JR> Was it better in the old days?  Perhaps we should ask was it more
 JR> vibrant.  Enthusiasm means God within.  Loving joy has deteriorated
 JR> into book thumping dogma.  Did Bill quote chapter and verso to Bob?  I
 JR> think not, he says he used the language of the heart.  Should people
 JR> who are drunk be allowed at meetings?  Bob was literally under the
 JR> table at first contact.  Should cross addicted people be shunned (the
 JR> severest form of punishment for most humans)?   Well. Bob was addicted
 JR> to other things as was Bill.  In fact Bill wrote Twelve Steps and
 JR> Twelve Traditions early on in his sobriety while under the influence of
 JR> mood altering chemicals that he was taking to alleviate severe
 JR> depression. This book was written and the royalties went to Bill and
 JR> Lois to support them after Lois could no longer work outside the home.
 JR> Let's not develop a Saint William or Saint Robert attitude here. 
 JR> These were real people and. because that is true, we can do what they
 JR> did.  There is now hope for the alcoholic.
 
 JR> By golly I do get carried away don't I?  
 JR> I don't want to change AA. I want to return to AA from all the psycho
 JR> babble and treatment center folderol.
 JR> And yes, I am one of those 25+ book thumpers.  A "Gramma to tell about
 JR> the good ol'days" 
 
 JR> Closing before I take up a whole buffer........Joan, sober since
 JR> before the 70's changeover.       
 Joan, thank you for reminding us all that Bill W. and Dr. Bob were just
 plain mortal men...that made mistakes..
 Perhaps there is hope for all of us yet...
 Light, Love and Laughter
 Marie - Starwitch
... When the body sleeps, the soul is enfolded in One. 
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
--- GEcho 1.00
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