Tradition 6 · June 3

Actual or Implied

Daily Traditions · June 3

The threat today

Read the cooperation sentence of Tradition Six slowly, because the rumour about it leaves out its second half. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 564): "While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied." Take it word by word. May cooperate: a group is allowed to work alongside others, not ordered to. Affiliation means being attached as a part or a member, the way a branch belongs to a company. Endorsement means putting your name behind someone and telling the public they are good. Actual or implied means it counts whether anyone signed anything or not. If a stranger walking in would fairly think the group belongs to the place, or vouches for it, the line has been crossed. The rumour says the Traditions encourage partnership with treatment, and it quotes only the first eight words. The sentence ends with a fence. Today the implied kind is the common one: a meeting printed on a facility's weekly program, the facility's logo on the group's flyer, staff calling it their A.A. meeting. Nobody signed a contract. The newcomer still learns that A.A. is part of the place that bills him. Test it tonight: look at your group's meeting listing and flyer, and ask what a stranger would think your group belongs to.

Sit with

The Long Form allows cooperation and forbids affiliation and endorsement, even the implied kind. What would a stranger think my group belongs to?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 6 (Big Book, p. 564).

Tradition 6

"An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."

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 6 → Get the app →

← June 2On the Side Lines Tradition 6All of June June 4 →Which Prospects Deserve Them

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).