Authorized People

Tradition Two takes the last word in a group away from every person, and a facility-run meeting quietly hands it back to staff. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 563): "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." Group conscience means the members of the group deciding together, at their own business meeting. Bill W. explained how A.A. could live without bosses (A.A. Comes of Age): "Other societies have to have law and force and sanction and punishment, administered by authorized people. Happily for us, we found we need no human authority whatever." A sanction is a penalty. Now look at a meeting held inside a treatment program. Staff pick the time and the topic. Staff decide who may attend, and who gets written up for missing it. A client who walks out early can lose a privilege. That room has law, force, sanction and punishment, and authorized people to run all four. It may read the Steps aloud and call itself A.A., but no group conscience ever sat down to decide anything, because there is no group there, only a program. Test it tonight: ask who in your room could punish you for what you say or for walking out, and whether the members ever voted to give them that power.