Tradition 10 · October 11

The Other Side of the Same Fight

Daily Traditions · October 11

The threat

Both sides of the liquor fight wanted the same thing from A.A., its name on their side, and A.A. gave it to neither for the drunk's sake. Bill W. told how close it came (A.A. Comes of Age): a liquor trade association wanted to hire an A.A. member as an educator, to teach that alcoholics cannot drink at all, and to say in all its publicity that he was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Then the arithmetic: if the liquor trade got its educator, "the “drys” would instantly hire another A.A. member" to educate for their side. The drys were the people fighting to ban liquor. A.A. would have been on both sides of a fight it had no business in. Then the sentence this whole month stands on: "We simply could not take sides in this fight and do business with sick alcoholics too." Business, meaning the one job A.A. has: the man still drinking, who may work for the brewery or vote to close it. The member who was offered the job saw it himself: "Alcoholics Anonymous saved my life. It comes first." Today both sides of every alcohol-policy fight still claim the people in the rooms. Test it tonight: if someone at your meeting argues a drinking law, ask whether he is speaking as himself or for the room.

Sit with

The wets and the drys wanted the same thing from A.A., and A.A. gave it to neither, because the drunk might be on either side. Which side of a fight about drinking does my room look like it's on?

Grounded in: A.A. Comes of Age (Tradition Six: the "wet-dry" controversy).

Tradition 10

"Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

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 10 → Get the app →

← October 10A Silence That Large Tradition 10All of October October 12 →A War Machine That Would Never Fight

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).