My opinion is that the mistake of many uninformed AA's is to think that the Big Book and Twelve and Twelve can be "interpreted". Why would Bill W. write a book with the goal of saving peoples lives from alcoholism that would need interpretation? It's not written in code. It's written in English. There are many people in the fellowship of AA who never take time to actually study the book closely. I was one of those people at 7 years a dry drunk in AA.
Once carefully studied one finds the literature is not meant to be interpreted. It's meant as a precise guide concerning how to apply the practical 12 step program of action in ones life to recover from alcoholism. Once someone really studies the AA book and Twelve and Twelve with a qualified and reputable sponsor (or some very famous Big Book teachers like Joe and Charlie or Bob D and Scott L) they find that in several parts of the first 164 that it states just how "precise" Bill and the first 100 alcoholics have attempted to make the text. Here are a couple of excerpts.
Big Book Page 28/29:
In the following chapter, there appears an explanation of alcoholism, as we understand it, then a chapter addressed to the agnostic. Many who once were in this class are now among our members. Surprisingly enough, we find such convictions no great obstacle to a spiritual experience.
Further on, clear-cut directions are given showing how we recovered. These are followed by forty-three personal experiences.
Forward to the first edition:
We of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have re-
covered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book.
Sometimes I get labeled a Big Book thumper with the added comment that I have some sort of strict "interpretation" of the literature and everyone can have their own interpretation. The thing is that I don't have a personal interpretation. In fact all my AA friends who are literature enthusiasts and who consider themselves students of the Big Book and Twelve all agree with what it says. I attend literature study groups and we all find together exactly what the literature states. There is very little room for interpretation. Interpretation to suit ones own personal agenda can actually kill real alcoholics because they may never be offered the true program as designed.
To show other alcoholics precisely how we have recovered is the main purpose of this book. This sentence just stood out to me in a new way ; it's the word ( show } the meaning is - allow or cause (something) to be visible. When we go through the book we can visibly see the words on the page to see how to build the arch - we need to see ( read ) the directions - Bill used the word direction in the 1st draft `
ReplyDelete