Tradition Ten: does A.A. take sides on outside issues?
In short:
- No. The Long Form of Tradition Ten says no A.A. group or member should ever express an opinion on outside controversial issues "in such a way as to implicate A.A." It names politics, alcohol reform and sectarian religion in particular (p. 565).
- "The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one" (p. 565). On such matters the groups express no views at all.
- The Tradition doesn't ask members to have no opinions. It asks them never to put A.A.'s name behind one.
What the Long Form says (p. 565)
The whole Tenth Tradition is three sentences:
- No A.A. group or member should ever, "in such a way as to implicate A.A.," express any opinion on outside controversial issues, "particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion" (p. 565).
- "The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one" (p. 565).
- "Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever" (p. 565).
Notice who it covers and how. The groups have no views on these issues at all. A member is covered too, but the limit is on speaking in a way that drags A.A. in. The text doesn't say a member can't vote, hold beliefs or take part in public life.
The idea is older than the Traditions. The Big Book's 1939 foreword already said A.A. was not allied with any faith, sect or denomination, "nor do we oppose anyone" (p. xiv).
Why: Bill W.'s essays
The Washingtonians. In 1947 Bill pointed to the Washingtonian movement, a society of alcoholics a hundred years earlier that fell apart partly because its members publicly took up abolition, prohibition and other causes (P-17, "Dangers in Linking A.A. to Other Projects", 1947, p. 23).
What a group can't do. "Neither A.A. as a whole nor any A.A. group ought to enter any activity other than straight A.A." (P-17, "Dangers in Linking A.A. to Other Projects", 1947, p. 24). Groups can't endorse, finance or ally with any other cause, "however good" (P-17, p. 24), and to do otherwise would put A.A.'s unity at risk (P-17, pp. 24–25).
What a member can do. Bill rejects the "do nothing" view. Members can work in noncontroversial alcohol fields such as hospitals, research and education, as individuals only, without describing themselves as A.A.s in public (P-17, p. 25). That way "A.A. as a whole could remain uncommitted yet friendly" toward good causes (P-17, "Dangers in Linking A.A. to Other Projects", 1947, p. 25).
Money from either side. In 1946 Bill wrote that money offered from "wet" or "dry" sources was obviously dangerous, because "we must stay out of that ill-starred controversy" (P-17, "Money", 1946, p. 34).
What went wrong when members did take sides (1955, dated). Looking back in 1955, Bill listed cases from A.A.'s files: a member who published a Prohibition magazine and used A.A.'s name to attack drinking (P-17, p. 52); a proposed job doing "education" for a liquor-trade group under a member's full A.A. name (P-17, p. 53); members lobbying state legislatures as A.A.s (P-17, p. 54); a candidate who advertised his A.A. membership (P-17, p. 55); and A.A.'s name pulled into a member's libel suit (P-17, p. 55). Each, he wrote, showed that one member breaking anonymity could tie A.A. to almost any cause or controversy (P-17, p. 53). His 1955 summary: A.A. abstains from public controversy and "will not quarrel among ourselves" about religion, politics and reform (P-17, "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous", 1955, p. 50).
What the text doesn't settle
The Long Form gives three examples of outside issues, politics, alcohol reform and sectarian religion, introduced with "particularly." It doesn't list everything else that counts, and it doesn't name treatment methods or any modern topic. Deciding whether a new question is an "outside controversial issue" is left to experience.
Read it yourself
- Appendix I, the Long Form of the Traditions (pp. 561–566), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
- P-17, A.A. Tradition: How It Developed ("Dangers in Linking A.A. to Other Projects," pp. 23–26; "Money," pp. 27–35; "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous," pp. 48–58): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-17_AATraditions.pdf
- Foreword to the First Edition (pp. xiii–xiv): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_forewordfirstedition.pdf
- Related: What does "no outside affiliation" mean in practice? · Tradition Six: can an A.A. group partner with a treatment centre?
Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| The Twelve Traditions, Long Form, Tradition Ten (Big Book Appendix I) | 565 | AA Grapevine, 1946; in the Big Book from 1955 |
| Alcoholics Anonymous, Foreword to the First Edition | xiv | 1939 |
| Bill W., "Dangers in Linking A.A. to Other Projects" (P-17) | 23–26 | AA Grapevine, 1947 |
| Bill W., "Money" (P-17) | 34 | AA Grapevine, 1946 |
| Bill W., "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous" (P-17) | 48–58 | 1955 |
Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). P-17 page numbers are the pamphlet's printed numbers (© 2019), which match aa.org's free PDF.
Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc., reprinted by A.A. World Services.
These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.