"Mel" <mel@atj.fag.com> wrote in message
news:fssvv0l79qaa7slhuauhunrvkrqfsbsk8n@4ax.com...
On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 10:26:00 -0500, Greg P. <allen@studio.com> wrote in
message <do6vv01gutssistctl4hkm4crpcmbmtsq6@4ax.com>:
On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 17:52:01 -0500, "sportsfan"
"Greg P." <allen@studio.com> wrote in message
I went to my
first meeting in NJ in Trenton. I was the only guy there who had been
clean longer than 90 days.
Usually it takes folks with a bit more time in the program to keep the
meeting organized, but if those with 90 days or less are doing it, more
power to them.
The problem wasn't that there were a bunch of new people, the problem
was that they had all been coming to meetings for years and no-one was
staying clean. Whatever they were doing wasn't working.
that's because NA has no effect on whether or not people stop using drugs.
What I noticed was that these guys tried to control everything from
how long people stood outside and smoked to what they said in the
meeting. I'm not talking about something like the clarity statement
... I'm talking about "Tonight's topic is the 10th Tradition, please
share on the topic and the topic only and limit your sharing to 5
minutes or less"
This practice is common in many groups around the United States that I've
had the pleasure of attending. It's usually explained that the practice
of
limiting sharing time allows more the opportunity to share. Most times,
I'd
rather listen to many 5 minute shares than a few long ones. It's been my
experiance that most who share much longer than 5 minutes either end up
repeating themselves several times or wander off the topic in many
directions.
I don't have a problem with limiting the time to 5 minutes, but
forcing a room full of brand new people to limit their sharing to the
topic of the 10th tradition instead of lettting them share about
something related to staying clean seemed absurd to me. How much is a
new guy going to have to say about tradition 10. I've been clean a
long time and don't have anything to say about tradition 10, certainly
not enough to fill up a 90 minute recovery meeting. More importantly,
than this is the part you cut out. Who decided that there was only one
way to work the steps in NA and it had to be out of that green and
gold workbook and who decided that only people with that experience
should be sharing? What's next, are we all going to start talking like
robots or worse yet like some Chinese communists from the 60s and 70s
and making self criticisms and public confessions of our ideological
mistakes?
NA is a cult and it inspires cultlike practices.
They also had this wierd thing where they asked for everyone
who had been clean for 1 year or more to raise their hands to show the
newcomer that the program works ... as if staying clean for 30-60-90
days or more isn't enough proof that the program works.
This happens in many areas. Often times the additional comment is made
that
"these are some of the contacts or sponsors in the program."
Why would someone be a contact or sponsor in the program simply
because they had been clean an arbitrary amount of time? Why are the
people who have been clean an arbitrary amount of time being singled
out as somehow being better or more recovered than anyone else?
that is the hierarchy of the NA cult. your opinions only count if you have
a
lot of clean time. otherwise you are considered less than pond scum,
ironically by some of the lowest trash that exists in our society.
As for staying clean for 30-60-90 days.... I know for me I didn't work
any
program for the first couple of months other than hang with the winners
and
ask for help. I don't think that's what they're talking about when they
talk
about the program working. I think they're talking about working the
steps
and service work etc, all the suggestions the program has.....
There is no guarantee that someone with 1 year or more clean has their
***** together any more than someone with 6 months or 9 months. The
whole thing is absurd and infers that there is some magic line a
person crosses in recovery that makes them succesful and a "winner"
when anyone who has been around a while knows that is not the case.
the NA Nazis decide what is what.
You're fortunate that you get to travel some and get to different areas.
I
know some who have never ventured beyond their home group.
I got clean in San Diego, CA, moved to Lexington, KY, lived in Dallas,
TX for a while and Lawrenceville, NJ.
Princeton, NJ was the only place I had been that was this uptight.
Even up the road in Old Bridge, NJ people had a better grasp than they
did in Princeton.
Greg P.
I want to feel what Mary felt when God spent his seed.
i've never seen any one let their ***** do all their yapping the way you do
fag boy.
During the Super Bowl, there was another football game of note between the
big animals and the little animals. The big animals were crushing little
animals and at half-time, the coach made a passionate speech to rally the
little animals.
At the start of the second half the big animals had the ball. The first
play, the elephant got stopped for no gain. The second play, the rhino was
stopped for no gain. On third down, the hippo was thrown for a 5 yard loss.
The defense huddled around the coach and he asked excitedly, "Who stopped
the elephant?"
"I did," said the centipede.
"Who stopped the rhino?"
"Uh, that was me too," said the centipede.
"And how about the hippo? Who hit him for a 5 yard loss?"
"Well, that was me as well," said the centipede.
"So where were you during the first half?" demanded the coach.
"Well," said the centipede, "I was having my ankles taped."
--
smash yer modem, reboot, kill yerself
Mel the Defiler
member, ATJ regs
webmaster of atjfag.com
http://www.atjfag.com/
.
