Tradition 9 · September 23

Now Dr. Bob Said

Daily Traditions · September 23

The threat today

A.A. has no officers who can give orders, so authority gets manufactured another way — by borrowing it from the dead. Joe P., who actually knew Dr. Bob, watched it happen while the man was barely cold (Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers): "others are always repeating things Dr. Bob said that I know he didn't." People invoke his name, Joe went on, in order to lend a little importance to what they are saying. That's the mechanism, described by a witness. It isn't lying, mostly. It's a person who wants to win a point and knows their own name won't carry it, reaching for one that will. And it works, because who's going to argue with Dr. Bob? Tradition 9 removes titles from the living. Quoting the founders is how a title gets smuggled back in. The defence is dull and it works: ask where it's written. Everything the founders actually said is on paper, and the paper is available to you, and it has never needed anyone to speak for it.

Sit with

A.A. took titles away from the living, so people borrow authority from the dead instead. When I quote somebody to settle an argument, whose authority am I actually reaching for?

Grounded in: Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers (Joe P.).

Tradition 9

"A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."

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 9 → Get the app →

← September 22Business Meetings Tradition 9All of September September 24 →Bleeding Deacons

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).