DCM DISCUSSION 

TRADITION 12 - Discussion 

In Alcoholics Anonymous, anonymity at the public level is discussed in the Twelfth Tradition:

The 12th Tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous states: "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities." It requires members to practice genuine humility, keeping the focus on the recovery message rather than individual fame

When it comes to obituaries, AA generally does not prohibit mentioning that someone was a member of AA. However, an anonymity break can occur if the obituary publicly identifies the person as an AA member in a way that links their full name with AA membership.

Examples That May Be Considered Anonymity Breaks

·      "John Smith, a proud member of Alcoholics Anonymous for 25 years..."

·      "John Smith celebrated 25 years of sobriety through AA."

·      "John Smith was active in Alcoholics Anonymous and sponsored dozens of men."

These statements publicly connect a full name with AA membership.

Examples That Respect Anonymity

• "John was active in a twelve-step recovery program."

• "John found a community of recovery and service that was important to him."

• "The family suggests memorial donations be made to a local recovery organization."

• "John devoted many years to helping others achieve sobriety."

These acknowledge recovery and service without specifically identifying AA.

If AA Is Important to the Family

Many families choose wording such as:

• "John was grateful for the fellowship that supported his long-term recovery."

• "John's recovery journey inspired him to help countless others."

• "Those who knew John through the recovery community are invited to attend the service."

What AA Literature Says

AA has no authority over what families place in obituaries after a member's death. Many AA members and families have differing views. Some feel anonymity ends at death; others believe preserving anonymity honors the member and the Tradition. Ultimately, the decision belongs to the family or whoever is responsible for the obituary.

For an AA group, district, or service discussion, it is often helpful to frame the question as:

"Does publishing a member's full name together with AA membership in a public obituary align with the spirit of our Tradition of public anonymity?"

That focuses the discussion on the Tradition rather than on rules or enforcement.

Anonymity at the Public Level

“Great modesty and humility are needed by every A.A. member for his own permanent recovery. If these virtues are such vital needs to the individual, so must they be to A.A. as a whole. This principle of anonymity before the general public can, if we take it seriously enough, guarantee the Alcoholics Anonymous movement these sterling attributes forever. Our public relations policy should mainly rest upon the principle of attraction and seldom, if ever, upon promotion.” (ibid)

“The old files at A.A. headquarters reveal many scores of...expe- riences with broken anonymity. Most of them point up the same lessons.

“They tell us that we alcoholics are the biggest rationalizers in the world; that fortified with the excuse we are doing great things for A.A. we can, through broken anonymity, resume our old and disas- trous pursuit of personal power and prestige, public honors, and money — the same implacable urges that when frustrated once caused us to drink; the same forces that are today ripping the globe apart at its seams. Moreover, they make clear that enough spectacular anonymity breakers could someday carry our whole society down into the ruinous dead end with them.”

(Best of the Grapevine, Vol. 1, p. 278)

Media Attitudes Toward Anonymity

“...almost every newspaper reporter who covers us complains, at first, of the difficulty of writing his story without names. But he quickly forgets his difficulty when he realizes that here is a group of people who care nothing for personal gain.”

(The Language of the Heart, pp. 17-18)

“For many years, news channels all over the world have showered A.A. with enthusiastic publicity, a never-ending stream of it, far out of proportion to the news value involved. Editors tell us why this is. They give us extra space and time because their confidence in A.A. is complete. The very foundation of that high confidence is, they say, our continual insistence of personal anonymity at the press level.” (Best of the Grapevine Vol. 1, p. 280)

Part III — Anonymity Breaks

“Of course, no A.A. need be anonymous to family, friends, or neighbors.... But before the general public — press, radio, films, television, and the like — the revelation of full names and pictures is the point of peril. This is the main escape hatch for the fearful destructive forces that still lie latent in us all. Here the lid can and must stay down.” (Best of the Grapevine, Vol. 1, pp. 279-80)

“...we are certain that if such [worldly] forces ever rule our Fellowship, we will perish too, just as other societies have per- ished throughout human history. Let us not suppose for a moment that we recovered alcoholics are so much better or stronger than other folks; or that because in twenty years nothing has ever hap- pened to A.A., nothing ever can.” (ibid, pp. 278-79)

“Our really great hope lies in the fact that our total experience, as alcoholics and as A.A. members, has at least taught us the immense power of these forces of self-destruction. These hard won lessons have made us entirely willing to undertake every personal sacrifice necessary for the preservation of our trea- sured Fellowship. (ibid, p. 279)

Bill’s Experience

“...I was once a breaker of anonymity myself...I learned that the temporary or seeming good can often be the deadly enemy of the permanent best. When it comes to survival for A.A., nothing short of our very best will be good enough.” (ibid, p. 280)

Rationalization of Anonymity Breaks

“...they [anonymity breakers] express the belief that our anonymity Tradition is wrong — at least for them....They forget that, during their drinking days, prestige and achievement of worldly ambition were their principle aims. They do not realize that, by breaking anonymity, they are unconsciously pursuing those old and perilous illusions once more. They forget that the keeping of one’s anonymity often means a sacrifice of one’s desire for power, prestige, and money. They do not see that if these strivings became general in A.A., the course of our whole history would be changed; that we would be sowing the seeds of our own destruction as a society.”

(From a letter by Bill W., 1958, As Bill Sees It, p. 198)

Consequences of Anonymity Breaks

“Any who would drop their anonymity must reflect that they may set a precedent which could eventually destroy a valuable principle. We must never let any immediate advantage shake us in our determination to keep intact such a really vital tradition.”

(“A.A. Tradition — How It Developed,” p. 41)

For shared experience as it relates to the subject of anonymity on the Internet, please see “Understanding Anonymity” (Item P-47),