WHAT AA IS NOT

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WHAT AA IS NOT

1. AA is not an is not an institution clearing program. It does not promise
that we will receive suspended sentences, probation's, or paroles. AA does
not promise conditional releases, stays of proceedings, or the early releases
from prisons or hospitals.

2. AA is not a "dating game" nor is it a lonely hearts club or a place to
find a temporary or permanent lover.

3. AA is not an employment agency or manpower training program. It does not
promise that we'll all find jobs, get rich, or even become financially
solvent.

4. AA is not a charitable organization like the welfare system or the
Salvation Army. It doesn't promise that we'll be loaned money or given
cigarettes. AA is not a bank or a credit union, and is not set up to provide
funds for anyone.

5. AA is not a church program or a religious organization (Although many
groups rent church spaces to hold their meetings.) AA does not force
religion down anyone's throat. It does encourage us to develop and nourish
individual spiritual ways here and now, but it doesn't demand that we believe
anything. Saving souls and making converts is not the purpose of AA.

6. AA does not promise that we'll never be hurt or feel pain. When AA talks
about serenity, it is not talking about the absence of calamity but peace of
heart, mind and spirit in the midst of calamity. AA is not saying that we'll
have no more problems; it's saying that we'll be given what we need to deal
with, and go through, those problems. The absence of troubles is not the
purpose of AA.
Reprinted by permission of: AA Grapevine 1991
Grapevine Inc. January edition