Board of Trustees)

Update as of December 5, 2009: It is the position of the World Service Board of Trustees that the C.A. version of How it Works is not considered C.A. approved literature. In the spirit of unity, our common welfare, and our observance of the Twelve Traditions, we suggest that your group have a business meeting to determine the well-informed group conscience as to what readings shall be used in your meeting formats.

The Language of the Heart: Bill W’s Grapevine Writings. pp. 80-81

Bill Wilson on Tradition Four: “With these concepts in mind, let us look more closely at Tradition 4. The first sentence of Tradition 4 guarantees each A.A. group local autonomy. With respect to its own affairs, the group may make any decisions, adopt any attitudes that it likes. No over-all or intergroup authority should challenge this primary privilege. We feel this ought to be so, even though the group might sometimes act with complete indifference to our tradition. For example, an A.A. group could, if it wished, hire a paid preacher and support him out of the proceeds of a group night club. Though such an absurd procedure would be miles outside our tradition, the group’s “right to be wrong” would be held inviolate. We are sure that each group can be granted, and safely granted, these most extreme privileges. We know that our familiar process of trial and error would summarily eliminate both the preacher and the night club. Those severe growing pains which invariably follow any radical departure from A.A. tradition can be absolutely relied upon to bring an erring group back into line. An A.A. group need not be coerced by any human government over and above its own members. Their own experience, plus A.A. opinion in surrounding groups, plus God’s prompting in their group conscience would be sufficient. Much travail has already taught us this. Hence we may confidently say to each group, “You should be responsible to no other authority than your own conscience.”.

Clarifying Questions and Answers:

Is it OK for a group to use non-conference approved literature in meetings?

Does non-conference approved literature imply Conference disapproval? If yes? Would that imply that C.A. has an opinion on outside issues?

Does the group’s use of Non-Conference approved literature at their meetings affect C.A. as a whole? If Yes, How is our common welfare impacted by the use of these materials at C.A. meetings and events?

Is there a list of C.A. Approved Literature? A: Yes – click here.

A member continuously disrupts group meetings with loud abusive and bullying behaviour towards fellow members and newcomers. Membership in the group continues to decline. New people coming to the meeting for the first time often do not return.

Suggested Readings:

AA, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, P. 143-144

The elders led Ed aside. They said firmly, “You can’t talk like this around here. You’ll have to quit it or get out.” With great sarcasm Ed came back at them. “Now do tell! Is that so?” He reached over to a bookshelf and took up a sheaf of papers. On top of them lay the foreword to the book “Alco­holics Anonymous,” then under preparation. He read aloud, “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.” Relentlessly, Ed went on, “When you guys wrote that sentence, did you mean it, or didn’t you?” Dismayed, the elders looked at one another, for they knew he had them cold. So Ed stayed.

The Twelve Traditions Illustrated

Our brother the noisy drunk affords the simplest illustration of this Tradition (One). If he insists on disrupting the meeting, we “invite” him to leave, and we bring him back when he’s in better shape to hear the message. we are putting the “common welfare” first. But it is his welfare, too; if he’s ever going to get sober, the group must go on functioning, ready for him.

Clarifying Questions and Answers:

Can a member be thrown out of a group for disrupted, abusive behaviour?

How might the group deal with a member whose conduct is threatening the common welfare of the group?

Discussion Points:

Fundraising conflicts with the expressed and adopted definition of the phrase “fully self-supporting” from Tradition Seven, which states, “all expenses are to be liquidated by individual contributions”. Our founders wished to be very clear. Fundraising activity interferes with our faith that a God of our understanding will direct and provide for our fellowship if we follow traditions. Practicing tradition is our path to a higher power and true unity.

Fundraising activities divert time, resources, intention and focus of individuals and groups from our primary purpose as stated in Tradition Five. Extraordinary time and energy are put into making events “successful” rather than purposeful.

When fundraising generates monies, controversy results concerning “money, property or prestige”. The traditions are unequivocal about the danger to unity of these subjects. Prudent reserves may become inflated and committees dependent upon fundraising events are pressured to raise more funds for bigger and better events. This further leads us away from the spiritual focus of our fellowship and our primary purpose as stated in Tradition Five.

Fundraising activities in meetings changes the atmosphere in meetings so necessary to our primary purpose of carrying the message to the newcomer. Intimidating, enthusiastic or manipulative sales behaviours are not supportive of our relationship to the newcomer. Inaccurate impressions of our program and purpose are made to newcomers and non-addict visitors. Some members of our fellowship will only attend some meetings if they can promote fundraising events, a significant diversion from our primary purpose.

Fundraising diminishes individual member’s and group’s abilities to effect change or voice discontent with any committee by the practice of with holding funds from the “basket” or donations from the group. Committees are often substantially financed by fundraising allowing them to ignore any diminished funding from the “basket”. This principle created by our tradition’s founders is inherent in the 7th Tradition and is a right granted to individual members.

Fundraising promotes governance rather than service, which is a clear contradiction expressed in the Tradition Two. Committees may decide on activities supported by fundraising which may have no relation to the collective group conscience. Majority democratic votes are used by committees often to rationalize this behaviour. Democratic votes, while useful are not to be confused with, nor are they the equivalent of, the spiritual concept of the conscience of the fellowship. Governance of this sort can also justified by the notion that what we are doing is “good” or “necessary”—euphemisms for “the ends justify the means.” Governance is organizational self will and blocks the effect of “a loving God as he may express himself in or group conscience”, central to the 2nd Tradition.

Fundraising permits the receipt of outside contributions to the funding of our fellowship, precisely prohibited by our 7th Tradition. There is no way to establish membership at the time of sale of goods or services and some activities such as raffles, lotteries, auctions of donated merchandise and resale of outside event tickets skirt legalities and does associate our fellowship with outside enterprises.

Fundraising encourages our membership to miss the underlying spiritual experiences inherent in the phrase “fully self-supporting”. Simplicity, faith, generosity and responsibility are for many, necessary experiences required to have changed lives, becoming fully contributing members to our fellowship and to society as a whole.

Various fundraising activities encourage our membership to continue the self-centered behaviour of “giving only if there is something in it for me”. This does not contain the underlying spiritual principles of generosity, faith, selflessness and “giving freely of what we have found,” inherent in the principle of self- support of Tradition Seven.

Social events once designed to promote recovery, fellowship and a sense of belonging, all worthy contributions of fellowship to the goal of unity, have changed from activities designed to celebrate the freedom of recovery to events with the primary purpose of fundraising. This often excludes members from fellowship activities who see fundraising activity contrary to many of the traditions.

For obvious practical requirements and to ensure fullest participation in fellowship events, entire fellowship support is required. This support is simply measured by the willingness of individual member contributions to fund a particular service. No financial support for a particular event or service is one indication of the expression of our collective group conscience. Funding from the fellowship donations helps to avoid the creation of committee events that a particular local area may not be large enough to support or indeed even desire. Funding of events by fundraising thought to be ” good” are not a substitute for informed group conscience, the spiritual essence of Tradition Two and our collective path to a higher power.

Fundraising activities conducted in the group setting change our group to a “business” activity rather than a “spiritual entity”. Our founders of the traditions cautioned in the creation of Tradition Five that business and spirituality should not be mixed, that discussions of money should be kept to a minimum, that we embrace the notion of corporate poverty and that we be ever vigilante in matters of money. Beware. They are seldom as emphatic as when discussing the subject of money and the 12 step fellowship.

Discussion Questions

Is your Group’s Fundraising efforts taking your fellowship in a different direction?

Does your Area’s fundraising efforts circumvent the ‘power of the purse?’

If your group withholds contributions from your Area in an effort to exercise its “power of the purse,” should your Group’s GSR communicate that decision with the Area Delegate?