Tradition 10 · October 25

In the Name of A.A. and Our Group

Daily Traditions · October 25

How it gets captured

A member who protests a law in A.A.'s name speaks for people who never agreed, and the drunk who disagrees hears that A.A. is not for him. The pamphlet P-43 draws Tradition Ten as a cartoon. A member stands up to thank A.A. for ten sober years, and then: "But before I leave" — he is "sending a telegraph in the name of A.A. and our group" to protest a bill before Congress. A telegraph here means a telegram, the fastest message of the day. His next line: "I know I speak for all of A.A." Out in the room, someone on the other side of that bill says what the whole Tradition is afraid of: "How could anyone get sober or stay sober in an outfit like that?" That is the drinker P-43 wants you to see. He came for a way out and found a political club. The long form says the groups "oppose no one" (Big Book, p. 565), and the cartoon's member opposed someone on everybody's behalf. Nothing about his ten years was false. His telegram was. Today it is the petition, the open letter or the rally sign sent from the recovery community, with A.A. meant to be read into it. Test it tonight: when anything is sent in your group's name, ask who in the room agreed to it.

Sit with

The cartoon's member meant his thanks and his protest; only one of them was his to send in A.A.'s name. What has been sent in my group's name?

Grounded in: P-43, The Twelve Traditions Illustrated (Tradition Ten); long form, Tradition 10 (Big Book, p. 565).

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 24On the List Tradition 10All of October October 26 →They Assumed

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).