A Sad Day for my Home Group… > Western Michigan Alcoholics Anonymous Area 34 – Discussion > Western Michigan Area Assembly

It was a sad day for my home group. It was our monthly group conscience meeting as most groups have that have been in exsistence for any length of time. I was not there thank God. I would have blown a gasket had I been.

They actually had a vote to ban someone from the group who’d been accused of trying to entice others to drink. Of course the vote did not pass and the person was not banned.

It was just idea that a certain few seemed to have the time to show up at a group conscience meeting and readily voice their opinion but don’t seem to have time to pick up a 12&12 and read the traditions.

I guess why I felt so sad about it is that the motion shouldn’t have even been made, let alone seconded.

Yet clearly the traditions were at work in the majority as the vote did not pass.

I’m grateful for that. I think of all the mistakes I made along the path and the fact that they couldn’t ban me has saved my life. I learned (and still am) from those mistakes. Some of them cost me my sobriety. And learn I did.

What I learned was…

There is nothing more important than my sobriety today.

{{luv&hugs}}

David P. (a.k.a. peacefulwaze)

We just had something like this happen in our District and lo and behold – the person WAS and HAS been kicked out. In this case there are 2 warring factions and both are absolutely convinced that their way is the correct way. They have asked for our District to mediate and we’ve had to telll them that the power is within the group. Some have suggested that the group will either live by the 12 tradtions – or crumble by the 12 traditions. Unfortunately, others (the most important newcomer) suffer because of our inabilities to work out group problems.

Some other discussion presented by old-timers at our District meeting was such that – in times past, we were’nt so afraid to get 2 or 3 or more and take a misbehaving individual aside and just sternly tell him that he is NOT welcome in his current condition, but most welcome when he or she makes a decision to become civil and orderly. My opinion is though we don’t like to step-up (get involved personally) we must when our members get out of line – and remember that this is not a popularity contest.

I’d like to hear some other input on this

“Tradition Three defines the personal liberty of the AA member. It says, in effect, that any alcoholic can be an AA member the moment he says so. Neither can any of us deprive him of that membership, no matter what his behavior. Perhaps no other society has ever staked out such a broad expanse of liberty for the individual as this. Every AA newcomer feels at once that he is wanted and trusted and loved. How well we understand his needs; certainly we have had them ourselves. Seldom has any alcoholic taken unfair advantage of that unlimited charter for freedom. We took this decision for individual freedom years ago. We are glad that we did; there has never been any cause for regret.”