How Does GSO Determine Membership?

Chief Roger wrote – “…but historically speaking (and that is what this forum is for) speculation about membership, success rates, and what the number and type of birthday tokens sold means has made for interesting conversation ­ but likely done little to carry the AA message.”

Of course, no one can definitively state with any accuracy AA success (or failure) rates, membership numbers or that somehow, the sale of coins or other tokens connotes anything other than the sale of “drunk junk.”

There was even a cadre of the AA History Lovers experts who compiled a response to a long­standing supposition relating to AA’s failure rates and that more people leave AA than actually stay. To respond to the negative and vitriolic rhetoric with an unprovable response gives the naysayers validity and bolsters their delusions of self­importance.

The reality is that most people, who attempt certain endeavors during their lifetime, pull away from those endeavors or drop out for various reasons, the least of which is the efficacy of the venue for those endeavors. Look at college registrations and signing up for courses. If one was to utilize the number of withdrawals or people who don’t graduate after their first efforts, education is a dismal failure. The same goes for diets, gym memberships and a plethora of other attempts at self­improvement. How many people prescribed medications actually take them as prescribed or even completing the full course of treatment? Does that prove the medical profession or any licensed practitioners of the healing arts don’t help and even as opined, hurt those they are attempting to heal?

Does any of this merely just make for “interesting conversation” or do “little to carry the AA message”? After all, what connotes carrying THE message and exactly, what IS the message?

Carl Sandburg wrote “When a nation goes down, or a society perishes, one condition may always be found; they forgot where they came from. They lost sight of what had brought them along.” (Remembrance Rock) Is it merely interesting conversation and how does that conversation carry the AA message? Where is The Oxford Group? The Washingtonian Temperance Society? The Sons of Temperance? The Emmanuel Movement? Each and all of them were carrying the message. Yet, where are they today? Despite carrying the message, they didn’t have those interesting conversations and they forgot where they came from. All they did was carry the message and they lost sight of what had brought them along. Today, all of these movements (all of which had great success by helping suffering alcoholics towards sobriety) are just footnotes in little read history books.

At most AA meetings the so­called Responsibility Pledge is read. It states that whenever anyone reaches out for help, it is the responsibility of each and every AA member to ensure the hand of AA will always be there. It does not say it is the responsibility of each member to

carry the message. It states that it is the responsibility of each member to make sure AA will always be there for the person seeking help. It implies that AA should always be there and not be relegated to the status of a footnote in some hardly read history book.

If these interesting conversations aren’t held and all people do is carry “the” message, yet forget where they came from, the downfall of those who came before AA, how long will it take before AA joins those who came before it as just a footnote? I am sure members of those other forgotten movements truly believed the hand of The Oxford Group, The Washingtonians, The Sons of Temperance, The Emmanuel Movement will always be there and for that, they were responsible. They are all largely forgotten because they forgot where they came from.

How are these interesting conversations helping carry the AA message? Ask any member of The Oxford Group, The Sons of Temperance and all the others.

Are AA members responsible just to carry the AA message or to also ensure that the hand of AA will always be there for anyone, anywhere who reaches out for help?