

Let us not, therefore, pressure anyone with our individual or even our collective views.
#24 hour a day book full#
In AA we are supposed to be bound together in the kinship of a common suffering.Ĭonsequently, the full individual liberty to practice any creed or principle or therapy whatever should be a first consideration for us all. We have people of nearly every race, culture and religion. They represent almost every belief and attitude imaginable. Newcomers are approaching AA at the rate of tens of thousands yearly. It could be especially destructive for us of AA to indulge in this sort of thing. This isn’t good dogma it’s very bad dogma. Whenever this brand of arrogance develops, we are certain to become aggressive we demand agreement with us we play God. Simply because we have convictions that work well for us, it becomes very easy to assume that we have all the truth. Moreover, all people should have the right to voice their convictions. All people must, of course, rally to the call of their convictions, and we of AA are no exception.

This is a natural and almost inevitable process.

“It is an historical fact that practically all groupings of men and women tend to become more dogmatic their beliefs and practices harden and sometimes freeze. seems to have dealt with this controversy…Do other fellowships such as C.A., N.A., etc., have the same guidelines? It all depends on the individual group’s conscience to decide what is appropriate.Ī.A. What would have been fine literature for AA founder’s to read in a meeting would spark outrage in some groups today.

The first AA group in Akron, Ohio (still going today) continues to display the Bible that AA’s founders read from in the earliest meetings. Since 1954 the Hazelden published “Twenty Four Hours a Day” (ISBN 9780894860126) has been very widely used in AA meetings and has never been considered for conference approval. Regional newsletters and literature also lack conference approval but are widely used in meetings. Bob’s personal copy of the Big Book because, as a First Edition, it would lack conference approval. does not try to tell any individual member what he or she may or may not read.īooks like the Original Manuscript and the First Edition of the Big Book are not Conference Approved Literature since there was no conference at the time they were published.Īn odd side effect of a group that limits itself to conference approved literature would be that if the rule were rigorously followed, the group would not allow someone to read from Dr. A great deal of literature helpful to alcoholics is published by others, and A.A. It does not imply Conference disapproval of other material about A.A. The term has no relation to material not published by G.S.O. “Conference-approved” - What It Means to You The General Service Conference has also dealt with the meaning of the term “Conference Approved” in a “Conference Approved” pamphlet (SM F-29) called: Conference-Approved Literature. member reads is no business of G.S.O., or of the Conference, naturally. disapproves of the Bible or any other publications from any source that A.A.’s find useful. as a whole does not oppose these, any more than A.A. central offices publish their own meeting lists. It (Conference Approved) does not mean the Conference disapproves of any other publications. In 1978 the AA General Service Office described what “Conference Approved” means in their Box 4-5-9 newsletter (Volume 23, No 4). Each AA group is the highest authority in AA and can use any literature it wants to. Some groups independently decide that they will only use Conference Approved Literature, but there is no requirement that a group limit itself to a list. The list of books with conference approval is not a list of what may or may not be used in meetings but a list of literature the conference feels accurately reflects AA’s basic message. AAWS organizes the General Service Conference. It serves as a way of saying that AAWS has put together a book and the General Service Conference has approved it. When talking about whether a book is “AA approved” the question is often this: “Is the book General Service Conference approved literature?” Conference approval is only considered for books published by AA World Service in NY (AAWS). Groups are under no obligation to adopt such a restriction. Is it OK to read from non-AA books in meetings?Īnswer: Yes, it is OK to read from “non-AA” literature in an AA meeting unless your group decides to use “conference approved” literature only. Some have objected to doing this because they say only AA approved books can be used in meetings. Question: My group sometimes reads from The Original Manuscript of The Big Book because many of us favor the more forceful language it uses.
