Close Afterward

Tradition One puts the group first, and in the very next breath refuses to throw the member away. The Long Form's last sentence (Big Book, p. 563): "But individual welfare follows close afterward." Close afterward means right behind, not forgotten. The rumour leaves that sentence off. Then unity becomes a club: the member who asks who pays for the room, or why staff chair the meeting, is told he is hurting unity and should keep his head down. That is conformity, and the Long Form rules it out a few lines further down the same page, in Tradition Three: A.A. membership must never "depend upon money or conformity." Bill W. put the order in plain words (A.A. Comes of Age): "Probably no society sets a higher value on the personal welfare of the individual member than does A.A." And of all twelve Traditions: "The Traditions guarantee the equality of all members and the independence of all groups." Equal members, independent groups. A room where questions about who runs it are out of order is not protecting A.A. unity; it is protecting whoever runs the room. Test it tonight: ask out loud who decides how your meeting is run, and notice whether anyone tells you the question hurts unity.