Hi Tim!
 TD>>  Yes, and my opinion marks the ones who have recovered and now are
 TD>>  really taking a long hard look at the _Wording_ that got them
 TD>>  into recovery. An inventory of the organization that may get
 TD>>  people sober.. but leaves them lacking in the way they do it.
I've looked at the same wording for the last 15 years and need to tell you 
that your opinion does not mark me.  If the Goddess grants me such Grace, on 
April 19th this year, I will complete 16 years of sobriety, not one of which 
would I have had without this program, just as it is.  I owe my life to AA.
 TD>>  I support AA but not GSO nor the General Service Committee that
 TD>>  wasted 7.2 million dollars of the 7th tradition without
 TD>>  consulting the members...
Tough subject, but on this we agree.  I can not in good conscience reconcile 
such expenditures with the concept of finances held to a "prudent reserve" :(
 TD>>  I support the local groups, I speak at meetings, I make Coffee
 TD>>  at my Monday night step meeting...
Yup!  Recovery takes place between people in meetings, NOT in fancy board 
rooms at GSO.!
 TD>>  But I find that the Literature must change else the Great Program
 TD>>  which got me sober will die...
Rats! We were starting a roll....
 TD>>  I never thought that once this would be anyone's reaction to this...
 TD>>  I am sober/clean by the Goddess' power over 7 years now but
 TD>>  it's time I seriously looked at the wording and the way
 TD>>  the Books are written.
They work for me as they are written.  And I think that, again, *for me*, 
initially the way they were written is precisely *why* they worked when 
nothing else got through to me.
 TD>>  In the NA twelve and twelve Character Defects are not mentioned until
 TD>>  the 6th step... and ego deflation hardly at all... It looks at the 4th
 TD>>  step as the most loving thing that you could do for yourself....
I have no experience with the NA program, but in my case, I would have used 
up and spit out a program which acted overly concerned itself with my "self 
esteem" with out first getting me to take an honest look at myself.
 TD>>  There are 22 NEGATIVE references to the ego in the AA 12&12's 4th step
 TD>>  alone.. I have not even begun to count the NEGATIVE ideas throughout
 TD>>  the whole book. With this in mind, I dare say that with this NEGATIVE
 TD>>  reference to us as human beings and one's negative attitude when one
 TD>>  "Hits bottom" and see's the way (and I dare say the only way because
 TD>>  AA won't publish any other) charts the course to recovery...
 TD>>  one could think that they are in CATHOLIC school with all the
 TD>>  attending sin and worthlessness and guilt associated with just
 TD>>  being human and then see this is JUST a spiritual program?
 TD>>  I don't think so....
That's odd, I don't read it that way at all. For me, the denial and self 
deception inherent in the disease required puching through, and I HAD to take 
responsibilty, with no more cover ups for who and what I was, before I could 
hope to recover.  But to me, the constant reassurances of the Big Book, the 
clearly spelled out hope that there was a solution, and the honest self 
respect (read "self esteem") I gained from facing my worst fears about myself 
and my world are the greatest gift ever given me.
 TD>>  Therefore just for the newcomer we need to REVISE the 1939 Texts
 TD>>  and the 1947 Texts to reflect the CURRENT membership...
I don't believe human nature changes a whole lot, so I do not believe that 
what worked best before is less good now.  This is only my own opinion, and 
it applies ONLY to AA,since I have no first hand experience with other 
programs.
ODAAT!
Jay
---
---------------