Tradition 2 · February 16

Danger-Fraught Issues

Daily Traditions · February 16

The threat

When Bill W. sat down in 1946 to put the Traditions into words, he named authority as one of the dangers they had to answer. He wrote, just before the first draft of the Twelve Points (A.A. pamphlet P-17, p. 6): "Terribly relevant is the problem of our basic structure and our attitude toward those ever-pressing questions of leadership, money, and authority." Then the stakes: "Our final destiny will almost surely hang upon what we presently decide to do with these danger-fraught issues!" Danger-fraught means loaded with danger. A fellowship of drunks with no owner had to settle who decides, or someone else would settle it for them. Tradition Two is the answer he printed on the next page, and the Long Form keeps it (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." Not a founder, a board or a boss: the members of the group, deciding together. The question has not gone away. It comes up every time a room gets a new host, a new chairperson or a new rule, and somebody answers it, whether the members are there or not. Test it tonight: ask who decided the last change in how your meeting runs, and whether the members were in the room when it was decided.

Sit with

In 1946 Bill named authority as one of the dangers A.A.'s future hung on, and Tradition Two handed it to the group conscience. Who answered that question in my room the last time it came up?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 2 (Big Book, p. 563); P-17, p. 6 (Bill W., 1946, introducing the Twelve Points).

Tradition 2

"For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 2 → Get the app →

← February 15Authorized People Tradition 2All of February February 17 →Not a Word Changed

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).