Tsar7 you and I have chated several times by private message.
I run the risk of tarnishing my personal reputation on SR by agreeing with you in public however I never worry too much about that stuff these days. I do however have somewhat of a different side to offer.
Most of the time the source of my anger and frustration is my hurt feelings. These feelings I tend to not express or deal with very well. I have had the pleasure of attending other fellowships and seen the rooms there filled with former NA members. I however get my needs met in NA.
NA does not need a marketeer to drag them back...they are doing fine where they are...What NA does need out of me is to offer an attractive representative of recovery. IF and I mean IF I am practicing the spritual priciples of tradition one...surrender, commmittment, love and acceptance (many more for those that experience it) I find that I can maintain my own personal serinity in the mist of this disfuction.
I too want NA to see things as I feel they should however this would deny NA the right to go through a process. You and many others allowed me to go through a process when I got here...sick as it was you still let me bounce off the walls till I got better.
NA/We...have made it through the civil rights movement, long before the politically correct words of "diversity" were used. We were practicing diversity in the mist of racial discrimination. We made it through prohibition days...(alcohol is a drug), We survived the traditions wars, and many other internal conflicts that attempted to tears us apart.
It is a very exciting time to be clean in NA. Due to many addicts practicing the first tradition NA has grown so fast in such a short period of time. We have recovery in countries that never had the message before. Some of the countries we may very well some day be at war with... NA will survive this too.
You and many others like you didnt give up on me when I was the guy that your sponsor told you to stay the hell away from. You gave me time to see that it ant about the drugs,,,,hell it NEVER WAS. I do not condone my past behavior in the early days of recovery however I can not deny someone else' process to finding out what this is all about.
The day will come soon...I promise...When one of those wild ass radical young bucks pulls you aside and says tearfully "thank you" for not giving up on me. I did and I understand now. I do not and will not give up on the other addict's "process".
My point is ...keep it up> Keep driving, keep sharing, keep offering the still learning addict in the rooms time to see the big picture. You town may struggle, however my side of the river is alive and well. If and when you visit it is MY job to make sure you see my behavioral, measureable unity building behavior in full swing. I want you to see NA in my town and walk out of the rooms with a positve taste in your mouth. Thats my job as a member. To treat every addict that still suffers with respect, dignity and love. Even it they got time...
I love your posts because they make me think and feel. They make me seach and dig deeper. Greg P explained to me that NA is a spritual program...in that context it is spritually protected.
You bring to the table a great side of the discussion. I offer a twist to it...is my behavior pulling addicts into recovery or is my behavior pushing them away, that is the point. My first guru NA sponsor with 11 months more time than me told me if I EVER went to an AA meeting to get another sponsor WHILE I was there....little did he know there is nothing more silent or deadly than the open mind of a recovering addict slaming closed. I left NA for 10 years and went to AA. I am glad to be back in NA and I will never deny anyone their personal process to figuring out where they belong or how they should behave.. Tsar7 please dont give up on NA...NA never gave up one me. Thank you...thank you thank you....