Tradition 10 · October 22

Kind Ones, Of Course

Daily Traditions · October 22

Before the Tradition

They wrote letters. That was the entire enforcement mechanism, and it worked. Bill W. described the problem first (A.A. pamphlet P-44): "Usually meaning well, members began breaking their anonymity all over the place. Sometimes they wanted to use the A.A. name to advertise and help other causes. Others just wanted their names and pictures in the papers. Being photographed with the governor would really help A.A., they thought." Then a parenthesis he did not have to write: "(I'd earlier been guilty of this, too.)" A.A. had no way to discipline anyone — no membership to revoke, no court it was willing to enter. So: "So our General Service Office got to work. We wrote remonstrances, kind ones, of course, to every breaker." Kind ones, of course. That clause is doing real work; it is a standing instruction about tone, written into the account of how the thing got fixed. Then the half people forget: "We even sent letters to nearly all press and radio outlets, explaining why A.A.s shouldn't break their anonymity in the media." And the outcome: "In a few years the public anonymity-breakers were squeezed down to a handful."

Sit with

A.A. had no power to discipline anybody, so it wrote kind letters — to the members and to the newspapers — and within a few years the problem was down to a handful. What am I trying to fix with force that would move faster with correspondence?

Grounded in: P-44, p. 15–16.

Tradition 10

"Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 10 → Get the app →

← October 21Sober as a Judge Tradition 10All of October October 23 →No Defense Whatever

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).