Tradition 9 · September 7

Shouted Down

Daily Traditions · September 7

Before the Tradition

Bill W. tried to run Alcoholics Anonymous. He was the co-founder, he had written the book, and he thought the job was his. It didn't work, and he wrote down why (A.A. pamphlet P-17). "After struggling a few years to run the A.A. movement I had to give it up — it simply didn't work." When he took a side, half the room quoted him and the other half asked who this dictator thought he was. When he criticized somebody, it came back double. Then the plainest line he ever wrote about himself: "Each time I have strenuously tried it I have been shouted down." The groups told him directly where the line was (A.A. Comes of Age). "We are not going to have a personal government in New York, or anywhere else. Services, yes. But government, no." Tradition 9 isn't a principle somebody thought up. It's a description of what happened to the one man best positioned to govern A.A., every time he tried. He lost. He wrote it down. Then he made the losing permanent.

Sit with

Bill had every claim to run A.A. and the groups refused him anyway — then he wrote the refusal down and made it permanent. Where am I still trying to run something by force that only moves by example?

Grounded in: P-17 (tried a hand at governing; shouted down); A.A. Comes of Age (the groups' reply).

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 6Rule-Making Benders Tradition 9All of September September 8 →The Passion for Consolidation

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).