I have a possible clarification and one question.
I agree with you Stevie. Without the tolerance and acceptance inherent in the phrase "as we understood him" AA might not have survived. In fact I believe the phrase is so important that it is worthy of an acronym
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It's my understanding that Hank Parkhurst was the other individual who fought for the inclusion of that phrase. (It's widely believed that Hank wrote "To Employers". Notice that the word 'God' does not appear in that chapter). Hank's story, "The Unbeliever" is in the first edition. Fritz Mayo was on the other side of the argument from Hank P. and Jim B, as I recall.
Despite Jim Burwell's attempt to take credit for coming up with the "God as we understood Him" idea, I don't believe he was the one who did. At least Bill W. never acknowledged that Burwell was the one who had done so. Even Bill's own story in the big book quotes Ebby as suggesting that Bill choose his own conception of God . But perhaps I'm putting too fine a point on it. I'm sort of a stickler when it comes to accuracy regarding AA history and Jim Burwell has been shown to be notoriously inaccurate in many of his accounts. I don't give him credit for the idea, though I do believe he fought hard for its inclusion in the book.
My question is to cairn. Where did you find that quote?