Old 03-19-2017, 08:55 AM
  # 11 (permalink)  
JeffreyAK
Member
 
JeffreyAK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,183
I know this topic used to come up a lot at Lifering meetings I attended, particularly online meetings. The reality is, mandated attendees by and large don't want to be there, and can cause problems for other folks who do want to be there. I've never seen anonymity be one of those problems, but subtle or not-so-subtle aggressiveness and rudeness can be. I suppose if you're still in denial and angry about getting caught and sentenced to attend meetings with a bunch of people who remind you of what you really are, it can turn you into an ass.

The only solution I saw in Lifering was, meetings where no attendance slips are signed. That's up to the group to decide, but there's no obligation for a meeting facilitator to sign attendance slips, and no signatures or stamps does drive out people who are required to attend (all of them, those who are causing problems and those who are not). In my opinion that's an extreme move, and mandated attendees would have to be causing major problems to justify that move. But in a couple online meetings, that was happening, and "no slips signed" solved the problems.

That was Lifering. AA is more evangelical, and "no slips signed" is probably less likely to be viewed favorably.
JeffreyAK is offline