Quote:
Originally Posted by emgreen
...a pet peeve about the Dignitaries (& I'll apologize to you, lee, before I write this). Some folks think "Big Book Thumpers" (an offensive term some use) chase some people away from meetings...
|
I would agree, and I definitely do not thump the book! I have never attended a meeting such as you have described, but I am aware of them. The people who first helped me were quite clear about carrying no message or "experience, strength and hope" other than what is clearly shared in our book, but they were also great practitioners of this:
"If he thinks he can do the job in some other way [than the one in our book], or prefers some other spiritual approach [than the one in our book], encourage him to follow his own conscience...be friendly. Let it go at that." (page 95)
A.A. was never intended to be a cafeteria, and I have yet to ever see any real alcoholic with too many options before him or her "pick and choose" the one that will actually work.