Back Next Suffolk Intergroup Association of A.A. Bulletin  September 2004
113-8 Bay Avenue Patchogue, NY 11772
(631) 654-1150    FAX (631) 654-1110              Mail:  P.O. Box 659 Patchogue, NY 11772      email: WWW.SUFFOLKNY-AA.ORG
BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER
Alcoholics Anonymous
Receive $1.00 off regular price by coming down to the SIA office in Patchogue!
QUOTE OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER: "THE BIG BOOK,
A WEAPON OF MASS INSTRUCTION"
                                                      
Tradition Nine: "A.A. as such, ought never to be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."  How did this apparent contradiction come to be? Don't all organizations need directors or governors to administer rules and punishments? Doesn't society by its very nature  need some form of authority to function?  These are the very questions that Bill W. asked as A.A. was in its growth spurt in the early years.  Yes, it was proven that A.A. is an exception.  Failure, said Bill W., was always the result of attempts to organize A.A. as a whole. What experiences taught those early A.A.s why this paradox of an unorganized organization worked;  and how did that in turn lead to the Ninth Tradition?  Well, no surprise, they recognized that alcoholics can't be dictated to - individually or collectively.
     Bill W. explained,  "Our unreasonable individualism (egocentricity if you like) was...the main reason we failed in life...and betook to alcohol. When we couldn't coerce others, we drank; when others tried to coerce us, we drank. Though now sober, we still have a strong hangover of those early traits which caused us to resist authority.  Though no sterling virtue, our aversion to obedience does pretty well guarantee us freedom from personal domination of any kind..  We conform because we want to" ( The Grapevine , 1947).
     Others may have protested "the