andyaddict

Yes sir?

You know, I did once get some flack from some wannabe new service policeman here in the OC. The fella tried to lecture ME of all people on the Traditions of Narcotics Anonymous. I guess he was the new PI website chair and went form there to clean up the internet of NA misfits like myself.

I went to the OCs Area Circus just to get a look at this new fella, he was kinda squirrelly but I guess he meant well, I let him be but kept the email for my amusement at later dates.

My being certified and all, anyone who really READ the NA literature would, and should rightly, be amused by the irony of such a self-proclaimed title. I have actually used it as a punny attack on the naivety of other areas around the US when I visit. When I get around the whole area and nobody catches it, I know then that the area needs a couple more book studies.

Topics like these are valuable for however heated and argumentative they may get, oftentimes they become invaluable since times like these may be the only exposure many members get to a practical debate on issues of political and spiritual valor.

Actually, per the spirit of our tradition in NA, I would consider this message board a meeting, for it is a place where two or more addicts gather for the sake of getting and staying clean. There are those who would argue the politics to the smallest detail, however when weighing the potential risks against the potential benefits, I for one have witnessed the benefits far outweighing the risks over the years that I've interacted here.

I personally think the bickering over such petty things as who's posting what and where (except for cyber terrorism), is far more unattractive as well as in opposition to our principles. A passing post about someone’s kid or a new drug therapy someone is or might want to try using will not bring NA down, nor will it really cloud the potential good this section of the board could do. The REAL message might be how we can PRACTICE the principles of unconditional love, tolerance, and the spirit of service rather than necking them and behaving the opposite.

One thing I found to be true as it keeps repeating itself, in my experience each meeting and group that tries to filter out the impurities in NA end up filtering out the very ingredients that NA such a powerful and effective tonic of relief for those who suffer. Instead of moving closer, through any exclusive process they end up slipping further away.

In loving service and fellowship
andyaddict
Los Angeles