Tradition 9 · September 27

Safe, Even From Me

Daily Traditions · September 27

Before the Tradition

When A.A. finally built the structure that would outlast its founders, the founders wrote it so the structure could overrule them. Under the charter drawn up for the Conference (A.A. pamphlet P-44), "the delegates could issue flat directions to the trustees on a two-thirds vote." Flat directions. Not advice, not consultation — orders, from the groups' representatives to the board Bill sat on. He didn't have to write it that way. Nobody was forcing him. The first Conference met in 1951, and the delegates promptly disagreed with headquarters, and headquarters turned out to be wrong. Then they retired the name Alcoholic Foundation, because the word Foundation "stood for charity, paternalism and maybe big money." A.A. would have none of those. Bill's line at the end of it is the one to carry out of this month: "As I watched all this grow, I became entirely sure that Alcoholics Anonymous was at last safe — even from me." The man who could have kept it wrote the document that took it from him, and then said he was relieved.

Sit with

Bill wrote the charter so the delegates could overrule him, and then said he was relieved. What would I have to give up for the thing I care about to be safe from me?

Grounded in: P-44 (flat directions to the trustees; safe even from me).

Tradition 9

"A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."

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 9 → Get the app →

← September 26Officials Tradition 9All of September September 28 →Should We Ever Harden

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).