Tradition 10 · October 31

We Were That Excited

Daily Traditions · October 31

The threat

The month ends with A.A. nearly breaking this Tradition over its own name, and Bill admitting why. A film studio wrote a script about A.A.; Bill W. judged it (A.A. Comes of Age): "The proposed portrayal of A.A. seemed pretty lopsided and in rather bad taste." A portrayal is how a film shows something. "We concluded that we ought to ask for an injunction against the company for misuse of the A.A. name." An injunction is a court order to stop, so this meant going to court. It worked. Then Bill wrote the line that belongs at the end of this month: "Otherwise, we might have sued, forgetting all about A.A.'s principle of non-controversy in public." Then: "We were that excited." The people who wrote Tradition 10 nearly broke it defending A.A. itself, because defending something you love feels like it can't be wrong. A lawsuit would have put A.A. in the headlines as a fighter, and the drinker reading them would have learned the rooms had enemies. Saying what A.A. is costs nothing; going to war for it costs the drunk. Today the excitement comes the same way: someone misuses A.A.'s name, and the room wants a fight. Test it tonight: the next time you feel sure A.A. needs defending in public, ask what the drunk still out there would read about it.

Sit with

The people who wrote Tradition 10 nearly broke it over A.A.'s own name, because they were that excited. What am I excited enough about to forget it?

Grounded in: A.A. Comes of Age (Tradition Ten: the motion-picture incident).

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 →

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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).