The Question:
Should the AA Big Book and/or the AA 12 & 12 be made Conference Approved Literature; the reading of these is encouraged on page 66 of our Basic Text.
Background information: Member’s sponsor, a 20 year S.L.A.A. member, thought the AA literature was Conference approved; it is confusing since it is not approved. Have been to meetings where the 12 & 12 was read; pulled topics from Big Book; from experience it would be great to add these to the list of approved literature; writers of Basic Text recommended this as a good resource to read. (According to the index of motions from the ABM through the years this has not been an agenda item.)
Don’t believe that AA literature should become Conference approved since it is not our literature; since members are encouraged to read these books and other Fellowships encourage their use by members, not sure if we should make it Conference approved literature; don’t think that it would have to go through normal channels of Conference approval.
I think the AA literature (Big Book and 12 & 12) should be a part of our approved literature; have been through these pieces of literature and they have enhanced my recovery; has had a tremendous impact on me and could be very helpful to other people; addiction is addiction; the mental obsessions and mental cravings are so well presented that they would be a good supplement to our literature. Was recommended to me and have noticed how these have enhanced the recovery of others.
I think these should be Conference approved literature; used them in AA for a year before coming into S.L.A.A.; was slipping for several years and did the work and had read our literature, but still slipping; studied these with a sponsee weekly which helped me recognize my addiction and caused me to think of my qualifier for S.L.A.A., got me sober and is the reason I am now 10 years sober. Big believer in Traditions and wouldn’t want to go against any of them; since we are based on AA, I think we should use them.
Could be a possible violation of Tradition 6 regarding endorsement; Big Book and 12 & 12 are great resources; might not have to be Conference approved since this could cause a violation. We would have to endorse everything AA says, although they are useful tools; many members of this committee have referred to the 12 & 12 as well as the AlAnon 12 & 12 as resources. 12 & 12 is commonly used in meetings for Tradition studies. These can enhance our sobriety and be useful for use with a sponsee.
Could possibly an endorsement of AA; wondering if there could be a category of Conference approved outside literature; could cause a lot of resources to come to the floor to become approved. Could we find a way to encourage people to use these 2 resources in their recovery process? Don’t believe they could become S.L.A.A. approved.
Because these are great instruction tools to aid in areas where instructions are a little vague or lacking; AA does a clear job in giving instructions as to how to follow the Steps and Traditions.
Our founding members were in AA so there is a foundation. Don’t believe it would be an endorsement since AA is our pattern.
Would have to go through CLC Literature approval process. Any member could place this on a BMIS as an Item for Discussion to get feedback from the Fellowship and if it were positive, it could go through the process and be placed on a subsequent BMIS as a motion for approval. Any member may, if they desire submit items as motions or IFDs for the BMIS.
