Looking at this account of recent developments at Alcoholics Anonymous makes one realize that something can be alarming on one hand but at the same time banal and predictable. Because it's become clear in recent years that no institution is immune from being subverted and corrupted. Still, how far can it go?
From my experience of post-Trump academia, I knew these proclamations wouldn’t so much prevent inappropriate speech as put everyone on high alert, encouraging an atmosphere of self-censorship. Recovering alcoholics carry a lot of guilt about the harm their drinking has caused others; they are often irrationally fearful of causing any more. If they feel like they’re traversing a mine field of potential triggers that could set off listeners in the room, they may be reluctant to admit shameful details about the past, which they want and need to get off their chests. Recovering alcoholics’ lives depend on their ability to share honestly, and to feel like they will be accepted by AA no matter their histories or their personal views. Increasingly, certain opinions — although you could never be totally sure which ones — were no longer worthy of respect in a democratic society. Meetings were not unlike my university classes, where the silence during discussions would extend for what felt like an eternity, as so many students stayed quiet rather than risk transgressing.
AA has a serious purpose. Members trust each other as well as the higher power of their choice to get them through the challenges and temptations that come with recovering from an addiction. They need to be able to speak honestly and without fear of judgment or disapproval.
Except now all this is being held as a secondary priority at best. Fashionable dogmas have been elevated to higher importance. What was once a support group is now dedicated to social justice, a tenet which tends to erase the individual as a matter of course.
This is really an old process with a very old name: conquest. Conquerors have always pressed every advantage and have never been upset about the prospect of hurting people. Such is war. But war is now being conducted on the home front, in what were supposed to be sanctuaries. And the lack of self-awareness rankles.
2 comments:
Like Jer said first thing this morning after reading your post, 'Some things you read just hurt your heart'. I felt that way too. I can't say I'm very familiar with AA but the twelve step program is the standard for helping people to achieve sobriety. It's also provided a template for people who suffer from other addictions. This is awful, all the more so because it is predictable that this would happen.
Huge numbers of newcomers to AA and the other similar organizations will leave the process and relapse. Addiction is highly resistant to attempts to destroy it, and for that reason it is essential that the fellowship - that the friendship and trust that emerges from regular meetings - does not itself repel newcomers in any way.
AA encourages virtue to allow them to redeem themselves, and it's hard to imagine a more noble purpose. Unfortunately, that nobility is exactly what makes it a target in the culture war, which is entirely the result of revolutionaries promoting vices like inertia, impulsivity, ego-identification, and delusion.
Let's hope the would be conquerors get ignored or chased away by the more experienced members. After all, joining AA is a lifetime commitment and these young reformers haven't exhibited the required staying power.
I'm not personally familiar with AA either. There are a few things I understand about them. One is that they're supposed to be a refuge for the most desperate addict and alcoholics. And it should be self-evident that this requires members to trust each other. Which further requires those with power to act in a trustworthy way and put their charges first. But some people have decided that their agenda is more important.
Virtue is a good thing, and one does need honor and ethics in order to deal with the world's challenges and temptations. But virtue that seeks the spotlight is not to be trusted. Those who want to be known as good are very often unconcerned with how mere mortals get by. They may expect you to live and die for abstractions of their choosing.
I can hope that the more serious and committed members fend off these invaders. Whether that's how things will actually develop I don't know. There are probably institutions that are now ruined and will have to be abandoned in favor of something new.
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