Tradition 10 · October 11

The Other Side of the Same Fight

Daily Traditions · October 11

The threat

The crusader wanted the world bone-dry. This proposal came from the opposite direction entirely and wanted precisely the same thing from A.A. Bill W. set the two side by side on purpose (A.A. pamphlet P-17): "That was followed by a proposal from a liquor-trade association that an A.A. member take on a job of “education.” People were to be told that too much alcohol was bad for anyone and that certain people — the alcoholics — shouldn't drink at all. What could be the matter with this?" Nothing, on the face of it. Every word of that message is true, and A.A. believes all of it. The trap was in the byline. "The catch was that our A.A. friend had to break his anonymity; every piece of publicity and literature was to carry his full name as a member of Alcoholics Anonymous." Telling the same story elsewhere, Bill spelled out the arithmetic: if the liquor trade hired one A.A. member as an educator, the drys would hire another within the week, and A.A. would be standing on both sides of a fight it had no business in. The member worked it out himself (A.A. Comes of Age). "Alcoholics Anonymous saved my life. It comes first."

Sit with

A dry crusader and a liquor-trade association wanted the identical thing from A.A. — its name on their side of a fight. What are two people who disagree with each other currently asking me for, that is actually the same request?

Grounded in: P-17, p. 53; A.A. Comes of Age (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).