Read From the Front

An outside cause read out during announcements is endorsed by the chair it is read from. The email is reasonable: a campaign about drunk driving, a petition to keep a detox open, a rally about a drinking law. It is about alcohol, and two members are already involved. So the secretary reads it before the close, in the same voice as the coffee list and the anniversaries. Nobody said A.A. supports it. The slot said it. The Big Book's own Foreword records what the groups had settled on (p. xix): "And in no circumstances should we give endorsements, make alliances, or enter public controversies." In no circumstances, which includes the good ones. The long form names alcohol reform among the three fights A.A. stays out of (p. 565). Now think about the newcomer that night: maybe a man with a drunk-driving charge against him, or a job at the bar the campaign wants closed. On his first night, before anyone has shaken his hand, he has heard where this room stands and where he doesn't. Today these requests often come from the program that hosts the meeting. Test it tonight: listen to the announcements and ask, of each one, whether it is A.A.'s own business.