17/03/09
Suits optional? Sightings at Godden Green AA meeting Sunday
A large formation of suits has been spotted at the Godden Green AA meeting. An AA member (as distinct from a cult member) observed this concentration of the pointy headed ones, besuited and no doubt bedazzled by their own resplendent sobriety, in attendance at that location last Sunday. It is the habit of the cult to engage in missionary work amongst the poor benighted heathen that constitute the regular membership of AA. As you should know by now (those of you who regularly log into the aacultwatch site) this is the cult's God appointed duty, to venture forth into the dark and wild nether lands of Alcoholics Anonymous in search of lost souls. Alas, poor fools that we are, who have lost our way. All Hail! to our saviours, those who would lead us to THEIR promised land, under the constant, unrelenting, dogmatic, thoughtless, inexperienced (frequently) and dangerous guidance of a cult approved sponsor. Cast away your medication and walk forth into the light, we exhort you etc etc. Or alternatively, for those amongst us who might just want to do it the AA way - go to meetings, listen, read the literature (preferably conference approved) and exercise your own judgement. Or, in other words, take responsibility for your own life - don't let someBODY else do it for you!
We shall keep you updated on the Godden Green meeting as news comes in.
Regards
The Fellas
17/11/08
West Kent Intergroup meets – excitement mounts!
No – just kidding!
Apparently the long running joke that goes by that name is due to meet on Friday. Still, in a desperate attempt to try and conjure up some interest here’s the latest on the agenda.
The ongoing saga of cult Intergroup Secretary Barbara K continues (see under Stop Press below). It would seem that the Chairman has rediscovered the long lost scrolls containing the Aims and Structure of the aforementioned Intergroup. It appears that they do in fact exist, do have some kind of purpose and that they apply in this instance. So apparently a card vote will take place on Friday confirming (?) nominating (?) co-opting (?) seconding (?) – who knows? Take your pick! – this cult member into the position of Intergroup secretary. As usual, notice of this has gone out as late as possible to ensure that there is a minimum amount of discussion on the subject ie. whether West Kent Intergroup - already more than overladen with cult members as officers - can afford the luxury of yet another as its Secretary. Still our prediction is that since there are no other nominations and that Babs has the backing of the ex-Intergroup Secretary and cult member Glynne M, plus nominations by two other cult members Jacqueline M and Carla V’Z, she’s pretty well got this one wrapped up. There shouldn’t even be any need to play around with the voting figures (another speciality of WKIG) to get the desired result.
WKIG Secretary is something of a coup for the cult. It allows them to effectively manage the agenda (what gets discussed and what doesn’t), control information (and disinformation) and orchestrate Intergroup meetings to their best advantage.
Our predictions:
Babs confirmed (or whatever) as Intergroup secretary with a resounding majority – a token number of abstentions and maybe even the odd ‘against’ vote but nothing serious to worry about. What we’re more interested in is the depths of humility that Babs will be able to plumb for her third (?) acceptance speech.
or
The “Squadrons of flying pigs navigating by the light of a blue moon entirely made of greenish cheese” option – WKIG starts behaving like an AA Intergroup – nah! – No way.
Anyway we are looking forward to Babs appointment, or rather her secretarial role, for we are quite sure that she’ll will be getting all the assistance she needs from the backroom girls and boys who will actually be putting on this particular production.
That’s it for now. Time for a nap.
Cheers
The Fellas
11/10/08
In line with our stated anti intimidation policy we have our first candidate for that position:
Glynne M
We have sufficient information from a variety of sources plus direct evidence from two of the cultwatch team that Glynne M (elsewhere referred to on the site as “The Incredible Hulk”) has an established record as a bully. The individual in question does not actually hail from Kent but Surrey. We have no information as yet as to which groups she frequents so we shall have to content ourselves for now by giving some indication of why she should be given an extremely wide berth by AA members.
She was until recently the Secretary of West Kent Intergroup. She had already come to the end of her term in that office some months ago but was asked by the then Chairman David K to continue in that position until another person might come forward. There seemed to be a distinct unwillingness to fill that position by AA members. We believe that this is due to the fact that West Kent Intergroup is essentially run by the cult of which Glynne M is a supporter. How do we know she is a supporter? Well apart from her actions, which after all speak louder than words, she has declared herself to be so. She has been reported as stating at a cult meeting (Strood Thursday) to which she had been invited to do a “chair” that she “had stuck her neck out” for them apparently. This reference was to her undoubted key role in sabotaging Item 6 on the agenda of Intergroup which had been brought by a Medway area AA member proposing that the cult groups in the area be removed from the local Where to Find.
(To briefly remind you: this proposal had been brought by that member (as he was entitled to do) based on the repeated abuses of the AA Traditions and Guidelines over a period of no less than eight years by the cult groups. Despite the fact that numerous attempts had been made to reconcile these groups into mainstream AA they refused to listen to this counsel and continued to follow their own agenda – viz. the subversion of the AA programme and Fellowship and the substitution of their own perversion of both. Glynne M misled the West Kent Intergroup Assembly (with the assistance and collusion of the then chairman David K and Barbara K) in setting aside the votes of all the groups who had participated in the discussion in the Intergroup area. Fully 13 groups had voted for the removal of the cult groups from the Where to Find and, together with abstaining groups, there would have been a sufficient majority to have carried the proposal. She also effectively further suppressed any further discussion on the matter in a subsequent Intergroup meeting by the employment of smokescreen tactics which have already been outlined below).
She has been engaged in initiating whispering campaigns against at least two other Intergroup officers seeking to undermine their authority and credibility. She has also publicly at Intergroup meetings made comments that were calculated to similarly undermine their position. Direct observation of her controlling tactics was made by one of the Cultwatch team when he was present at a meeting where Glynne M was doing a “chair”. She preceded her account with a warning to the members present that any comments on certain parts of her story would not be appreciated. Fortunately that particular AA meeting was composed of somewhat more robust characters than seem to constitute the present WKIG. Her directions were ignored to her apparent displeasure. The Cultwatch site was contacted by a “friend” of hers who under the guise of reasoned argument remonstrated with us about our personal attacks on her (a tactic which she seems to be more than happy to inflict on others). The contact admitted that they knew little of what was going on and yet seemed quite prepared to argue the matter even so. When we suggested that they had better acquaint themselves with the facts it became quickly clear that the emails were purely intended to be time wasting. Finally unable to get the result they wanted they threatened to send a report to GSO York about the site. Since we already know that GSO York is well acquainted with the Cultwatch site and were also equally well aware of what York’s response might be none of us lost a lot of sleep over the matter.
She has obviously been highly instrumental in the positioning of a cult member (Barbara K) into the office of Intergroup Secretary. It is interesting to observe that she places a lot of emphasis in her letter (see below) as to why the objection raised to this appointment is not valid including apparently that no one spoke up at the time of the Intergroup meeting. Could this be to do with the fact that virtually no notice had been given to Intergroup of the nomination, certainly not enough time to inform the members in West Kent about the proposal (not that this Intergroup pays a lot of attention to their views anyway)? But then we don’t think this is a matter of chance but a deliberate policy to undermine the Aims and Structure of WKIG. Her contempt for these, the democratic process and the membership in West Kent is conveyed by her final statement that: “I intend to pass the Secretariat to the ‘voted in’ Secretary.”
We don’t believe for a moment that because she has finally stepped down as Secretary that she has relinquished her control and manipulation of West Kent Intergroup.
Over to you
The Fellas
5/10/08
The “Comeback Kid” makes a – well – comeback!!
A huge sigh of relief in the cultwatch office as the Venerable Babs reconsiders her resignation from the position of Intergroup Secretary. We anticipated this result in our “Predictions for the Future” section – see below. All is not lost! She’s back! Yes – apparently Babs (cult member, cult conference delegate, medical expert, cult speaker – CDs available at a cult meeting near you) has been induced to reconsider her momentous decision. Babs has, you will recall, been most well known for her pronouncement that “cults were a good thing”. Well she should know! Originally she decided to run for office a whole two hours before the last Intergroup meeting. This is an increasingly common cult tactic - to spring these little surprises on us – it ensures the minimum time for reflection and discussion and seems to have worked a treat on this occasion as well. Babs was proposed for the position by Jacqueline “The Flail from Heaven” M (cult member) and Carla V’Z (cult member). Both of these are much in demand as sponsors we are told, as indeed is Babs, although you’d better pray for a spiritual awakening to come quickly – you’ll need it with this trio. Apparently Babs was asked for her AA CV. This must have been a fairly brief account since most of her service is dedicated in furthering the cult agenda in Kent (and elsewhere). Apparently a question was put to her by Glynne “The Incredible Hulk” M (outgoing secretary, cult supporter and the real chairman of Intergroup) as to whether “she was willing to undertake this commitment in view of the abuse that is hurled by the anti WKIG website [cult speak for anyone who does not agree with them] and Barbara K responded that she was willing to undertake service to AA” (?). The Hulk then hammered home the inevitability of Babs’ appointment by stating that: “We need a Secretary”. A vote was taken and amazingly the result was “22 in favour, none against and three abstentions”. We say “amazingly” since according to the role/roll call there were only 22 voting members present. Still what’s in a number! After all 13 groups voted for the removal of the cult groups from the Where to Find back in 2007 and with abstentions that would have been a majority decision before the timely intervention of the outgoing Chairman, the Hulk and Babs who misled Intergroup and who then subsequently stamped out any further discussion on the matter.
As you will no doubt recall an objection was raised to the appointment on procedural grounds by another officer of Intergroup. Babs stamped her feet at this and resigned in “disgust”. Now it would seem that having just rid ourselves of a Chairman who can’t add up we now have a chairman who can’t read. The new incumbent of the office, Alan L, sent the following letter to Babs:
From Alan L Chairman WKIG 2nd October 2008
To Barbara K
Dear Barbara,
On behalf of Intergroup, I would like to say how dismayed I was to receive your resignation this morning.
Whilst understanding your feelings, I consider the objection made to your appointment invalid.
I apologise for the anxiety you have suffered but feel we do not wish to accept your resignation and look forward with the full confidence of Intergroup, to seeing you in the capacity as elected Secretary.
In Fellowship.
Alan L.
Chairman WKIG
So it would seem that the new Chairman either cannot (or cannot be bothered to) read the Aims and Structure (which we so helpfully have put up on the website under Trans5 – Transcriptions/Scans). Or worse can’t be bothered to abide by them. So we ask the question: Why have them in the first place? Further the assertion must necessarily be inaccurate that Babs has “the full confidence of Intergroup”, since an objection has been raised by one Intergroup officer to her appointment, an objection put on a procedural matter that the Chairman has unilaterally ignored. Is this to be the pattern of the future? We suspect so.
Then we have Babs’ response:
From Barbara K 3rd October 2008
To all members of WKIG
Dear All
Please find enclosed copy letter I have received from Alan L [see above] Chairman of WKIG.
After careful consideration, I can tell you that I have confirmed to the Chairman that I shall be pleased to continue in the post as Secretary to WKIG.
May I take this opportunity to thank the Chairman for his prompt attention and confidence in me along with all those members who have contacted me in a positive manner, throughout these past days.
I look forward to serving the Fellowship in this my new capacity.
In Fellowship
Barbara K
Such a gracious response! Still it is a relief to know that the Chairman’s letter has been given “careful consideration”. After all it would hardly do to have yet another change of tack. Remember: “avoid haste and indecision”. On reflection the role of Intergroup Secretary (or for that matter Chairman) should not be too arduous. Mummy will always be there in the background to lend a helping hand.
Other news:
From the WKIG Minutes a few notable bits. Apart from the fact that WKIG is still riddled with cult members these are:
Chatham Tuesday continues to break AA Traditions with their announcement of Al Anon speakers addressing AA meetings. It’s a bit tricky reconciling that with what is supposed to be our primary purpose – but what the hell!
Strood is going strong – but then attendance is mandatory there so… Apparently they remain committed to Unity, Service and Recovery – but to whom? The creative accounting on Tradition Seven and the provision of food at the meeting is working well. And free Big Books for newcomers!! We reckon they’ll be issuing Loyalty Cards soon.
The Chairman says “bye bye” and apparently it’s “been an absolute joy” – time for a well earned vacation in Disney Land might we suggest.
Secretary’s farewell. Parting comment “Thanks for having me”. We’d say it would be truer to say “thanks for having us”. Anyway, to quote the Terminator – “She’ll be back”.
Employment Liaison Report – a somewhat cryptic resignation from that quarter.
That’s all for now folks
Over to you
The Fellas
3/10/08
Now you see her – now you don’t! or Great Excitements at West Kent Intergroup (an oxyMORON if ever we heard one)
Again West Kent Intergroup swings INTO ACTION – NOT; business as usual but not AA business. This is going to be a long account (as usual) so settle back with a box of choccies, a box of tissues (for this is a heart rending story) and maybe some sedatives (if these have been approved by your sponsor – never mind consulting your GP) for those of nervous disposition, for our little tale concerns the shenanigans over the job of Intergroup Secretary.
As you may or may not know Glynne M (otherwise known as “The Incredible Hulk” because of her mood swings and rather overbearing manner) has had her death grip on the position of Intergroup Secretary loosened. It took a couple of sturdy AA members with crowbars several hours to prise her off and we’re not sure if the job’s done yet. So that left a gaping hole in the IG line up and who should step up to plug the breach but Barbara K. Now for those of you who haven’t heard of the Venerable Babs then here are the highlights. We have got to admit this woman is a veritable dynamo. Not only was she going to fill the shoes of the Hulk (a job in itself) but also act as a cult conference delegate (so definitely NOT a trusted servant). She also moonlights as a convention supporter (but not AA conventions). She was on hand to be a helpful advisor to any poor soul that got lost at the Canterbury (cult) convention held in the summer. She also made an appearance at one of the Primary Purpose conventions held at East London University and held forth on the subject of alcoholism. A CD of her ‘pearls’ was available at one time on a Primary Purpose website for those of you who really want to pay to hear a cult member share. If all that was not enough she is also (so we’re told) very much in demand as a cult sponsor (or rather very much promoted as a cult sponsor) and finally seems to have acquired medical qualifications for she is a proponent of the “you can’t do the programme whilst on medication” stance. Now that we have concluded the biographical view of Babs we can get back to the main point.
The Point Is – it came to Babs in a vision (much like a Road to Damascus experience) that she was the appointed one for the job of IG Secretary. This spiritual experience occurred, so it is said, about a couple of hours before Intergroup was due to meet and the latter body was duly informed. She was nominated into the position and this was confirmed by a vote BUT….
Now we come to the relevant documents in an order which seeks to reproduce the chronology of events. First a phone call took place between a named member of IG and the Chairman David “I don’t know what’s going on?” K. which led to this note from the David K:
Quote:
“6) Aide Memoire: from David K
The next meeting on 21 November is the AGM and conscience meeting for which ideas for conscience topics will no doubt be welcomed by Alan and Barbara.
We now need a Prison Liaison officer urgently plus Employment Liaison (utmost patience required) and Archivist.
Prison sponsors (people initially prepared to attend meetings in prisons) seem to be the highest in number required, and telephone responders are always needed, too. And for members interested in another specific area like health, schools or Public Information in general, they can always be fitted in somewhere!
PS As I write this note I have just received a telephone call from a member who has called to my attention the Aims & Structures recommendation that any officer take a year's rest between 'top table' service positions. He pointed out that it hasn't been a year since Barbara was vice-chair. The Aims & Structures demands "discussion and full agreement of WKIG" if, in exceptional circumstances, the one-year break recommendation is to be circumvented. I shall be passing this over to Alan on handover in a couple of weeks time, but for what it's worth it seems obvious to me that this can easily be resolved at the next meeting since the first order of business at the AGM is to ratify officers' appointments and the first one to be ratified is usually the secretary. The necessary discussion of the one-year point could be dealt with then. Meanwhile the handover from Glynne to Barbara can take place because the Intergroup's position is entirely safeguarded by the ratification process. Even the person who brought it up expects the ratification to go through almost as normal. (Incidentally many thanks to the alert member for keeping us strictly on the rails and apologies from me for not spotting it at the time, not least to Barbara.)
PLEASE SEE OVERLEAF FOR SECRETARY RESPONSE”
So no sweat! It’s a procedural matter and all this “alert member” has done is point it out; after all what’s the point of having a set of Aims and Structure if you’re not going to abide by them. However it is at this point that the Hulk decides to lumber into the fray – as indicated this is the “Secretary Response” referred to above in the Chairman’s aide memoire:
Quote:
“Secretary’s response to the previous point:
When the Assembly was considering the appointment or otherwise of Barbara K, ample time was allowed for discussion and as reported in the Election of Officers’ section, Glynne M had already informed the Assembly that there was no conflict between Intergroup and Region. She did not refer to the Aims & Structures because if this document is read carefully, the point which is now being raised is irrelevant.
The full extract from the Aims & Structures is as follows:-
It is recommended that all the above four officers (chairman, vice-chair, treasurer and secretary) will upon completion of their terms of office, stand down from their posts and from WKIG assembly for at least one year, although they may serve as regional representatives, liaison officers or as GSrs. In exceptional circumstances a member may be asked to continue in service in the same or another position, but this may only be done with the discussion and full agreement of WKIG.
The word “recommended” applies to an officer standing down from a post. “Recommended” means “suggested” and surely is intended as a guideline only.
The point being raised “discussion and full agreement to WKIG” clearly applies to when a member is asked to continue in service. It will be seen therefore that part of the second sentence has been extrapolated and inserted into the first sentence, which results in changing the Aims & Structures.
At no time during the election process did any member on the top table, the previous chairman who was at the Assembly, the officer who I believe had written the Aims & Structures and was at the Assembly, or any other attendees, some with many years Intergroup experience, raise this matter.
22 people voted in favour of this candidate, no one voted against her, three members abstained. I intend to pass the Secretariat to the ‘voted in’ Secretary.
Glynne M Secretary to WKIG”
Now what this little gem amounts to is the Hulk doesn’t want a spanner thrown into the works at this stage. So she goes into ‘Mummy’ mode (see elsewhere on the site for an explanation of this appellation) which if anything is more awesome than Hulk mode. Reference is made in her response to the Aims and Structure of West Kent Intergroup (we have included it as Trans5 under the Transcriptions/Scans part of the site because to include it here would turn this into something of War and Peace proportions). Most of her analysis is essentially a smoke screen tactic seeking to disappear the essentials under a pile of verbiage (precisely the same tactic that she employed in disappearing Item 6 on a previous occasion – remember that one? (See 29/09/07 below: A dark day for West Kent Intergroup and AA ). What is interesting however is her focus on the terms “recommended” and “suggested”. According to Mummy, and we had no idea until she pointed this out, these words indicate “a guideline only”. Now this must be sending shockwaves of horror through the ranks of the unholy ones. Up to this point “suggested” in cult speak meant “mandatory” – eg. do exactly what your sponsor tells you! There is absolutely no hint within the cult context that the words “suggested” or “recommended” are intended to be guidelines only. So now Mummy has very kindly assisted us in refining the use of those words. “Suggested” or “recommended” mean guidelines and therefore may safely be disregarded where these guidelines come into conflict with her (or the cult's) will. When however whatever is “suggested” or “recommended” falls into line with her (or the cult's) particular perspective they then hold the weight of “mandatory” – MY WILL BE DONE.
The next question is why is it that the ex-secretary is so interested in the matter? So how about this: we have already indicated her apparent reluctance to release her grip on the reins of power that she so clearly enjoys in Intergroup. She has employed a number of tactics in furtherance of that role. We have mentioned one already – the employment of loooonnng words to lend an air of authority to her mostly empty pronouncements; allusions to the Concepts (together with opportunistic manipulation of their significance and context) to further add credibility to her statements; dubious consultations with York that seem to lend a greater substance to her views than they actually possess; and some less well known but equally effective strategies (and certainly not publicised) of bullying and intimidating behaviour towards at least one other AA member. But even the Hulk had to be seen to be abiding by the Aims and Structure – after all there is a carefully crafted image to be sustained here. But let us just say, hypothetically of course – if you can’t actually continue with the job how about manoeuvring someone into the position who can act as your proxy – and who better than someone who seems to share your viewpoint? So now we come to Babs and the TWIST:
After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing the following letter has been circulated (presumably via the ex-secretary) to members of WKIG:
Quote:
“To West Kent Inter-group Members 30th September 2008
It has been brought to my attention that an objection has been raised regarding my election to the post of I/G Secretary on the grounds that it is less than 1 year since my service as Vice Chair. (I stood down from that position on 11th January 2008 and the next one starts 21st November 2008.) Now whilst I fully appreciate that is what the Aims & Structures suggest and I cannot believe the Chairman did not know about this 'suggestion.' I do not accept this is the only reason behind this objection. Why wasn't it brought to I/Gs attention during the meeting on Friday 26th September?
There was ample time whilst I was not in the room to discuss any issues regarding my nomination. There were none and I was duly elected. I remind I/G that one of the duties of the Chairperson according to the Aims and Structures is to be 'Responsible for ensuring that the decisions of the
Intergroup are carried out.'
The objection was raised in a telephone conversation on Saturday 27th September by Paul H (Prison Liaison) to David K (Chairman).
My personal opinion is that this is a personality issue. It is a shame that he did not have the courage to raise this in front of me on Friday rather than express his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the vote after the event.
This is not the first time my intention to do service in WKIG has been thwarted. You may recall in the beginning of January as I rotated out of service as Vice Chair I had considered the position of Archivist but I was informed by a female member of I/G that I was not wanted and "They were trying to Cult proof l/G in the same way some meetings were doing".
I was asked by Glynne M last Friday if I could withstand the probable abuse by some members of WKIG who run an anti WKIG web-site. I said I was aware of the possibility. What I was not prepared for though was the sheer venom that has come from much closer to home.
I am absolutely disgusted at the way this has developed and because of this I stand down as Intergroup Secretary.
Barbara K”
So it seems that Babs is not up for the “abuse” and “venom” (cult speak for the exposure of cult members); it would appear that the spanner has been thrown in from a completely unexpected direction. Also we were really rather impressed by the way in which Babs has adopted that coy but traditional AA ploy (“suggested” but not “mandatory”) of slagging off another member without actually naming them but giving just enough information so that everyone knows who they are, in her reference to “a female member of I/G that I was not wanted” etc; so there’s hope for her yet. Also we’re fascinated to learn that some members of WKIG are involved in the “anti WKIG web-site” (cult speak for anti cult website). That’s certainly the first we’ve heard of it. We’re pretty fussy whom we let onto the team and unfortunately most of the current WKIG wouldn’t make it past the preliminary vetting procedure. So dream on….
Predictions for the future:
1) Babs will have a change of heart and suddenly experience yet another spiritual awakening and withdraw her resignation (after having effectively played the victim role – a much favoured cult tactic) – in other words the Hulk will pile on the pressure on the relevant members of Intergroup or;
2) WKIG will get down on their collective bended knees and beg Mummy to come back into the job for an indeterminate period and that they’re really, really sorry for ever having let her go and it will never, ever happen again or;
3) Another cult member will be flown in under the radar while all the fuss is going on;
4) That a squadron of flying pigs will come by and simultaneously WKIG will revert to being an AA intergroup that actually consults the wishes of the membership (just to remind you who those are – they’re the ones that go to AA meetings) and then abides by those wishes.
We think the last speculation is the least likely somehow. Feel free to submit your own fantasies on this one.
Over to you
The Fellas
PS By the way we had a look at those Aims and Structure (Responsibilities) and it seems that neither the Chairman, nor the Secretary (whoever that might be) nor the Literature Secretary are doing their jobs if the job description is to be believed.
21/07/08
West Kent One Year On - Part Two (another contribution from an AA member)
"Hi folks! Part Two as promised - a special hi to all our friends in the US, Canada, Australia, Scandinavia, and elsewhere.
This update relates to the mid Kent area of England, but the story could be anywhere.
The west Kent Intergroup is still in denial about the cult but last year’s campaign showed a lot of ‘undecideds’ what’s below the slick veneer of the cult’s meetings. Many mainstreamers now realise they are not just different, but dangerous. Several weeks after the vote fiasco even the chairman noted that the cult was over-represented at Intergroup!! On a visit to Tunbridge Wells he announced that there were several Intergroup posts up for grabs and that if the locals wanted these posts they were a done deal. Ah! - surely voting would be required I hear you say. Well yes - but our chair and his band have an almost mystical approach to the democratic process (see part 1), or better still see Robert Mugabe.
On election our chair announced, when asked, what action could be taken regarding cult groups - "It’s about time we had another go at them". Such a shame this bravado vaporised when this actually occurred. He turned into a Chamberlain and not the Churchill we thought he was. Hmmm. He has since referred to this site as "Pernicious Bile" - Oh dear! Another 4000 hits! In a fit of petulance he actually refused to shake hands with one of our team, at a region meeting - mind you - several cult members were thrusting copies of the Concepts under his nose and lobbying relentlessly, so perhaps we should understand his dilemma.
Anyway how does he know its "Bile" - he’s not supposed to be watching it is he?
So-called “White Card” Meetings ie. Cult proofed groups
Sadly when it came to protecting newcomers, AA’s name, and the groups in close proximity to the cult, our Intergroup proved to be as much use as an ashtray on a motorcycle. Those most in the line of fire decided, by democratic vote, to adopt a series of principles to protect themselves and newcomers from cult influence. A particular nasty tactic of the cult is ‘poaching’. Working in twos or threes, cult members would attend mainstream meetings and identify newcomers. They need a constant supply of new blood to survive, as does real AA. These poor souls were relieved of their phone number, and then bombarded with up to nine calls a day (see cult behaviour and love bombing) from cult members either fulfilling their quota of calling two newcomers every day, or pressuring them to attend their meetings. Since the introduction of the white card, to our knowledge, not one newcomer has been seconded - a great success. This is the main basis of the adoption of the white card as well as other points to stop cult influence and takeover. Takeover is another cult move. See the cult power drive further on in this report.
The white card was voted in by all the groups who use it and it is within the Traditions, which are designed to protect our fellowship and its members.
The cult and Medication.
This is probably the worst aspect of the cult’s doctrines, and is in direct conflict with Traditions Three, Eight and Ten. Despite constant complaints, deaths and challenges this insanity continues and will inevitably bring AA into major conflict with agencies we cooperate with. Actually it has already. We have evidence of local and national charities who will no longer refer clients to cult meetings because of their ‘no medication’ doctrine. Likewise doctors and psychiatrists have expressed deep concern about the activities of the cult. Mainstreamers try to reassure these professionals that AA has sadly been infiltrated by a cult with a non-AA agenda, but the damage is already done.
This past year in west Kent the cult have moderated their medication rules, but this is blatant PR - they have not changed their spots - just tidied them up for the time being. They even produced a "token" medicated person at an Intergroup meeting. We weren’t fooled. We have become savvy to their patronising concessions, and this was just another stunt. The subtle "no Pills" message is repeated time after time after time in sharing at their meetings. It usually goes like this, "I used to pop pills all day long, but I don’t now". Well we have all heard that at normal AA haven’t we? Of course - but at cult meetings you will here it over and over again. They can’t say: "You won’t get sober taking pills"; that took them to the brink once before in Medway. Now the message is subtle, almost subliminal. The message repeated again and again is "I don’t do this, so neither should you". You will probably be aware of the idolatry system of sponsorship the cult uses - well hearing this stuff night after night soon has them ‘on’ message. If you look elsewhere on the site you will see that outside this area the madness is not so subtle, with of course the worst possible outcome. If you know any newcomers who may be dual diagnosed I suggest you warn them about this part of cult dogma. It varies from meeting to meeting: some will sponsor people taking medication, but not take them through the steps (yes you read that right); others will not sponsor persons taking medication at all, and refer to them as "unsponsorable". Most of these loonies are not even able to spell bi-polar, or schizophrenia, and this is being done IN OUR NAME.
We have warned the cult via this site that ANY interference with a person’s medical treatment (and which results in significant injury) will be reported to the local health authority, and further to any referring authority for their information (we refer you to the Duty of Care section of website). Once again it has to be said we are citizens first and AA members second; we are not above the law.
We all know alcoholics can abuse prescribed medication and there is written advice on this in approved AA literature. But those with afflictions in addition to alcohol are not our business; we deal with booze - the doctors do the rest. This is also made clear in AA literature.
The Cult and the Concepts
The cult loves the Concepts and we now all know why; the Concepts were written as a "possible" guide for the future of AA; they are ideas and just that - ideas. The dictionary says: concept: a general notion, the formation in the mind of an idea. Hmmm.
If you read the Concepts they appear somewhat ambiguous and easily open to interpretation. That’s exactly why the cult loves them. They are particularly fond of the one about the minority opinion, and wheel it out as gospel whenever they are challenged. Well it’s good stuff but AA is held together by the TRADITIONS, not the Concepts. The Traditions are our charter, or mission statement (as it now seems to be called). They are the glue that holds this wonderful, colourful, inspirational band together - NOT the Concepts. The local cult even organised a workshop on the Concepts. We weren’t fooled; we just want to know when they will have a workshop on Traditions. That would be worth going to - no doubt like putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank.
So cult members give it up with the Concepts - you ain’t fooling no one (many thanks to other writers who have covered this elsewhere on the site).
The Cult Power Drive
If the cult is to achieve its aim of subverting AA and imposing its twisted agenda on the rest of us it must gain power in Intergroups, Regions and Conference. “Oh no!” I hear you gasp, no one in AA has any power - they are all just trusted servants. Wake up and smell the coffee folks! The above groups make decisions almost daily that affect every AA group and member in the land. The overwhelming majority does so with a good heart, with the spiritual motivation that is the essence of AA - and God bless ‘em. We may not be organised but we have to have some kind of structure to carry the message. The cult however seeks positions for the votes they bring, with the ultimate dream of voting in their agenda. They have infiltrated Intergroups, Regions and Conference in numbers that are totally disproportionate to their actual presence in the UK. We need to look to ourselves here folks ‘cos if we don’t take those jobs you can bet the cult will; their career drive is relentless. For instance, a local group was suddenly attended by growing numbers of the cult. Local members from mainstream AA suspected an attempted takeover (another cult tactic used on weak or susceptible groups). Suddenly three cult members held group offices, but a takeover was averted when the locals smelt the coffee. Although the cult would have loved to have won this meeting, their real motivation was even more devious. They were buffing up their CV’s. Since this site named cult groups their cover has been blown - when officers list their positions prior to election people now know who they are (and which is their home group) - so holding positions at a mainstream meeting muddies the water; very clever, but not that clever (see Abe Lincoln quote). It worked for now as two of the three are moving on up. But we know who you are and any attempts to get your nutty diatribe on the sheet, ie your own literature approved, will fail. This parrot is already dead (see Monty Python)
It’s interesting to note that during the attempted takeover (and CV buffing) the cult actually recommended this mainstream meeting to their acolytes. They of course did not recommend any other mid Kent meetings to their followers, and the three ‘Missionaries’ even told newcomers attending this mainstream meeting to go to other cult meetings and only cult meetings! No change there then.
Future outcomes
Worst case scenario:
the cult achieves dominance. Their PR is seductive: big meetings, very positive sharing, (carefully groomed), nice food (no stale digestives), free Big Books (nice thought, but not if other local groups can’t afford to), pre-alllocated sponsors (you don’t even have to choose one), and even those terrible psychiatric problems can be cured by micro waving you through the steps in a fortnight - there’s no such thing as depression; it’s all self pity. No more nasty pills - you’re cured ! Hallelujah!
If you haven’t been to one of these meetings then we recommend you go. It’s a real performance, ‘cos that’s what it is - pure performance - and it doesn’t vary, so you only need to go once, thank God.
That’s what we will get if they get their way: controlled, sanitised, homogonised, pasteurised, and paralysed AA - a control freak’s heaven, and a million miles from Bill and Bob’s dream.
Integration:
a possibility (just joking!) but doubtful. One big weakness for the cult is those that realise all is not right. They leave and start to attend real AA. The cult doesn’t like this and does the usual classic cult tactic of constant phoning to try and win them back. Those that don’t respond blow the gaff on the cult’s behaviour, and their stories form part of the content of this site. However the cult is adept at body swerves, and when confronted they deny everything; only when no other course is left do they admit breaking Traditions and damaging newcomers or AA. The apologies are quite eloquent and articulate if somewhat patronising. As soon as the heat dies down the old tricks start up again.
So in reality reform and integration are as likely as seeing Josef Mengele on “This is Your Life”. Why? Well true to cult history they are convinced theirs is the True Path; that’s what we are up against folks.
Best case scenario: the cult close or leaves.
It will happen because history shows that groups that ignore Traditions always fail; but it won’t happen overnight. They are on a roll, but awareness of their behaviour and the damage they are causing is growing apace - this site is evidence to that fact. One old timer says it takes about twenty years to get anything serious done in AA, so we ain’t out of the woods yet. The south coast situation, where the Intergroups followed Traditions shows the way forward: neutralise and marginalise the cult. Cult groups in that area are threatening to break away and form their own service structure (presumably in a bus shelter in Bournemouth). They will not use the AA name, so maybe soon we could see an “Alcoholics Victorious” or even “Alcoholics Unanimous”?
One piece of research has blown a commonly held myth. I too believed that cults only captured weak, gullible and vulnerable people. The reality is that nearly all cults are run by above average intelligence, middle class professionals (certainly true round here). Why this anomaly? Well cults appeal to the emotions and not the intellect; particularly those with control issues. So it would seem that in order to form an immaculate flock of sheep, one must above all else be a sheep!
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading this far, and remember folks - it’s our fellowship; we must all stand up and be counted or apathy will deliver us the AA we deserve. If you don’t like AA politics, or think it’s not your problem, or confrontation is the wrong way, then I’m afraid you’re in for a big surprise. Don’t rely on Intergroup, Region, or anyone else to restore AA to sanity. We did, and got shafted. Our laid back ‘live and let live’ philosophy is being used against us with powerful effect. Sitting on the fence won’t work.
HELL WILL RESERVE THE HOTTEST PLACES FOR THOSE WHO, WHEN DANGER THREATENED, SCREAMED NEUTRALITY.
Albert Einstein
God bless and keep you safe,
anon July 08
"Hi folks! Part Two as promised - a special hi to all our friends in the US, Canada, Australia, Scandinavia, and elsewhere.
This update relates to the mid Kent area of England, but the story could be anywhere.
The west Kent Intergroup is still in denial about the cult but last year’s campaign showed a lot of ‘undecideds’ what’s below the slick veneer of the cult’s meetings. Many mainstreamers now realise they are not just different, but dangerous. Several weeks after the vote fiasco even the chairman noted that the cult was over-represented at Intergroup!! On a visit to Tunbridge Wells he announced that there were several Intergroup posts up for grabs and that if the locals wanted these posts they were a done deal. Ah! - surely voting would be required I hear you say. Well yes - but our chair and his band have an almost mystical approach to the democratic process (see part 1), or better still see Robert Mugabe.
On election our chair announced, when asked, what action could be taken regarding cult groups - "It’s about time we had another go at them". Such a shame this bravado vaporised when this actually occurred. He turned into a Chamberlain and not the Churchill we thought he was. Hmmm. He has since referred to this site as "Pernicious Bile" - Oh dear! Another 4000 hits! In a fit of petulance he actually refused to shake hands with one of our team, at a region meeting - mind you - several cult members were thrusting copies of the Concepts under his nose and lobbying relentlessly, so perhaps we should understand his dilemma.
Anyway how does he know its "Bile" - he’s not supposed to be watching it is he?
So-called “White Card” Meetings ie. Cult proofed groups
Sadly when it came to protecting newcomers, AA’s name, and the groups in close proximity to the cult, our Intergroup proved to be as much use as an ashtray on a motorcycle. Those most in the line of fire decided, by democratic vote, to adopt a series of principles to protect themselves and newcomers from cult influence. A particular nasty tactic of the cult is ‘poaching’. Working in twos or threes, cult members would attend mainstream meetings and identify newcomers. They need a constant supply of new blood to survive, as does real AA. These poor souls were relieved of their phone number, and then bombarded with up to nine calls a day (see cult behaviour and love bombing) from cult members either fulfilling their quota of calling two newcomers every day, or pressuring them to attend their meetings. Since the introduction of the white card, to our knowledge, not one newcomer has been seconded - a great success. This is the main basis of the adoption of the white card as well as other points to stop cult influence and takeover. Takeover is another cult move. See the cult power drive further on in this report.
The white card was voted in by all the groups who use it and it is within the Traditions, which are designed to protect our fellowship and its members.
The cult and Medication.
This is probably the worst aspect of the cult’s doctrines, and is in direct conflict with Traditions Three, Eight and Ten. Despite constant complaints, deaths and challenges this insanity continues and will inevitably bring AA into major conflict with agencies we cooperate with. Actually it has already. We have evidence of local and national charities who will no longer refer clients to cult meetings because of their ‘no medication’ doctrine. Likewise doctors and psychiatrists have expressed deep concern about the activities of the cult. Mainstreamers try to reassure these professionals that AA has sadly been infiltrated by a cult with a non-AA agenda, but the damage is already done.
This past year in west Kent the cult have moderated their medication rules, but this is blatant PR - they have not changed their spots - just tidied them up for the time being. They even produced a "token" medicated person at an Intergroup meeting. We weren’t fooled. We have become savvy to their patronising concessions, and this was just another stunt. The subtle "no Pills" message is repeated time after time after time in sharing at their meetings. It usually goes like this, "I used to pop pills all day long, but I don’t now". Well we have all heard that at normal AA haven’t we? Of course - but at cult meetings you will here it over and over again. They can’t say: "You won’t get sober taking pills"; that took them to the brink once before in Medway. Now the message is subtle, almost subliminal. The message repeated again and again is "I don’t do this, so neither should you". You will probably be aware of the idolatry system of sponsorship the cult uses - well hearing this stuff night after night soon has them ‘on’ message. If you look elsewhere on the site you will see that outside this area the madness is not so subtle, with of course the worst possible outcome. If you know any newcomers who may be dual diagnosed I suggest you warn them about this part of cult dogma. It varies from meeting to meeting: some will sponsor people taking medication, but not take them through the steps (yes you read that right); others will not sponsor persons taking medication at all, and refer to them as "unsponsorable". Most of these loonies are not even able to spell bi-polar, or schizophrenia, and this is being done IN OUR NAME.
We have warned the cult via this site that ANY interference with a person’s medical treatment (and which results in significant injury) will be reported to the local health authority, and further to any referring authority for their information (we refer you to the Duty of Care section of website). Once again it has to be said we are citizens first and AA members second; we are not above the law.
We all know alcoholics can abuse prescribed medication and there is written advice on this in approved AA literature. But those with afflictions in addition to alcohol are not our business; we deal with booze - the doctors do the rest. This is also made clear in AA literature.
The Cult and the Concepts
The cult loves the Concepts and we now all know why; the Concepts were written as a "possible" guide for the future of AA; they are ideas and just that - ideas. The dictionary says: concept: a general notion, the formation in the mind of an idea. Hmmm.
If you read the Concepts they appear somewhat ambiguous and easily open to interpretation. That’s exactly why the cult loves them. They are particularly fond of the one about the minority opinion, and wheel it out as gospel whenever they are challenged. Well it’s good stuff but AA is held together by the TRADITIONS, not the Concepts. The Traditions are our charter, or mission statement (as it now seems to be called). They are the glue that holds this wonderful, colourful, inspirational band together - NOT the Concepts. The local cult even organised a workshop on the Concepts. We weren’t fooled; we just want to know when they will have a workshop on Traditions. That would be worth going to - no doubt like putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank.
So cult members give it up with the Concepts - you ain’t fooling no one (many thanks to other writers who have covered this elsewhere on the site).
The Cult Power Drive
If the cult is to achieve its aim of subverting AA and imposing its twisted agenda on the rest of us it must gain power in Intergroups, Regions and Conference. “Oh no!” I hear you gasp, no one in AA has any power - they are all just trusted servants. Wake up and smell the coffee folks! The above groups make decisions almost daily that affect every AA group and member in the land. The overwhelming majority does so with a good heart, with the spiritual motivation that is the essence of AA - and God bless ‘em. We may not be organised but we have to have some kind of structure to carry the message. The cult however seeks positions for the votes they bring, with the ultimate dream of voting in their agenda. They have infiltrated Intergroups, Regions and Conference in numbers that are totally disproportionate to their actual presence in the UK. We need to look to ourselves here folks ‘cos if we don’t take those jobs you can bet the cult will; their career drive is relentless. For instance, a local group was suddenly attended by growing numbers of the cult. Local members from mainstream AA suspected an attempted takeover (another cult tactic used on weak or susceptible groups). Suddenly three cult members held group offices, but a takeover was averted when the locals smelt the coffee. Although the cult would have loved to have won this meeting, their real motivation was even more devious. They were buffing up their CV’s. Since this site named cult groups their cover has been blown - when officers list their positions prior to election people now know who they are (and which is their home group) - so holding positions at a mainstream meeting muddies the water; very clever, but not that clever (see Abe Lincoln quote). It worked for now as two of the three are moving on up. But we know who you are and any attempts to get your nutty diatribe on the sheet, ie your own literature approved, will fail. This parrot is already dead (see Monty Python)
It’s interesting to note that during the attempted takeover (and CV buffing) the cult actually recommended this mainstream meeting to their acolytes. They of course did not recommend any other mid Kent meetings to their followers, and the three ‘Missionaries’ even told newcomers attending this mainstream meeting to go to other cult meetings and only cult meetings! No change there then.
Future outcomes
Worst case scenario:
the cult achieves dominance. Their PR is seductive: big meetings, very positive sharing, (carefully groomed), nice food (no stale digestives), free Big Books (nice thought, but not if other local groups can’t afford to), pre-alllocated sponsors (you don’t even have to choose one), and even those terrible psychiatric problems can be cured by micro waving you through the steps in a fortnight - there’s no such thing as depression; it’s all self pity. No more nasty pills - you’re cured ! Hallelujah!
If you haven’t been to one of these meetings then we recommend you go. It’s a real performance, ‘cos that’s what it is - pure performance - and it doesn’t vary, so you only need to go once, thank God.
That’s what we will get if they get their way: controlled, sanitised, homogonised, pasteurised, and paralysed AA - a control freak’s heaven, and a million miles from Bill and Bob’s dream.
Integration:
a possibility (just joking!) but doubtful. One big weakness for the cult is those that realise all is not right. They leave and start to attend real AA. The cult doesn’t like this and does the usual classic cult tactic of constant phoning to try and win them back. Those that don’t respond blow the gaff on the cult’s behaviour, and their stories form part of the content of this site. However the cult is adept at body swerves, and when confronted they deny everything; only when no other course is left do they admit breaking Traditions and damaging newcomers or AA. The apologies are quite eloquent and articulate if somewhat patronising. As soon as the heat dies down the old tricks start up again.
So in reality reform and integration are as likely as seeing Josef Mengele on “This is Your Life”. Why? Well true to cult history they are convinced theirs is the True Path; that’s what we are up against folks.
Best case scenario: the cult close or leaves.
It will happen because history shows that groups that ignore Traditions always fail; but it won’t happen overnight. They are on a roll, but awareness of their behaviour and the damage they are causing is growing apace - this site is evidence to that fact. One old timer says it takes about twenty years to get anything serious done in AA, so we ain’t out of the woods yet. The south coast situation, where the Intergroups followed Traditions shows the way forward: neutralise and marginalise the cult. Cult groups in that area are threatening to break away and form their own service structure (presumably in a bus shelter in Bournemouth). They will not use the AA name, so maybe soon we could see an “Alcoholics Victorious” or even “Alcoholics Unanimous”?
One piece of research has blown a commonly held myth. I too believed that cults only captured weak, gullible and vulnerable people. The reality is that nearly all cults are run by above average intelligence, middle class professionals (certainly true round here). Why this anomaly? Well cults appeal to the emotions and not the intellect; particularly those with control issues. So it would seem that in order to form an immaculate flock of sheep, one must above all else be a sheep!
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading this far, and remember folks - it’s our fellowship; we must all stand up and be counted or apathy will deliver us the AA we deserve. If you don’t like AA politics, or think it’s not your problem, or confrontation is the wrong way, then I’m afraid you’re in for a big surprise. Don’t rely on Intergroup, Region, or anyone else to restore AA to sanity. We did, and got shafted. Our laid back ‘live and let live’ philosophy is being used against us with powerful effect. Sitting on the fence won’t work.
HELL WILL RESERVE THE HOTTEST PLACES FOR THOSE WHO, WHEN DANGER THREATENED, SCREAMED NEUTRALITY.
Albert Einstein
God bless and keep you safe,
anon July 08
20/07/08
Zzzzzzzzzzzz …………… West Kent Intergroup
…………zzzzzz Oops. Sorry must have nodded off. Yes it’s that time of year again - West Kent Intergroup. So here’s a review of the summer pantomime and other local events. We warn you now this is a long one – so make some sandwiches and find a nice comfortable chair. If you can read the whole lot you can rest easy in the realisation that you have succeeded in not “being a mental loafer” – just for today!
Firstly the cast:
David “Homer” K. - Chairman (status ‘Who knows? Who cares!’)
Arthur “NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!” E. - Vice Chairman (status – bookend)
Glynne “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” M. – Secretary (status – cult supporter)
Barbara “Cults are a good thing” K. – Conference Delegate – (status - cult member)
Jacqueline “The Suggester” M. – Regional Rep – (status – cult member)
Various members of the Supporting cast and not really that important – just GSRs so not sure what function they have in THIS intergroup (status – maybe rubber stamp)
However our thanks to Cult Productions for allowing the following to take part in this event.
Lee S. – Alternate GSR Ditton (cult supporter, AA group – so far)
Darren F. - GSR Gravesend Tuesday (cult member, cult group)
Gavin “Clinical Depression is Self Pity” A. – GSR Rochester Saturday (cult member, cult group)
Carla V’Z – GSR Strood (cult member, cult group)
and
Apologies from (among others)
Nick T – Share Liaison Officer/Literature Secretary (cult member)
Mark F- Probation Liaison Officer (cult member)
Hugo M – GSR Rochester Monday (cult member, cult group)
It’s worth noting at this point that the usual hordes of the Dark Lord (according to the minutes - though we wouldn’t advise anyone to place too much weight on them – they have been – how shall we put this – economical with the truth in the past) did not materialise. The word must have got back to High Command that the cult tactic of “packing” intergroup meetings has been identified – maybe they’ve been told to lay off – but they’ll be back – never fear.
Don’t worry we’re not going to reproduce the entire minutes – just the more entertaining highlights.
From the Group reports:
Chatham Tuesday
Well something of a novelty for the Chatham Tuesday meeting – it had a group conscience. This must have been quite exciting for this group which generally relies upon the local “bookend” to carry out this function unilaterally. But suffused with self virtue the “bookend” – sorry – the group – declares that it is “united in the pursuance of the Traditions of the Fellowship” – this is something of a surprise given that up to now the “Group” shows little evidence of even a passing acquaintance with any of the aforementioned – see articles “Another “idiot” from Medway” (9/07/08) and “Musings of a Medway Moron” (24/05/08) for some insights on how to create disunity in AA (oh by the way – that’s to do with Tradition Four).
Gravesend Tuesday (beginners meeting) (cult group)
“The Group is self-supporting and has been making regular contributions to Intergroup and all service positions are filled.” [What the report didn’t include was the fact – reported by a member of another local group – that this group has a policy of directing newcomers to Strood Thursday (cult group) notwithstanding the fact that there is a perfectly good AA meeting just down the road on Thursday night. This is entirely in line with the cult policy of keeping newcomers away from AA meetings so that they can be properly conditioned by the cult. Additionally this group have been advertising their presence in the town, giving out a non AA contact number and informing people only of the presence of their meeting in the town – no reference to the Gravesend Thursday (AA) meeting].
Gravesend Thursday (real AA meeting – fully cult proofed)
“The meeting continues to flourish. All service positions are filled and the Group is fully self- supporting”. It is at this point the Vice Chairman (and noted local bookend) intervened – hence the Spanish Inquisition reference: “Arthur E, Vice Chairman [and Grand Inquisitor] asked Hugh C, GSR Gravesend Thursday if the Group continued to exclude members from certain groups from service positions. Hugh responded that no members of AA were denied admittance to their Group. A heated exchange of words took place with the GSR reiterating the Group is open and welcomes all”. Again this serves to indicate how little acquainted the Vice Chairman is with the Traditions and most specifically the booklet “The AA Group”. If he has such problems with these areas perhaps he should enquire about the cult criteria for group membership – but then we think maybe he’s running scared on that one.
Rochester Monday (cult group)
Shock horror. “No report”. It looks like Hugo “Not in my experience” M has gone AWOL. High Command will be displeased.
Rochester Saturday (cult group)
“We are self-supporting and fluctuate between 8 – 16 people. All service positions are filled and we are getting visitors and newcomers from all local meetings. (no mention of the fact that the newcomers are not being directed to “all local meetings” – just cult meetings.
Strood (cult group)
Apparently the “food and Tradition 7 money is now collected separately and therefore food after the meeting is funded by members and not from Tradition 7 Pot” [nothing like a bit of creative accounting!]. This cult group uses a meal after the meeting to support their conditioning methods as part of their repertoire of mind control techniques to ensure that newcomers stay with them (and away from the inferior class of local AA meetings that just offer the traditional tea and biscuits). Further: “The Group remains committed to unity, recovery, service and is welcoming to all”- what it doesn’t say is its ONLY commitment is to CULT unity, recovery and service – not AA – see rest of website for accounts of the history of this group in the area and its repeated breaches of AA Traditions over a number of years.
The minutes then go on to consider the somewhat bizarre problem facing West Kent Intergroup: that “there are far too many Groups”. We’re not even going to try and fathom this one but it did throw some interesting light on the Chairman’s thought (?) processes (if they can be described as these – hence the soubriquet “Homer” (from Homer Simpson)). Apparently according to this mastermind (and it’s in italics in the minutes so it must be important) that
…………zzzzzz Oops. Sorry must have nodded off. Yes it’s that time of year again - West Kent Intergroup. So here’s a review of the summer pantomime and other local events. We warn you now this is a long one – so make some sandwiches and find a nice comfortable chair. If you can read the whole lot you can rest easy in the realisation that you have succeeded in not “being a mental loafer” – just for today!
Firstly the cast:
David “Homer” K. - Chairman (status ‘Who knows? Who cares!’)
Arthur “NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!” E. - Vice Chairman (status – bookend)
Glynne “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” M. – Secretary (status – cult supporter)
Barbara “Cults are a good thing” K. – Conference Delegate – (status - cult member)
Jacqueline “The Suggester” M. – Regional Rep – (status – cult member)
Various members of the Supporting cast and not really that important – just GSRs so not sure what function they have in THIS intergroup (status – maybe rubber stamp)
However our thanks to Cult Productions for allowing the following to take part in this event.
Lee S. – Alternate GSR Ditton (cult supporter, AA group – so far)
Darren F. - GSR Gravesend Tuesday (cult member, cult group)
Gavin “Clinical Depression is Self Pity” A. – GSR Rochester Saturday (cult member, cult group)
Carla V’Z – GSR Strood (cult member, cult group)
and
Apologies from (among others)
Nick T – Share Liaison Officer/Literature Secretary (cult member)
Mark F- Probation Liaison Officer (cult member)
Hugo M – GSR Rochester Monday (cult member, cult group)
It’s worth noting at this point that the usual hordes of the Dark Lord (according to the minutes - though we wouldn’t advise anyone to place too much weight on them – they have been – how shall we put this – economical with the truth in the past) did not materialise. The word must have got back to High Command that the cult tactic of “packing” intergroup meetings has been identified – maybe they’ve been told to lay off – but they’ll be back – never fear.
Don’t worry we’re not going to reproduce the entire minutes – just the more entertaining highlights.
From the Group reports:
Chatham Tuesday
Well something of a novelty for the Chatham Tuesday meeting – it had a group conscience. This must have been quite exciting for this group which generally relies upon the local “bookend” to carry out this function unilaterally. But suffused with self virtue the “bookend” – sorry – the group – declares that it is “united in the pursuance of the Traditions of the Fellowship” – this is something of a surprise given that up to now the “Group” shows little evidence of even a passing acquaintance with any of the aforementioned – see articles “Another “idiot” from Medway” (9/07/08) and “Musings of a Medway Moron” (24/05/08) for some insights on how to create disunity in AA (oh by the way – that’s to do with Tradition Four).
Gravesend Tuesday (beginners meeting) (cult group)
“The Group is self-supporting and has been making regular contributions to Intergroup and all service positions are filled.” [What the report didn’t include was the fact – reported by a member of another local group – that this group has a policy of directing newcomers to Strood Thursday (cult group) notwithstanding the fact that there is a perfectly good AA meeting just down the road on Thursday night. This is entirely in line with the cult policy of keeping newcomers away from AA meetings so that they can be properly conditioned by the cult. Additionally this group have been advertising their presence in the town, giving out a non AA contact number and informing people only of the presence of their meeting in the town – no reference to the Gravesend Thursday (AA) meeting].
Gravesend Thursday (real AA meeting – fully cult proofed)
“The meeting continues to flourish. All service positions are filled and the Group is fully self- supporting”. It is at this point the Vice Chairman (and noted local bookend) intervened – hence the Spanish Inquisition reference: “Arthur E, Vice Chairman [and Grand Inquisitor] asked Hugh C, GSR Gravesend Thursday if the Group continued to exclude members from certain groups from service positions. Hugh responded that no members of AA were denied admittance to their Group. A heated exchange of words took place with the GSR reiterating the Group is open and welcomes all”. Again this serves to indicate how little acquainted the Vice Chairman is with the Traditions and most specifically the booklet “The AA Group”. If he has such problems with these areas perhaps he should enquire about the cult criteria for group membership – but then we think maybe he’s running scared on that one.
Rochester Monday (cult group)
Shock horror. “No report”. It looks like Hugo “Not in my experience” M has gone AWOL. High Command will be displeased.
Rochester Saturday (cult group)
“We are self-supporting and fluctuate between 8 – 16 people. All service positions are filled and we are getting visitors and newcomers from all local meetings. (no mention of the fact that the newcomers are not being directed to “all local meetings” – just cult meetings.
Strood (cult group)
Apparently the “food and Tradition 7 money is now collected separately and therefore food after the meeting is funded by members and not from Tradition 7 Pot” [nothing like a bit of creative accounting!]. This cult group uses a meal after the meeting to support their conditioning methods as part of their repertoire of mind control techniques to ensure that newcomers stay with them (and away from the inferior class of local AA meetings that just offer the traditional tea and biscuits). Further: “The Group remains committed to unity, recovery, service and is welcoming to all”- what it doesn’t say is its ONLY commitment is to CULT unity, recovery and service – not AA – see rest of website for accounts of the history of this group in the area and its repeated breaches of AA Traditions over a number of years.
The minutes then go on to consider the somewhat bizarre problem facing West Kent Intergroup: that “there are far too many Groups”. We’re not even going to try and fathom this one but it did throw some interesting light on the Chairman’s thought (?) processes (if they can be described as these – hence the soubriquet “Homer” (from Homer Simpson)). Apparently according to this mastermind (and it’s in italics in the minutes so it must be important) that
“having more groups is a good thing because it provides a choice of meetings"
[so far so good – but then he comes in with some dubious sociological and historical analysis].
"AA is a Fellowship that originated and comes from the American systems which has [sic] been brought up in a capitalist live or die situation.”
[how Darwinian! – it’s usually at this point that the quote is flung in from “In Memoriam A.H.H” – a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson - “Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw….”]. So it would have to follow from this that his philosophical position derives from another great American system – the survivalist – but with strong influences from the Homer Simpson school – sheer ineptitude will carry you through to win the day - just say “Doh!” a lot and pass the buck at every opportunity . Now we do hate to have to point this out that whatever context AA is derived from it is actually based on something called THE TRADITIONS. We strongly SUGGEST again that he take a look at the following: Tradition One (Long Form – p. 565 Alcoholics Anonymous): “Hence, our common welfare comes first”. Tradition Four (Long Form – p. 565, Alcoholics Anonymous): “But when its [group’s] plans concern the welfare of neighbouring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted”. So far from AA running on the basis of some kind of “capitalist live or die situation” it runs on the basis of concern for mutual welfare and co-operation. Please, please somebody give the Chairman a copy of the Big Book and explain to him carefully and clearly (and quite possibly in words of one syllable) what it means. Or failing that, Mr Chairman, please, please just go away and find a job in AA where you can’t do anymore damage.
Another GSR declared his intention (surely ironic) that he “intends to work vigorously to close at least ten Groups”. We have to applaud this worthy ambition and suggest that he start with the cult groups – that would make four in West Kent and at least three in East Kent and a few more up Sidcup way. Then he can get started with the forty or fifty in the London region, the Road to Recovery in Plymouth and we’re quite sure we can find him a plentiful supply of other cult groups sprinkled round the country.
Finally someone sane broke into the asylum and the GSR from Sittingbourne “pointed out that as we do not have the authority to close meetings lets move on” – Whoaaah – Way too simple!
So that concludes our dissection of the group reports. Most of the Gillingham groups didn’t bother to send in a report – but to bring the “bookend” (and cult groups) up to date – all are actual AA groups, all are fully self supporting, all are cult proofed.
And now to the highlight – the CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
There was a touching vote of thanks to the Secretary – who has not quite gone yet – for her “commitment”. Apparently “One of her virtues is modesty so I won’t embarrass her by listing her many other saintly qualities. She’s been an exemplary Secretary and I wish her a very happy retirement [but not quite yet] from her professional life”. It must have been absolutely excruciating for the Secretary (given this saintly quality of modesty) to have to type this out in the minutes – but she seems to have overcome this no doubt by bringing into play one of her remarkable psychic transformations – hence the tag – “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” (a reference to a much quoted line from the character of Dr David Banner – from the series “The Incredible Hulk”). For those of you unfamiliar with the process the aforementioned character would undergo an extraordinary transformation from a mild and civilised scientist into a hulky, raging, green coloured creature (with a lively dress sense) upon encountering any extreme adverse situation. The word is that the Secretary too is capable of such a psychic change when anyone is foolish enough not to fall into line with her thinking on – well pretty well anything actually. Yep – don’t mess with Mummy – she can go on the turn at the drop of a hat.
Homer then went on to put in a “plea” for volunteers for the job of Secretary. At this point “A deathly hush was present”. Well would you step up and risk an encounter with the Hulk? Would you really fancy being “sponsored” into the position by a control freak from Hell? - not likely. So it was such a relief when the present incumbent, no doubt with saintly modestly, agreed to do just “one very final, very last Assembly”. Homer then “asked the Assembly (must have felt like being back at school) if they were happy to co-opt Glynne M as Secretary for the next meeting.” You can bet that too was greeted with a deathly hush – no-one with a death wish at the Assembly that night.
VICE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Well the Grand Inquisitor started his address as reported in the minutes “I appeal” – we doubt it – not in Medway anyway. The view was expressed that he had a desire that his position as Vice Chairman should not be wasted, “otherwise you have voted me in as a bookend and the position will be unproductive for you and dull for me” – in other words, the show must go on. He went on: "Any and all ideas welcome” – somehow we doubt that as well.
There then followed various reports amongst which:
Regional Report given by Jacqueline M (cult member).
Probation Liaison Report given by Mark M (cult member)
The Convention Convenor’s Report included reference to a “musical interlude” supplied by Gavin (cult member who moonlights as a mental health diagnostician – he of the “Clinical depression is just self pity” fame). Let’s hope his guitar playing was better than his diagnostic skills.
Share/Literature Secretary Report – Nick T (cult member)
The literature table was manned at the convention by Carla (cult member) and Mark (cult member).
Finally – yes we’re almost there….
POST CONFERENCE CONFERENCE DELEGATE REPORT
Given by Barbara “Cults are a good thing” K – conference delegate S. E. Region (cult member and one of the telephone contacts for the recently run cult convention in Canterbury).
The report was couched in a stilted and unctuous fashion usually adopted by those desperately trying to convey an image of humility but without any of its substance.
“Homer” thanked the delegate for her report and apparently “wished her well in her continuing service role” – but service to who? AA or cult?
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Views were expressed that GSR reports should be abbreviated – nothing particularly new there. It was then that the Secretary came out with a shocker – apparently “Intergroup is a GSRs meeting.” Really! Well we’ll be blowed. There must be some mistake. We thought that it was run by the cult and the Secretary. No what she really means is that every three months GSRs and Intergroup officers get together and the GSRs are consulted, asked for their views (sometimes even AA members get a look in) and then if those views coincide with those of the Secretary and cult (and their various creatures) then it’s full steam ahead – otherwise the GSRs are misled, misdirected, Traditions and guidelines distorted, (Concepts quoted – inappropriately) AA members’ votes are ignored and then – its full steam ahead – My way or the highway! Phew!! Glad we got that sorted out. Business as usual.
Finally we revert to traditional AA. It is recorded that “Prior to the end of the Assembly (just before the assembled masses burst into a chorus of “Land of Hope and Glory”) Arthur “Bookend” E was approached by Hugh C who registered his displeasure at the response of Arthur “Don’t let me get bored” E to the GSR Gravesend report. A further exchange of words took place”, which apparently included an invitation by the Grand Inquisitor to Hugh to “step outside”. Ah! Doesn’t it make your heart glow to know that real AA is still up and running.
Cheerio
Another GSR declared his intention (surely ironic) that he “intends to work vigorously to close at least ten Groups”. We have to applaud this worthy ambition and suggest that he start with the cult groups – that would make four in West Kent and at least three in East Kent and a few more up Sidcup way. Then he can get started with the forty or fifty in the London region, the Road to Recovery in Plymouth and we’re quite sure we can find him a plentiful supply of other cult groups sprinkled round the country.
Finally someone sane broke into the asylum and the GSR from Sittingbourne “pointed out that as we do not have the authority to close meetings lets move on” – Whoaaah – Way too simple!
So that concludes our dissection of the group reports. Most of the Gillingham groups didn’t bother to send in a report – but to bring the “bookend” (and cult groups) up to date – all are actual AA groups, all are fully self supporting, all are cult proofed.
And now to the highlight – the CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
There was a touching vote of thanks to the Secretary – who has not quite gone yet – for her “commitment”. Apparently “One of her virtues is modesty so I won’t embarrass her by listing her many other saintly qualities. She’s been an exemplary Secretary and I wish her a very happy retirement [but not quite yet] from her professional life”. It must have been absolutely excruciating for the Secretary (given this saintly quality of modesty) to have to type this out in the minutes – but she seems to have overcome this no doubt by bringing into play one of her remarkable psychic transformations – hence the tag – “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry” (a reference to a much quoted line from the character of Dr David Banner – from the series “The Incredible Hulk”). For those of you unfamiliar with the process the aforementioned character would undergo an extraordinary transformation from a mild and civilised scientist into a hulky, raging, green coloured creature (with a lively dress sense) upon encountering any extreme adverse situation. The word is that the Secretary too is capable of such a psychic change when anyone is foolish enough not to fall into line with her thinking on – well pretty well anything actually. Yep – don’t mess with Mummy – she can go on the turn at the drop of a hat.
Homer then went on to put in a “plea” for volunteers for the job of Secretary. At this point “A deathly hush was present”. Well would you step up and risk an encounter with the Hulk? Would you really fancy being “sponsored” into the position by a control freak from Hell? - not likely. So it was such a relief when the present incumbent, no doubt with saintly modestly, agreed to do just “one very final, very last Assembly”. Homer then “asked the Assembly (must have felt like being back at school) if they were happy to co-opt Glynne M as Secretary for the next meeting.” You can bet that too was greeted with a deathly hush – no-one with a death wish at the Assembly that night.
VICE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Well the Grand Inquisitor started his address as reported in the minutes “I appeal” – we doubt it – not in Medway anyway. The view was expressed that he had a desire that his position as Vice Chairman should not be wasted, “otherwise you have voted me in as a bookend and the position will be unproductive for you and dull for me” – in other words, the show must go on. He went on: "Any and all ideas welcome” – somehow we doubt that as well.
There then followed various reports amongst which:
Regional Report given by Jacqueline M (cult member).
Probation Liaison Report given by Mark M (cult member)
The Convention Convenor’s Report included reference to a “musical interlude” supplied by Gavin (cult member who moonlights as a mental health diagnostician – he of the “Clinical depression is just self pity” fame). Let’s hope his guitar playing was better than his diagnostic skills.
Share/Literature Secretary Report – Nick T (cult member)
The literature table was manned at the convention by Carla (cult member) and Mark (cult member).
Finally – yes we’re almost there….
POST CONFERENCE CONFERENCE DELEGATE REPORT
Given by Barbara “Cults are a good thing” K – conference delegate S. E. Region (cult member and one of the telephone contacts for the recently run cult convention in Canterbury).
The report was couched in a stilted and unctuous fashion usually adopted by those desperately trying to convey an image of humility but without any of its substance.
“Homer” thanked the delegate for her report and apparently “wished her well in her continuing service role” – but service to who? AA or cult?
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Views were expressed that GSR reports should be abbreviated – nothing particularly new there. It was then that the Secretary came out with a shocker – apparently “Intergroup is a GSRs meeting.” Really! Well we’ll be blowed. There must be some mistake. We thought that it was run by the cult and the Secretary. No what she really means is that every three months GSRs and Intergroup officers get together and the GSRs are consulted, asked for their views (sometimes even AA members get a look in) and then if those views coincide with those of the Secretary and cult (and their various creatures) then it’s full steam ahead – otherwise the GSRs are misled, misdirected, Traditions and guidelines distorted, (Concepts quoted – inappropriately) AA members’ votes are ignored and then – its full steam ahead – My way or the highway! Phew!! Glad we got that sorted out. Business as usual.
Finally we revert to traditional AA. It is recorded that “Prior to the end of the Assembly (just before the assembled masses burst into a chorus of “Land of Hope and Glory”) Arthur “Bookend” E was approached by Hugh C who registered his displeasure at the response of Arthur “Don’t let me get bored” E to the GSR Gravesend report. A further exchange of words took place”, which apparently included an invitation by the Grand Inquisitor to Hugh to “step outside”. Ah! Doesn’t it make your heart glow to know that real AA is still up and running.
Cheerio
The Fellas
9/07/08
Another “idiot” from Medway
The following contribution was sent in (addressed to the Chairman) by a Medway "idiot" - sorry - AA member (and ex- cult member) who seems none to pleased with the Vice Chairman’s comments about “idiots” in Medway made at the last Intergroup meeting (not to mention that individual’s behind-the-scenes attempts to suppress freedom of speech in AA – a curious stance given the 'image' he likes to present at AA meetings)
The following contribution was sent in (addressed to the Chairman) by a Medway "idiot" - sorry - AA member (and ex- cult member) who seems none to pleased with the Vice Chairman’s comments about “idiots” in Medway made at the last Intergroup meeting (not to mention that individual’s behind-the-scenes attempts to suppress freedom of speech in AA – a curious stance given the 'image' he likes to present at AA meetings)
Without Prejudice
Dear Chairman,
We note with sadness the very aggressive and hurtful attack on us who he labels ‘the impoverished and idiot mandate’. He hoists himself by his own petard by slagging us off for slagging others off. Does he not realise that constructive criticism and peer pressure are crucial ingredients necessary to maintain the integrity and autonomous nature of every individual AA group from Akron to Zanzibar?
His words are libellous and slanderous and seemingly an attack on AA unity in West Kent.
We agree we are impoverished. Most all members of AA join in an impoverished state including, mental, physical, financial and spiritual impoverishment. Why are we singled out at intergroup? We try to improve our impoverished state by working the programme to the best of our ability and limited resources and as a result get slagged off by the Vice chair. Also he slags us for our ‘idiotic’ behaviour. One of us was flattered as he deems his IQ to be 18; the minimum for idiot is 20. Another of us is a former member of MENSA. He slagged of the white card as non-GSO and missed the point by seemingly intentionally misunderstanding its purpose at intergroup. In case he is still the only one not to know in WKIG, please tell him it is to protect vulnerable groups and vulnerable newcomers from the vision/joys/roadies. These [latter] groups protect themselves in a way similar to the white card; they only allow newcomers to do service if he/she has a sponsor who is a cult-indoctrinated member. The Police Steering Committee in turn approves the cult sponsors. (Police being the term used by H. at Intergroup in 2007).
A dynamic equilibrium exists between the Medway/Gravesend AA and the cult so why does the VC try to upset this precarious situation by attacking the weak and softer target?
The cult vet their newcomers for earnings potential that they discard any that don’t meet their criteria as being unsponserable.
Psychological blackmail is also used at Strood and Rochester to compel errant behaviour. Their wealthy status is shown in their cult ‘convention’ at Canterbury this midsummer. (£35 per night en suite. Dinner: £29 per head) Clearly only rich Vision USA, vision Copenhagen and Visions Cork etc are able to afford it. This ‘weekend of fellowship’ is advertised on literature tables of the WKIG cult groups and was also promoted by an ardent cult member at Ditton Friday. This is non-GSO; would the VC be interested in investigating this? This is a non-AA convention but they are invoking AA Tradition 7 to fund it and the hall hire and refreshments. Is this not worth the VC investigating as to where the profits of ‘tradition 7’ go after the holiday club’s bills are paid off?
The white card was introduced to prevent the: ‘vision’, ‘there is a solution’, joys’ etc. from infiltrating and taking key position and changing the meeting format to one based on non AA approved principles as laid down by the founder of the website www…. which sponsees of the vision cult have been encouraged to download from the website in company time on company stationery (even though one in particular preferred the 12x12 book). Stood, Rochester and Gravesend’s Police steering committees state, as does the website, that the 12x12 is a very confusing book for newcomers and was only written as “musings” and “essays” for the primary purpose of financing Bill W’s pension fund. They are entitled to their opinion but to enforce it on others and deny their sponsees the great and good of the 12x12 meeting format is very sad and extremely manipulative.
One of us impoverished was told by his then [cult] sponsor H. to stop taking two anti psychotic in 2007, one of which was to suppress suicidal thoughts. This has had enormous consequences, but thankfully it didn’t end as the lady from Rochester shared in her chair at Aylesford last year that her sponsee committed suicide after following her instructions to stop taking her medication. Recently a telephone responder told a caller in WKIG area to stop taking Librium. The caller, a nurse queried this with the WKIG lady who 12 stepped her and she was able to counter the action…..
... and so the tale unfolds - we wonder what the ending might be? - it certainly isn't in the hands of York, or Conference, or Region, and definitely not in the hands of the cult infested intergroup that currently staggers along in West (and East) Kent - so we guess that just leaves ..... YOU - what would YOU like to do about this?
Cheers
The Fellas
05/07/08
A member’s eye view – West Kent One Year on - Part One
Background
This report relates to the events and activities of the West Kent Intergroup area since last year’s attempt to remove the cult from the local intergroup and Where to Find directory.
This site now has worldwide readership so the content will contain issues that may not be familiar to your area. However, certain points will be all too familiar to some of you, and hopefully a warning to the rest.
The cult arrived in mid Kent about eight years ago; three attempts have been made to halt their extreme behaviour and non adherence to traditions; their conduct has caused major disruption, disunity, and damage to the entire AA fellowship in the intergroup area. This last attempt was the most successful so far, but was unable to remove them from mainstream AA.
Two intergroups in the south voted overwhelmingly to disallow their cult groups from intergroup and the Where to Find. Those in the mid Kent area, spurred on by our brothers along the coast, attempted the same course of action.
Our brothers and sisters in the above intergroups with true British understatement, kept them out as "Too Controversial". The events at our intergroup were truly bizarre and will live in the memory of those involved as a lesson and a warning.
Both mainstream AA and the cult presented their case at West Kent Intergroup; it then fell to group conscience meetings in the area. Naturally the cult groups voted to stay in, as did some groups where they had influence; several groups on the outer limits of the area abstained. However thirteen groups, (this information is recorded and open to anyone interested) voted, some unanimously, for removal.
The following events defy belief and confirmed what most of us had feared ie that our intergroup was no more than a superfluous talking shop. It also confirmed just how deep the penetration of the cult had become.
The following meeting’s agenda was to include the outcome of the vote and with 13 groups in favour, and a fair few abstentions, it appeared that sanity would prevail.
With a masterstroke of Democracy, Fair play and Openness the chairman scrubbed the vote from the agenda ably assisted by a vote consisting of fence sitters, ostriches, and a massive over representation of cult intergroup officers. Remember the system at this intergroup means that 1 intergroup officer’s vote can cancel out 20 members’ votes from a group, and it did.
The chairman also went on to instruct everyone not to look at this site, (no - this really is Kent, not Zimbabwe), the thirteen were not amused and moves to set up our own intergroup were planned, and still are. For the time being these groups will probably stay put, and look after themselves, as the intergroup is not only impotent, but totally undemocratic. However the hope is to restore this intergroup to a democratic foundation rather than break away.
Readers please note that other intergroups do act responsibly; this event was rare, bizarre and fear based; its blatant disregard for democracy is the worst we have ever experienced apart from that practised by the cult.
Enough on this – it’s not funny anymore, just sad.
AA cult watch
The website you are looking at is nearly a year old and has been an overwhelming success. Contrary to popular belief, there are many people involved in its birth and operation; it has researchers, writers, checkers, advisors and editorial staff.
Another fact for detractors: the site was planned way before the vote, or non-vote as it happened, and was to be launched whatever the outcome of the intergroup’s decision.
FAQs
No defence of the site is necessary, but in the interests of freedom of speech, the following may be helpful:
Q: Should we look at this site - the chairman told us not to?
A: It’s still a free country last time we looked so it’s your right - you are a citizen first, and hopefully, happy, joyous and FREE.
Background
This report relates to the events and activities of the West Kent Intergroup area since last year’s attempt to remove the cult from the local intergroup and Where to Find directory.
This site now has worldwide readership so the content will contain issues that may not be familiar to your area. However, certain points will be all too familiar to some of you, and hopefully a warning to the rest.
The cult arrived in mid Kent about eight years ago; three attempts have been made to halt their extreme behaviour and non adherence to traditions; their conduct has caused major disruption, disunity, and damage to the entire AA fellowship in the intergroup area. This last attempt was the most successful so far, but was unable to remove them from mainstream AA.
Two intergroups in the south voted overwhelmingly to disallow their cult groups from intergroup and the Where to Find. Those in the mid Kent area, spurred on by our brothers along the coast, attempted the same course of action.
Our brothers and sisters in the above intergroups with true British understatement, kept them out as "Too Controversial". The events at our intergroup were truly bizarre and will live in the memory of those involved as a lesson and a warning.
Both mainstream AA and the cult presented their case at West Kent Intergroup; it then fell to group conscience meetings in the area. Naturally the cult groups voted to stay in, as did some groups where they had influence; several groups on the outer limits of the area abstained. However thirteen groups, (this information is recorded and open to anyone interested) voted, some unanimously, for removal.
The following events defy belief and confirmed what most of us had feared ie that our intergroup was no more than a superfluous talking shop. It also confirmed just how deep the penetration of the cult had become.
The following meeting’s agenda was to include the outcome of the vote and with 13 groups in favour, and a fair few abstentions, it appeared that sanity would prevail.
With a masterstroke of Democracy, Fair play and Openness the chairman scrubbed the vote from the agenda ably assisted by a vote consisting of fence sitters, ostriches, and a massive over representation of cult intergroup officers. Remember the system at this intergroup means that 1 intergroup officer’s vote can cancel out 20 members’ votes from a group, and it did.
The chairman also went on to instruct everyone not to look at this site, (no - this really is Kent, not Zimbabwe), the thirteen were not amused and moves to set up our own intergroup were planned, and still are. For the time being these groups will probably stay put, and look after themselves, as the intergroup is not only impotent, but totally undemocratic. However the hope is to restore this intergroup to a democratic foundation rather than break away.
Readers please note that other intergroups do act responsibly; this event was rare, bizarre and fear based; its blatant disregard for democracy is the worst we have ever experienced apart from that practised by the cult.
Enough on this – it’s not funny anymore, just sad.
AA cult watch
The website you are looking at is nearly a year old and has been an overwhelming success. Contrary to popular belief, there are many people involved in its birth and operation; it has researchers, writers, checkers, advisors and editorial staff.
Another fact for detractors: the site was planned way before the vote, or non-vote as it happened, and was to be launched whatever the outcome of the intergroup’s decision.
FAQs
No defence of the site is necessary, but in the interests of freedom of speech, the following may be helpful:
Q: Should we look at this site - the chairman told us not to?
A: It’s still a free country last time we looked so it’s your right - you are a citizen first, and hopefully, happy, joyous and FREE.
Q: Should this website exist - it may bring AA into disrepute? Are you not washing dirty laundry in public?
A: Any harm to the fellowship caused by this site pales into insignificance compared to the damage the cult has done, and continues to do. If there was an alternative, we tried them all, including the democratic AA way - then this site would be redundant. If relatives of EX cult group members start to write to the press or TV - and it’s only a matter of time - the real damage will be done. By EX cult members I mean EX. It should be noted that in this town (Medway area) two charities no longer recommend the cult groups, and steer newcomers to mainstream AA. So we already have disrepute, damage and almost total disunity. Also this is not an official AA site, just a concerned AA members linkup (remember! FREE SPEECH)
Q: When will you close this site?
A: Four seconds after the cult closes up shop.
Q: Why call them the "cult"; it’s emotive and too strong?
A: If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck then it probably is a duck. On a more serious note - extensive research on what constitutes a cult has produced parameters on the subject, and the cult groups tick virtually all the boxes. There are also help groups for those escaping cults which show that deprogramming is very important. This information was collated to help people exiting the Moonies, and Dravidian sects etc and this should have some relevance for those people (“refugees” as they are called in Medway) when they arrive at real AA meetings. If you are in any doubt research yourself, look for cults and how to recognize them. Also research exit strategies; they are both scary and you will see the tactics glaring from each page – it’s worth the time. Because of our tradition of anonymity the wider community sometimes thinks AA is a cult anyway - the antics of these fanatics will leave them in no doubt.
Q: Some of the stuff is Personal?
A: So is Suicide.
Q: Shouldn’t the site be just for those concerned and not available from search engines on the net?
A: That was our original conception. However when the chairman advised members not to look at site (perhaps coincidentally) the hit rate rocketed helping push up the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Thanks in part to the chairman we now receive contacts from all over the world: from San Diego to Sydney and Sidcup. In addition we should ALL be concerned; whether you like it or not these groups are a danger to the AA we know and love. They break traditions continually and brainwash newcomers. The site has been more effective than we ever envisaged; the overwhelming majority of emails are supportive, confirming that concern is not just limited to this site or this part of the world. The minority of negative response is (a) cult members (b) those that don’t know that they don’t know, and (c) bleeding deacons. We have had one threat but that was dealt with via the service provider and police and an apology received. (see Abuse Policy).
Q: Aren’t all groups Autonomous?
A: Yes - but there’s two parts to that tradition the second which the cult chooses to ignore - by affecting other groups and AA as a whole. See elsewhere on this site for information.
Q: You can write what you like can’t you?
A: Yes we can but as far as evidence is concerned we publish nothing without confirmation details which are checked and rechecked. We do not publish any rumour, gossip or hearsay sent our way: to do so would affect our credibility. Furthermore some sources are working within the recovery industry, and dare not come out and risk their anonymity. There are further sources that we cannot confirm because they are dead. This means that we cannot use a significant amount of the information we receive - but there’s still enough.
This ends Part One: Part Two next week - including the cult power drive, white card meetings, possible outcomes, the cult and concepts, the cult and medication….
A million thanks for all your support wherever you are.
One of our team likes quotations - he says the wise men who wrote them put in ten words what he does in ten pages, this one’s for all you cult members who shouldn’t be reading this!!!
YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME, AND ALL THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, BUT YOU CAN’T FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. Abe Lincoln
Bye for now,
Anon July 08
A: Any harm to the fellowship caused by this site pales into insignificance compared to the damage the cult has done, and continues to do. If there was an alternative, we tried them all, including the democratic AA way - then this site would be redundant. If relatives of EX cult group members start to write to the press or TV - and it’s only a matter of time - the real damage will be done. By EX cult members I mean EX. It should be noted that in this town (Medway area) two charities no longer recommend the cult groups, and steer newcomers to mainstream AA. So we already have disrepute, damage and almost total disunity. Also this is not an official AA site, just a concerned AA members linkup (remember! FREE SPEECH)
Q: When will you close this site?
A: Four seconds after the cult closes up shop.
Q: Why call them the "cult"; it’s emotive and too strong?
A: If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck then it probably is a duck. On a more serious note - extensive research on what constitutes a cult has produced parameters on the subject, and the cult groups tick virtually all the boxes. There are also help groups for those escaping cults which show that deprogramming is very important. This information was collated to help people exiting the Moonies, and Dravidian sects etc and this should have some relevance for those people (“refugees” as they are called in Medway) when they arrive at real AA meetings. If you are in any doubt research yourself, look for cults and how to recognize them. Also research exit strategies; they are both scary and you will see the tactics glaring from each page – it’s worth the time. Because of our tradition of anonymity the wider community sometimes thinks AA is a cult anyway - the antics of these fanatics will leave them in no doubt.
Q: Some of the stuff is Personal?
A: So is Suicide.
Q: Shouldn’t the site be just for those concerned and not available from search engines on the net?
A: That was our original conception. However when the chairman advised members not to look at site (perhaps coincidentally) the hit rate rocketed helping push up the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Thanks in part to the chairman we now receive contacts from all over the world: from San Diego to Sydney and Sidcup. In addition we should ALL be concerned; whether you like it or not these groups are a danger to the AA we know and love. They break traditions continually and brainwash newcomers. The site has been more effective than we ever envisaged; the overwhelming majority of emails are supportive, confirming that concern is not just limited to this site or this part of the world. The minority of negative response is (a) cult members (b) those that don’t know that they don’t know, and (c) bleeding deacons. We have had one threat but that was dealt with via the service provider and police and an apology received. (see Abuse Policy).
Q: Aren’t all groups Autonomous?
A: Yes - but there’s two parts to that tradition the second which the cult chooses to ignore - by affecting other groups and AA as a whole. See elsewhere on this site for information.
Q: You can write what you like can’t you?
A: Yes we can but as far as evidence is concerned we publish nothing without confirmation details which are checked and rechecked. We do not publish any rumour, gossip or hearsay sent our way: to do so would affect our credibility. Furthermore some sources are working within the recovery industry, and dare not come out and risk their anonymity. There are further sources that we cannot confirm because they are dead. This means that we cannot use a significant amount of the information we receive - but there’s still enough.
This ends Part One: Part Two next week - including the cult power drive, white card meetings, possible outcomes, the cult and concepts, the cult and medication….
A million thanks for all your support wherever you are.
One of our team likes quotations - he says the wise men who wrote them put in ten words what he does in ten pages, this one’s for all you cult members who shouldn’t be reading this!!!
YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL OF THE TIME, AND ALL THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME, BUT YOU CAN’T FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. Abe Lincoln
Bye for now,
Anon July 08
09/06/08
A Cult Convention? We think so
We have received a copy of a flyer currently being circulated at some AA meetings in the area and of course at the cult meetings (since they are organising this event).
The document advertises “A Weekend of Meetings and Fellowship” (to be held towards the end of this month; additionally there is quite a lot of promotional information – Wimbledon Tennis, trips to Paris, together with various outings including “a walk over the white cliffs of Dover” – now that conjures up an image…) There is no indication on the flyer of any associations with AA – no AA logo, AA phone number or contact details for the AA organisers. This might be to do with the fact that it is not an AA organised event – so the question has to be asked: why is it being circulated at meetings claiming to be AA meetings? Answer: they are not AA meetings - this is not a convention in any way associated with AA; it is a cult gathering, serving the same function in London and the South East as the Plymouth gathering does in the South West - an opportunity for the ‘saved’ to indulge in a bit of mutual admiration and maybe more …….
A Cult Convention? We think so
We have received a copy of a flyer currently being circulated at some AA meetings in the area and of course at the cult meetings (since they are organising this event).
The document advertises “A Weekend of Meetings and Fellowship” (to be held towards the end of this month; additionally there is quite a lot of promotional information – Wimbledon Tennis, trips to Paris, together with various outings including “a walk over the white cliffs of Dover” – now that conjures up an image…) There is no indication on the flyer of any associations with AA – no AA logo, AA phone number or contact details for the AA organisers. This might be to do with the fact that it is not an AA organised event – so the question has to be asked: why is it being circulated at meetings claiming to be AA meetings? Answer: they are not AA meetings - this is not a convention in any way associated with AA; it is a cult gathering, serving the same function in London and the South East as the Plymouth gathering does in the South West - an opportunity for the ‘saved’ to indulge in a bit of mutual admiration and maybe more …….
Despite the absence of the AA logo etc there is reference to the fact that all these meetings (whatever they are about) are “open” and “all are welcome”. We are quite sure that this is the case – we are equally sure that a number of meetings will take place which will be by no means “open” to all and to which ‘very few would be welcome’. This cult convention is a great opportunity for the core cult members to plan their campaign to subvert AA, to exchange information and co-ordinate their infiltration of Intergroups, Regions and thence onwards to Conference etc. The advantages of gaining control at all these levels is that this is where the decisions take place with regard to the nature and conduct of our relationship with outside organisations: the various liaison functions. Additionally an increasing participation at the AA Conference will allow the cult to influence the types of literature presented at AA meetings (see Debbie Does Dallas in Odds and Ends on site). In this fashion, by means direct and indirect, the principles of AA will be gradually perverted to accommodate the dangerous dogma presented by the cult – an ideology based on the notion of sponsor infallibility (the reversal of Tradition Twelve and a control freak's charter), fundamentalist intolerance and moral absolutism (as exemplified by the Four Absolutes or more succinctly - my way or the highway!) and finally the dissolution of individual integrity and autonomy in all spheres: moral, intellectual, emotional and spiritual ie forget all that nonsense about “To thine own self be true!” . In this fashion they can recreate AA in their own image – and then it will cease to be AA.
What would you like to do about it?
PS Before this all gets too “global” and maybe sounds rather grandiose a quick reminder of what this is really all about. A newcomer attends their very first AA meeting – Aylesford Sunday (recently). A cult member approaches them and obtains their phone number. They are rung some time after this and “harangued” in the usual fashion. The newcomer whose nerves are on edge, who has a lot on their plate, and does not need a lecture tells another AA member what has happened. They say that they don’t want to go back to AA. The AA member reassures them and tells them that the behaviour they have been on the receiving end of is “not what AA is about”. In this instance the newcomer came to another meeting (one of those awful cult proofed meetings) where they were welcomed, not given orders of any kind and told they were free to make up their own mind about what they did or did not want to do – ie treated with respect and consideration.
What about the other newcomers who don’t come back!
The Fellas
What would you like to do about it?
PS Before this all gets too “global” and maybe sounds rather grandiose a quick reminder of what this is really all about. A newcomer attends their very first AA meeting – Aylesford Sunday (recently). A cult member approaches them and obtains their phone number. They are rung some time after this and “harangued” in the usual fashion. The newcomer whose nerves are on edge, who has a lot on their plate, and does not need a lecture tells another AA member what has happened. They say that they don’t want to go back to AA. The AA member reassures them and tells them that the behaviour they have been on the receiving end of is “not what AA is about”. In this instance the newcomer came to another meeting (one of those awful cult proofed meetings) where they were welcomed, not given orders of any kind and told they were free to make up their own mind about what they did or did not want to do – ie treated with respect and consideration.
What about the other newcomers who don’t come back!
The Fellas
21/04/08
Intergroup
Ooops! - almost forgot the traditional website entry for this literally unrepresentative body for AA members in West Kent - someone had to remind us that it took place last Friday apparently. Business as per. There were the usual flattering and enthusiastic endorsements for www.aacultwatch.co.uk. Now really – enough is enough already! We can’t possibly handle all this free publicity – it’s embarrassing. Other than that nothing really to report – apart from the fact the Vice Chairman seems to have developed a hankering to organise a lecture tour – apparently the cult proofed meetings in Medway haven’t understood the full implications of what they’re doing and he has developed an overwhelming desire to set them straight. This seems a bit unnecessary since all of them had group consciences on the matter and discussed it in detail – both pros and cons etc. Still a group conscience is a formality that the Vice Chairman’s home group doesn’t trouble itself with – it doesn’t need one – after all its got its very own – the Vice Chairman’s. Anyhoo - the groups declined the offer – “no lectures to endure…” etc. We too have reached our boredom threshold on this one and so…. coming soon – the cult in Essex.
Cheers
The Fellas
Intergroup
Ooops! - almost forgot the traditional website entry for this literally unrepresentative body for AA members in West Kent - someone had to remind us that it took place last Friday apparently. Business as per. There were the usual flattering and enthusiastic endorsements for www.aacultwatch.co.uk. Now really – enough is enough already! We can’t possibly handle all this free publicity – it’s embarrassing. Other than that nothing really to report – apart from the fact the Vice Chairman seems to have developed a hankering to organise a lecture tour – apparently the cult proofed meetings in Medway haven’t understood the full implications of what they’re doing and he has developed an overwhelming desire to set them straight. This seems a bit unnecessary since all of them had group consciences on the matter and discussed it in detail – both pros and cons etc. Still a group conscience is a formality that the Vice Chairman’s home group doesn’t trouble itself with – it doesn’t need one – after all its got its very own – the Vice Chairman’s. Anyhoo - the groups declined the offer – “no lectures to endure…” etc. We too have reached our boredom threshold on this one and so…. coming soon – the cult in Essex.
Cheers
The Fellas
13/04/08
Intimidatory tactics at Gravesend Thursday
Intimidatory tactics at Gravesend Thursday
We have received a report of a visit by the West Kent Intergroup Chairman and Vice Chairman to the Gravesend Thursday group on the evening before Easter. It should be noted that a lot of the regular members were absent due to the Easter weekend – good or bad timing?
The meeting started off as usual until there was an intervention by the Chairman – a question as to why there had been no space allotted for “any AA business”? There was no particularly sinister reason for this – and the secretary made the usual announcement at the end of the meeting. At this point the Chairman asked the group if they had decided to become a “stand alone” group. The reason for this question no doubt relates to the recent decision by the group to cease sending its surplus funds to Intergroup and instead send these directly to York. This decision was made directly as a result of the undemocratic way in which West Kent Intergroup is currently being run. If the Chairman and Secretary of Intergroup (together with the large cult contingent present in WKIG – nearly 50% of the officers) wish to act in an incompetent, duplicitous and less than candid fashion then they can hardly be surprised if members decide to make the rational decision to avoid placing any reliance on them in the conduct of their office (see details elsewhere on website) – they have ceased to be either “trusted” or “servants” of the membership – or to put it another way – “no taxation without representation”.
The second question posed by the Chairman and related apparently to the first was the matter of insurance. It would seem that Intergroup provides insurance cover for groups in the area and we have to assume that this would refer to public liability insurance cover. The fact is that most responsible venues for AA meetings (church halls, health facilities, community halls etc) will already carry such insurance and part of the rental cost for the hall paid by any AA group will go towards that insurance provision. If Intergroup is also paying for this insurance then it is duplicating what already exists and is effectively wasting AA funds. This matter has already been raised once at Regional level but as is so frequently the case prejudice preceded rational judgement and the matter was set aside. Any AA group can quite easily establish whether their venue carries insurance cover or not. In the extremely unlikely event it does not and the group still wishes to use that location it is possible to get insured for a very modest sum (it should be pointed out here that if Intergroup believes that such insurance policies will cover the actions of drunken and violent behaviour in meetings resulting in damage to people or property it will not. These matters constitute criminal acts and as such will not be covered by public liability insurance which relates to accidental damage).
The third item related to whether the group wished to be included in the local Where to Find. This really is quite an extraordinary question given the history of West Kent Intergroup’s complete failure to get to grips with the problem currently posed by the cult groups in the area. Without going into matters that have been covered more than amply in the rest of the site one of the main goals of the proposal put to WKIG in 2007 was the removal of the cult groups’ details from the local Where To Find on the grounds of their repeated and significant breach of AA traditions over a number of years. Here we have a situation where a group has (after a properly constituted conscience meeting and with full regard to AA traditions) decided to send its funds to York. This action in no way affects other groups or AA as a whole and therefore they are fully within their rights to do so. But the Chairman seems to have managed to arrive at the conclusion that this decision somehow requires that he ask whether the group wishes to be listed in the Where To Find. It would seem therefore that the cult groups can blatantly disregard any and all AA traditions and the Chairman (and others) will go literally to any lengths (including undemocratic and dishonest ones) to ensure that they remain listed in the Where to Find. However a regular AA group can make a legitimate decision to send funds directly to York and they are being quizzed as to whether they wish to remain listed – ironic or what!
It is our view and that of a number of the members of that group that we have spoken to that the Chairman and Vice Chairman were essentially seeking to intimidate the group in an attempt to browbeat them back into the fold. The fact is that a number of groups have made it perfectly clear that they are no longer prepared to tolerate the conduct of cult members in their meetings. The white card has been most effective in sending out a clear message that cult tactics are known and will not be permitted in any of those meetings. The policy outlined in the white card is entirely in accordance with AA traditions as they relate to membership of an AA group as distinct from membership of AA as a whole (see AA literature – The AA Group – and website for details).
PS Gravesend Thursday group subsequently had a conscience meeting on the matter and voted by a large majority to retain the existing policy; it is an autonomous group and is not dictated to by Intergroup. Chatham Friday has also voted to send funds directly to York and not to Intergroup - a number of other groups are considering the question. It is worth noting that the decision to hold a group conscience is a matter for group members and not for visitors to the group. The conduct that has been exhibited by the Chairman on this occasion (and by the Vice Chairman on a previous occasion at Gillingham Thursday) may have a disruptive effect on the group. This can be countered in two ways. Firstly the group may decide that it will only have group consciences at regular intervals and not at the whim of any member or visitor to the group. Secondly where a group has made a decision after careful consideration and with a large majority it may additionally decide a minimum time period which must elapse before the matter needs be reviewed. These policies ensure that any attempts to undermine groups through such nuisance tactics will not succeed.
PPS The Chairman and Secretary of Intergroup will shortly be departing from their offices – it is our hope that their successors can hardly be less competent or more dishonest – but then there is always the cult! They may have been keeping a relatively low profile recently (which usually occurs where they have been challenged) but their agenda remains the same – remember they’ve been around at least thirty years and it’s unlikely that we will be rid of them overnight.
The meeting started off as usual until there was an intervention by the Chairman – a question as to why there had been no space allotted for “any AA business”? There was no particularly sinister reason for this – and the secretary made the usual announcement at the end of the meeting. At this point the Chairman asked the group if they had decided to become a “stand alone” group. The reason for this question no doubt relates to the recent decision by the group to cease sending its surplus funds to Intergroup and instead send these directly to York. This decision was made directly as a result of the undemocratic way in which West Kent Intergroup is currently being run. If the Chairman and Secretary of Intergroup (together with the large cult contingent present in WKIG – nearly 50% of the officers) wish to act in an incompetent, duplicitous and less than candid fashion then they can hardly be surprised if members decide to make the rational decision to avoid placing any reliance on them in the conduct of their office (see details elsewhere on website) – they have ceased to be either “trusted” or “servants” of the membership – or to put it another way – “no taxation without representation”.
The second question posed by the Chairman and related apparently to the first was the matter of insurance. It would seem that Intergroup provides insurance cover for groups in the area and we have to assume that this would refer to public liability insurance cover. The fact is that most responsible venues for AA meetings (church halls, health facilities, community halls etc) will already carry such insurance and part of the rental cost for the hall paid by any AA group will go towards that insurance provision. If Intergroup is also paying for this insurance then it is duplicating what already exists and is effectively wasting AA funds. This matter has already been raised once at Regional level but as is so frequently the case prejudice preceded rational judgement and the matter was set aside. Any AA group can quite easily establish whether their venue carries insurance cover or not. In the extremely unlikely event it does not and the group still wishes to use that location it is possible to get insured for a very modest sum (it should be pointed out here that if Intergroup believes that such insurance policies will cover the actions of drunken and violent behaviour in meetings resulting in damage to people or property it will not. These matters constitute criminal acts and as such will not be covered by public liability insurance which relates to accidental damage).
The third item related to whether the group wished to be included in the local Where to Find. This really is quite an extraordinary question given the history of West Kent Intergroup’s complete failure to get to grips with the problem currently posed by the cult groups in the area. Without going into matters that have been covered more than amply in the rest of the site one of the main goals of the proposal put to WKIG in 2007 was the removal of the cult groups’ details from the local Where To Find on the grounds of their repeated and significant breach of AA traditions over a number of years. Here we have a situation where a group has (after a properly constituted conscience meeting and with full regard to AA traditions) decided to send its funds to York. This action in no way affects other groups or AA as a whole and therefore they are fully within their rights to do so. But the Chairman seems to have managed to arrive at the conclusion that this decision somehow requires that he ask whether the group wishes to be listed in the Where To Find. It would seem therefore that the cult groups can blatantly disregard any and all AA traditions and the Chairman (and others) will go literally to any lengths (including undemocratic and dishonest ones) to ensure that they remain listed in the Where to Find. However a regular AA group can make a legitimate decision to send funds directly to York and they are being quizzed as to whether they wish to remain listed – ironic or what!
It is our view and that of a number of the members of that group that we have spoken to that the Chairman and Vice Chairman were essentially seeking to intimidate the group in an attempt to browbeat them back into the fold. The fact is that a number of groups have made it perfectly clear that they are no longer prepared to tolerate the conduct of cult members in their meetings. The white card has been most effective in sending out a clear message that cult tactics are known and will not be permitted in any of those meetings. The policy outlined in the white card is entirely in accordance with AA traditions as they relate to membership of an AA group as distinct from membership of AA as a whole (see AA literature – The AA Group – and website for details).
PS Gravesend Thursday group subsequently had a conscience meeting on the matter and voted by a large majority to retain the existing policy; it is an autonomous group and is not dictated to by Intergroup. Chatham Friday has also voted to send funds directly to York and not to Intergroup - a number of other groups are considering the question. It is worth noting that the decision to hold a group conscience is a matter for group members and not for visitors to the group. The conduct that has been exhibited by the Chairman on this occasion (and by the Vice Chairman on a previous occasion at Gillingham Thursday) may have a disruptive effect on the group. This can be countered in two ways. Firstly the group may decide that it will only have group consciences at regular intervals and not at the whim of any member or visitor to the group. Secondly where a group has made a decision after careful consideration and with a large majority it may additionally decide a minimum time period which must elapse before the matter needs be reviewed. These policies ensure that any attempts to undermine groups through such nuisance tactics will not succeed.
PPS The Chairman and Secretary of Intergroup will shortly be departing from their offices – it is our hope that their successors can hardly be less competent or more dishonest – but then there is always the cult! They may have been keeping a relatively low profile recently (which usually occurs where they have been challenged) but their agenda remains the same – remember they’ve been around at least thirty years and it’s unlikely that we will be rid of them overnight.
24/02/08
Another breach of Tradition Four by the cult groups!
We have received reports that another poster has been found displayed at an organisation called GASP (a drop-in centre for people with drug or alcohol related issues) based in Gravesend. The poster displayed was from AA but the contact details merely gave the address of the Gravesend Tuesday (cult) group. There was no reference to any other group in the area (ie Gravesend Thursday – which is a normal AA meeting) or the national contact number for AA as a whole. This is a clear breach of the above tradition. It might be worth bearing in mind that since the cult groups can in our view no longer be regarded as AA groups running AA meetings then they can hardly be expected to abide by our traditions. The pity is that they continue to pose as such and thereby bring AA into disrepute.
We have also been informed that another cult meeting has been set up in Rochester on Saturday. Full details to follow. Members are of course free to visit any venue that they like and follow any course of action that they wish but might like to recall that if they wish to encounter AA members and the AA programme then there is more chance of that happening in an AA meeting and no chance of that occurring in a cult meeting.
We also understand that certain cult members in the East Kent area were none to happy about our Canterbury Tale (see Stop Press 18/01/08). There is of course quite an easy solution to that. If such individuals cease to coerce, bully, manipulate, abuse, control, direct etc AA members there really will be no reason to expose them on this site. However you can be equally sure that where cult members pursue the cult agenda and continue to coerce, bully, manipulate, abuse, control, direct etc AA members they will most assuredly find themselves and their activities fully detailed on this site. So the choice – and responsibility – is, as always, yours.
Over to you
The Fellas
02/02/08
The award for Best Publicist goes to ……….(bated breath)
Yes it’s that time of year. The aacultwatch team have decided that in line with all other venerable institutions (we have after all been going for over four months) we would launch our own awards ceremony. We feel strongly that the efforts of our members should not go unrecognised and towards this end we are determined that the credits should be duly allotted.
So for our first category we have picked out what we believe to be that which is of most value to us – publicity. There was very little debate amongst the judges as to who should be the first recipient of this honour – head and shoulders above all the competition there could be only one choice ……………… the chairman of West Kent Intergroup. We have no doubt that he has done more than any other single member of AA to bring to the attention of his fellows the existence of this site. His efforts have been tireless towards this end and we really cannot express our gratitude to a sufficient degree to match his contribution. We hope that this award will in some small way serve as a token of our appreciation of his devotion to this particular cause. Indeed it was but recently that he again went into action and publicised this website for us at a meeting. Fortunately one of our contributors was present to testify to his unswerving dedication and was quite touched by the balanced presentation of his views on the site. Now there may be some among you who think that the chairman in some way disapproves of this site. On this we must correct you for despite his apparent condemnation of the site, its contents and the apparent “cruelty” of some of the contributors we know otherwise. We can see that deep down in his heart he is truly touched by our efforts and cannot but fail to be moved by the truth of our comments. Our contributor was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm displayed by the chairman in conveying his views on the aacultwatch site. Indeed so carried away was he by the fervour of his exposition that he even went as far as to identify the “author” of the website to the rest of the members present at the meeting. Now much as the individual in question would love to take the credit for the whole shebang (for it is widely known that this person does not suffer from that most grave of defects of character – modesty – or perhaps more accurately – false modesty) nevertheless it would be extremely dishonest to claim all the kudos. The site has since its inception been composed of a number of contributors from around the country sending in information on the activities of the cult. Indeed it must be said that at the meeting in question there were no less than four members present all of whom have contributed to the site’s content.
Additionally we will endeavour to correct some of the misconceptions from which our greatest ally seems to suffer. Far from being “cruel” in our intent perhaps he could (and this is only a suggestion) alter his attitude and see our comments rather as stimuli to action. Sometimes when a person has lapsed into a kind of sopor the only remedy is to apply a vigorous shock to the system in order to awaken the comatose individual from his unnaturally deep slumbers. Further some might view our comments as “destructive” and we would have to heartily agree with them in this instance. Indeed our efforts are intended to be destructive – destructive of the ignorance under which so many mainstream AA members labour, and destructive of that same mantle of denial under which the cult attempts to hide as it labours to undermine the fellowship, its message and its collective conscience. So you can rest assured chairman that we will continue to be destructive towards this end for some time to come – indeed until the cult and its adherents either mend their ways or depart from AA.
Keep up the good work!!
PS One good turn always deserves another. The cult is present at the Tunbridge Wells meetings. A member was recently accosted at a lunchtime venue at St Augustine’s and was treated to the usual interrogation on sponsorship and then badgered in traditional cult fashion on the matter– sorry pointy headed ones! – an “own goal” on that one.
PPS Don’t worry cult members – we haven’t forgotten you – some more good news (from AA’s point of view) or bad news (from your point of view) heading your way!
Yes it’s that time of year. The aacultwatch team have decided that in line with all other venerable institutions (we have after all been going for over four months) we would launch our own awards ceremony. We feel strongly that the efforts of our members should not go unrecognised and towards this end we are determined that the credits should be duly allotted.
So for our first category we have picked out what we believe to be that which is of most value to us – publicity. There was very little debate amongst the judges as to who should be the first recipient of this honour – head and shoulders above all the competition there could be only one choice ……………… the chairman of West Kent Intergroup. We have no doubt that he has done more than any other single member of AA to bring to the attention of his fellows the existence of this site. His efforts have been tireless towards this end and we really cannot express our gratitude to a sufficient degree to match his contribution. We hope that this award will in some small way serve as a token of our appreciation of his devotion to this particular cause. Indeed it was but recently that he again went into action and publicised this website for us at a meeting. Fortunately one of our contributors was present to testify to his unswerving dedication and was quite touched by the balanced presentation of his views on the site. Now there may be some among you who think that the chairman in some way disapproves of this site. On this we must correct you for despite his apparent condemnation of the site, its contents and the apparent “cruelty” of some of the contributors we know otherwise. We can see that deep down in his heart he is truly touched by our efforts and cannot but fail to be moved by the truth of our comments. Our contributor was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm displayed by the chairman in conveying his views on the aacultwatch site. Indeed so carried away was he by the fervour of his exposition that he even went as far as to identify the “author” of the website to the rest of the members present at the meeting. Now much as the individual in question would love to take the credit for the whole shebang (for it is widely known that this person does not suffer from that most grave of defects of character – modesty – or perhaps more accurately – false modesty) nevertheless it would be extremely dishonest to claim all the kudos. The site has since its inception been composed of a number of contributors from around the country sending in information on the activities of the cult. Indeed it must be said that at the meeting in question there were no less than four members present all of whom have contributed to the site’s content.
Additionally we will endeavour to correct some of the misconceptions from which our greatest ally seems to suffer. Far from being “cruel” in our intent perhaps he could (and this is only a suggestion) alter his attitude and see our comments rather as stimuli to action. Sometimes when a person has lapsed into a kind of sopor the only remedy is to apply a vigorous shock to the system in order to awaken the comatose individual from his unnaturally deep slumbers. Further some might view our comments as “destructive” and we would have to heartily agree with them in this instance. Indeed our efforts are intended to be destructive – destructive of the ignorance under which so many mainstream AA members labour, and destructive of that same mantle of denial under which the cult attempts to hide as it labours to undermine the fellowship, its message and its collective conscience. So you can rest assured chairman that we will continue to be destructive towards this end for some time to come – indeed until the cult and its adherents either mend their ways or depart from AA.
Keep up the good work!!
PS One good turn always deserves another. The cult is present at the Tunbridge Wells meetings. A member was recently accosted at a lunchtime venue at St Augustine’s and was treated to the usual interrogation on sponsorship and then badgered in traditional cult fashion on the matter– sorry pointy headed ones! – an “own goal” on that one.
PPS Don’t worry cult members – we haven’t forgotten you – some more good news (from AA’s point of view) or bad news (from your point of view) heading your way!
16/01/08
West Kent Intergroup Secretary – Another Fine Performance – Or “My Will be Done”
Well Mummy turned in another fine showing. She’s not one to disappoint her fans (the cult – usual suspects present at Intergroup) and gave a sterling performance based on the theme – “How an intergroup should be run” – ie single-handedly and with minimum participation by its membership. A self-declared supporter if not actual member of this increasingly arrogant grouping she took it upon herself to instruct the health liaison officer on her duties. These are not apparently to seek to ensure that health professionals in the West Kent area are kept informed about what mainstream AA may be able to offer to some of their patients and to facilitate that process but rather that she should ensure that cult “inclusivity” is sustained. Now we would say that cult "inclusivity" was way above safe levels what with half the intergroup officers being drawn from their ranks – a level of toxicity that cannot be sustained for very long we believe. The idea that any cult member should be involved at any level and in any way with patients - given their documented stance on the use (or non-use) of prescribed medication - would be comparable to inviting a paedophile in to take charge of a nursery. So forgive us but in this particular area we think that the Secretary may be verging marginally on complete insanity. Still no matter –shortly we will have to part company (sorrowfully?) because Mummy is moving out of the office and taking her undoubted insight and skills with her. We will be the poorer for the loss but we are quite sure that there is an extensive queue of more than sufficiently inflated egos ready to take up the reigns of power. We guess we’ll just have to struggle along without you somehow. Sorry we're going to have to break off here - the whole team is overcome with grief and I can't type with all this sobbing going on
Choke, choke
West Kent Intergroup Secretary – Another Fine Performance – Or “My Will be Done”
Well Mummy turned in another fine showing. She’s not one to disappoint her fans (the cult – usual suspects present at Intergroup) and gave a sterling performance based on the theme – “How an intergroup should be run” – ie single-handedly and with minimum participation by its membership. A self-declared supporter if not actual member of this increasingly arrogant grouping she took it upon herself to instruct the health liaison officer on her duties. These are not apparently to seek to ensure that health professionals in the West Kent area are kept informed about what mainstream AA may be able to offer to some of their patients and to facilitate that process but rather that she should ensure that cult “inclusivity” is sustained. Now we would say that cult "inclusivity" was way above safe levels what with half the intergroup officers being drawn from their ranks – a level of toxicity that cannot be sustained for very long we believe. The idea that any cult member should be involved at any level and in any way with patients - given their documented stance on the use (or non-use) of prescribed medication - would be comparable to inviting a paedophile in to take charge of a nursery. So forgive us but in this particular area we think that the Secretary may be verging marginally on complete insanity. Still no matter –shortly we will have to part company (sorrowfully?) because Mummy is moving out of the office and taking her undoubted insight and skills with her. We will be the poorer for the loss but we are quite sure that there is an extensive queue of more than sufficiently inflated egos ready to take up the reigns of power. We guess we’ll just have to struggle along without you somehow. Sorry we're going to have to break off here - the whole team is overcome with grief and I can't type with all this sobbing going on
Choke, choke
01/01/08
Another year
Well Happy New Year and all that stuff – except for the cult – we don’t think you’re really going to enjoy 2008 at all.
Just a few reminders:-
We’ve identified the following as being cult meetings in the West Kent and East Kent areas.
West Kent
ROCHESTER: THERE IS A SOLUTION BIG BOOK STEP & TRADITION: Monday
Well Happy New Year and all that stuff – except for the cult – we don’t think you’re really going to enjoy 2008 at all.
Just a few reminders:-
We’ve identified the following as being cult meetings in the West Kent and East Kent areas.
West Kent
ROCHESTER: THERE IS A SOLUTION BIG BOOK STEP & TRADITION: Monday
STROOD: THERE IS A SOLUTION Thursday
GRAVESEND BEGINNERS: Tuesday
East Kent
DOVER KEARSNEY: INTO ACTION Wednesday
East Kent
DOVER KEARSNEY: INTO ACTION Wednesday
TANKERTON: Tuesday.
There are other groups which are marginally involved but so far have not bought the whole package!
We refer to these as cult groups since they either have an established record of breaking AA Traditions to such an extent that they can no longer be regarded as AA groups or (where recently set up) they have been established as being subsidiaries of these groups.
There is also a question MARK over the Margate Friday meeting – apparently funds are being used to finance a monthly dinner for members of the group - something that apparently they forget to draw to the attention of visitors to the meeting – and in our view an improper use of funds contributed by those attending the meeting who are AA members.
All of the locations mentioned above have regular AA meetings (as alternatives to these cult meetings) that are easily accessible including the newly formed Ash meeting, Ash Village Hall, Queens Rd, BIG BOOK STUDY meeting (Wednesday 8pm) – which by the sounds of it is an ATTRACTIVE meeting which encourages individual spiritual development as opposed to the cloning techniques of the cult groups.
Given the comatose state of West Kent Intergroup and its unrepresentative structure we would suggest that responsibility for dealing with the cult groups and their debilitating impact on AA now rests with those AA groups and individual members who are not content to watch the destruction of mainstream AA in the area. To that end we suggest that from now on members take an active role in warning newcomers of the dangers of attending the cult groups, that they should be advised not give out their telephone numbers to anyone that they have not got to know, that they should be wary of anyone offering to sponsor them or indeed of anybody who seems to be intent on running their lives for them. It should be made clear that the readings, six point suggestion card, and step guidelines used at these meetings are not AA approved literature but are in fact derived from sources outside AA via the internet (something which is not made clear to AA members attending these venues under the impression that they are in authentic AA meetings).
This site intends to encourage a more active role to be played by AA members in countering the pernicious influence of the cult locally, regionally and nationally until the cult has either been completely removed from our fellowship or at least marginalised so that the damage that it can inflict on our society is minimised.
Rock on
The Fellas
There are other groups which are marginally involved but so far have not bought the whole package!
We refer to these as cult groups since they either have an established record of breaking AA Traditions to such an extent that they can no longer be regarded as AA groups or (where recently set up) they have been established as being subsidiaries of these groups.
There is also a question MARK over the Margate Friday meeting – apparently funds are being used to finance a monthly dinner for members of the group - something that apparently they forget to draw to the attention of visitors to the meeting – and in our view an improper use of funds contributed by those attending the meeting who are AA members.
All of the locations mentioned above have regular AA meetings (as alternatives to these cult meetings) that are easily accessible including the newly formed Ash meeting, Ash Village Hall, Queens Rd, BIG BOOK STUDY meeting (Wednesday 8pm) – which by the sounds of it is an ATTRACTIVE meeting which encourages individual spiritual development as opposed to the cloning techniques of the cult groups.
Given the comatose state of West Kent Intergroup and its unrepresentative structure we would suggest that responsibility for dealing with the cult groups and their debilitating impact on AA now rests with those AA groups and individual members who are not content to watch the destruction of mainstream AA in the area. To that end we suggest that from now on members take an active role in warning newcomers of the dangers of attending the cult groups, that they should be advised not give out their telephone numbers to anyone that they have not got to know, that they should be wary of anyone offering to sponsor them or indeed of anybody who seems to be intent on running their lives for them. It should be made clear that the readings, six point suggestion card, and step guidelines used at these meetings are not AA approved literature but are in fact derived from sources outside AA via the internet (something which is not made clear to AA members attending these venues under the impression that they are in authentic AA meetings).
This site intends to encourage a more active role to be played by AA members in countering the pernicious influence of the cult locally, regionally and nationally until the cult has either been completely removed from our fellowship or at least marginalised so that the damage that it can inflict on our society is minimised.
Rock on
The Fellas
16/12/07
A history of evasion updated
A history of evasion updated
Here follows a (not so) brief history of the deceit and evasion practised by the Strood/Rochester cult groups gleaned from a variety of correspondence exchanged via intergroup reports (originals on file).
The following refer to complaints made by two groups (Tuesday and Friday Chatham) in their group reports submitted to the West Kent Intergroup meeting (19/1/01). The concerns expressed revolved essentially about complaints that the then Chatham Thursday group (cult) was advising newcomers to go to London to get sponsors (specifically the Eaton Square meeting – another cult group). This elicited a response from the GSR, Mark M (letter dated 18/4/01) Chatham Thursday. You may not recall but we will remind you that this is the same Mark M who had served as secretary for the Eaton Square group in the previous year (see Transcript 1 – DAF correspondence).
Mark M agrees that:
“If AA’s are telling newcomers or telling any members that they must go to London to find a sponsor and that by implication certain meetings are better than other AA meetings it does break with Tradition One which states that personal recovery depends on AA unity”.
He goes on to add:
“I did point this out at Chatham Thursday and also suggested that if this has happened in the past it should cease.”
Additionally and in specific response to the complaint raised by the Chatham Friday group he goes on to add that he is:
“unaware personally of any recruitment operations being employed in any group let alone the particular London group referred to.”
So far so good….. but then there follows a section entitled “Recruitment of Newcomers” in which it is stated that:
“There is no group policy at Chatham Thursday on the issue of recruitment save for the AA traditions”.
The denial of a policy is followed by the rationalisation that:
“the group is a fluid entity with membership changing from week to week”
suggesting that it would be impractical to create such a policy even if the group wished to do so (this same defence has been raised in response to complaints from the Drug and Alcohol Foundation - see Transcript 1). However this is subsequently contradicted by the statement that:
“It is fair to say that Chatham Thursday is a closely-knit group, with its core members regularly sharing experience …”
If it is the case that this core is sharing in this fashion then it is not difficult to surmise that they all have a pretty good idea of what everyone else thinks about issues such as medication, sponsorship etc and therefore there is no real need to formulate a “group policy”. Again Mark M apparently has no experience of any of the group’s members:
“specifically telling a newcomer that he must attend a London meeting to find a sponsor”.
Well, of course he wouldn’t because after all everything in AA is a suggestion is it not? But then we all know that there are suggestions and there are SUGGESTIONS! He adds that he has:
“certainly encouraged those individuals to attend that London meeting with me but I have not told them they must get a sponsor from that meeting or at all as it is not a requirement of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous to get a sponsor or do the steps or in fact do anything”.
Unfortunately anyone who has had any real contact with these groups and others of their type will know the contrary. Newcomers are not only encouraged to get sponsors from approved cult groups but told quite clearly that sponsors from mainstream AA are simply not up to the task. A member reported to us recently that they personally overheard a conversation between a newcomer attending the Aylesford meeting and that meeting’s GSR (a cult member) where they were told they should go to the Strood/Rochester meetings because the Maidstone meetings were simply not up to the scratch. The newcomer in question was actually a resident of Maidstone and therefore it would have made much more sense for them to attend their local meetings. It is disingenuous on the part of Mark M to assert that this was not going on – it was and still is - the evidence is manifold.
Now that the Chatham Thursday group’s lack of policy has been clearly explained Mark M moves on to the offensive. The complaints emanating from these two groups are attributed to:
“a small number of AA’s, possibly one, [who] attend meetings and share that the Chatham Thursday group tells newcomers they must go to London to find a sponsor. Those individuals probably insisted the GSR’s should report this to intergroup”.
Well there you have it. This “small number of AA’s, possibly one” AA member (who will be clearly identified later) is to blame for the complaints registered by two groups. Somehow this lone voice had managed to “insist” that these groups complain about Chatham Thursday; so clearly it is possible for an AA member to make other people do what he or she wants (this diversionary tactic is commonly employed by the cult to create division within mainstream AA. They have used it in the South West, in North London and now in West Kent to deflect attention away from the true problem – their existence and their activities. They personalise the issue, shift the blame for their conduct to the messenger reporting their abusive conduct, and play the role of bullied victim).
We now have Mark M’s analysis fully explained in a section entitled (amusing as it is, coming as it does from the cult) “The True Picture”. Apparently:
“The Group (or is it Mark M? Perhaps they're synonymous) believes the reports offered to Intergroup via the GSR’s are based upon resentments against Chatham Thursday and the individuals who attend it. One individual is sharing at meetings calling the Chatham Thursday meeting; “divisive, financially subsidised, and is breaking AA Traditions””.
It seems that then Mark M (remember he’s the bullied victim) had to undergo the dreadful experience of being confronted by the true picture and was told by John H in:
“no uncertain terms that Chatham Thursday is: “Very controlling, all be it a subtle control, is divisive, will fold as it does not comply with AA Traditions and is outside the mainstream of AA”” (the latter we’re afraid is rather wishful thinking but it is nice to fantasise some times).
So now the blame is properly apportioned. In fact it is nothing to do with the Chatham Thursday group – it is all the fault of this one individual. Now comes the killer blow (he hopes!). A report is given to the group of a telephone message left on the hapless Mark M’s (the victim in all this – please remember that fact) answering machine (March 15, 2001):
“Hi Mark, its John H….., I’m the one that’s unsponsorable and I’m the one that’s on your case. What you are doing is wrong, divisive, destructive, disloyal and against all our traditions of unity and Integrity and I will be back. Have a nice day. Goodbye” (we have left out the full name of the caller but Mark M omitted to do this (so much for his observance of the traditions).
Once our victim had recovered from the dreadful shock of this dire threat against not only him, but also his wife and children (and for all we know the cat) he reached for his keyboard. Finally to hammer home the message in case we had all missed it it was again reiterated that:
“the truth, in all probability, is that one individual, John H, is seeking to denigrate both the individuals and the group at Chatham Thursday”.
Finally that old chestnut was retrieved from the fire and the poor fellow, at the end of his tether no doubt under this vicious and prolonged assault upon his and his group’s integrity:
“if this behaviour continues outside of the AA rooms I may personally consider a legal remedy" – for being told to have a nice day we suppose.
Finally we are lifted again to a loftier and more detached view of this whole sordid affair and reminded by Mark M (or is it the group):
“Finally, both Chatham Thursday and I (they’ve become almost interchangeable by now) would like to thank Intergroup and the GSR’s for raising the issue of AA unity. We have certainly both individually and collectively learnt much from this experience
Yours sincerely
Mark M
Chatham Thursday GSR”
With reference to that wonderful piece of irony “The True Picture” penned by Mark M a number of letters followed in protest at his breach of the anonymity of a fellow member, John H, that Machiavellian master of intrigue who has single handedly masterminded this devilish campaign against the poor unfortunates of the Strood/Rochester/Gravensend branches of the cult (the victims in all this!) in West Kent
Transcriptions
1. This was from Old Nick (John H) himself and addressed to the then Intergroup Secretary
The following refer to complaints made by two groups (Tuesday and Friday Chatham) in their group reports submitted to the West Kent Intergroup meeting (19/1/01). The concerns expressed revolved essentially about complaints that the then Chatham Thursday group (cult) was advising newcomers to go to London to get sponsors (specifically the Eaton Square meeting – another cult group). This elicited a response from the GSR, Mark M (letter dated 18/4/01) Chatham Thursday. You may not recall but we will remind you that this is the same Mark M who had served as secretary for the Eaton Square group in the previous year (see Transcript 1 – DAF correspondence).
Mark M agrees that:
“If AA’s are telling newcomers or telling any members that they must go to London to find a sponsor and that by implication certain meetings are better than other AA meetings it does break with Tradition One which states that personal recovery depends on AA unity”.
He goes on to add:
“I did point this out at Chatham Thursday and also suggested that if this has happened in the past it should cease.”
Additionally and in specific response to the complaint raised by the Chatham Friday group he goes on to add that he is:
“unaware personally of any recruitment operations being employed in any group let alone the particular London group referred to.”
So far so good….. but then there follows a section entitled “Recruitment of Newcomers” in which it is stated that:
“There is no group policy at Chatham Thursday on the issue of recruitment save for the AA traditions”.
The denial of a policy is followed by the rationalisation that:
“the group is a fluid entity with membership changing from week to week”
suggesting that it would be impractical to create such a policy even if the group wished to do so (this same defence has been raised in response to complaints from the Drug and Alcohol Foundation - see Transcript 1). However this is subsequently contradicted by the statement that:
“It is fair to say that Chatham Thursday is a closely-knit group, with its core members regularly sharing experience …”
If it is the case that this core is sharing in this fashion then it is not difficult to surmise that they all have a pretty good idea of what everyone else thinks about issues such as medication, sponsorship etc and therefore there is no real need to formulate a “group policy”. Again Mark M apparently has no experience of any of the group’s members:
“specifically telling a newcomer that he must attend a London meeting to find a sponsor”.
Well, of course he wouldn’t because after all everything in AA is a suggestion is it not? But then we all know that there are suggestions and there are SUGGESTIONS! He adds that he has:
“certainly encouraged those individuals to attend that London meeting with me but I have not told them they must get a sponsor from that meeting or at all as it is not a requirement of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous to get a sponsor or do the steps or in fact do anything”.
Unfortunately anyone who has had any real contact with these groups and others of their type will know the contrary. Newcomers are not only encouraged to get sponsors from approved cult groups but told quite clearly that sponsors from mainstream AA are simply not up to the task. A member reported to us recently that they personally overheard a conversation between a newcomer attending the Aylesford meeting and that meeting’s GSR (a cult member) where they were told they should go to the Strood/Rochester meetings because the Maidstone meetings were simply not up to the scratch. The newcomer in question was actually a resident of Maidstone and therefore it would have made much more sense for them to attend their local meetings. It is disingenuous on the part of Mark M to assert that this was not going on – it was and still is - the evidence is manifold.
Now that the Chatham Thursday group’s lack of policy has been clearly explained Mark M moves on to the offensive. The complaints emanating from these two groups are attributed to:
“a small number of AA’s, possibly one, [who] attend meetings and share that the Chatham Thursday group tells newcomers they must go to London to find a sponsor. Those individuals probably insisted the GSR’s should report this to intergroup”.
Well there you have it. This “small number of AA’s, possibly one” AA member (who will be clearly identified later) is to blame for the complaints registered by two groups. Somehow this lone voice had managed to “insist” that these groups complain about Chatham Thursday; so clearly it is possible for an AA member to make other people do what he or she wants (this diversionary tactic is commonly employed by the cult to create division within mainstream AA. They have used it in the South West, in North London and now in West Kent to deflect attention away from the true problem – their existence and their activities. They personalise the issue, shift the blame for their conduct to the messenger reporting their abusive conduct, and play the role of bullied victim).
We now have Mark M’s analysis fully explained in a section entitled (amusing as it is, coming as it does from the cult) “The True Picture”. Apparently:
“The Group (or is it Mark M? Perhaps they're synonymous) believes the reports offered to Intergroup via the GSR’s are based upon resentments against Chatham Thursday and the individuals who attend it. One individual is sharing at meetings calling the Chatham Thursday meeting; “divisive, financially subsidised, and is breaking AA Traditions””.
It seems that then Mark M (remember he’s the bullied victim) had to undergo the dreadful experience of being confronted by the true picture and was told by John H in:
“no uncertain terms that Chatham Thursday is: “Very controlling, all be it a subtle control, is divisive, will fold as it does not comply with AA Traditions and is outside the mainstream of AA”” (the latter we’re afraid is rather wishful thinking but it is nice to fantasise some times).
So now the blame is properly apportioned. In fact it is nothing to do with the Chatham Thursday group – it is all the fault of this one individual. Now comes the killer blow (he hopes!). A report is given to the group of a telephone message left on the hapless Mark M’s (the victim in all this – please remember that fact) answering machine (March 15, 2001):
“Hi Mark, its John H….., I’m the one that’s unsponsorable and I’m the one that’s on your case. What you are doing is wrong, divisive, destructive, disloyal and against all our traditions of unity and Integrity and I will be back. Have a nice day. Goodbye” (we have left out the full name of the caller but Mark M omitted to do this (so much for his observance of the traditions).
Once our victim had recovered from the dreadful shock of this dire threat against not only him, but also his wife and children (and for all we know the cat) he reached for his keyboard. Finally to hammer home the message in case we had all missed it it was again reiterated that:
“the truth, in all probability, is that one individual, John H, is seeking to denigrate both the individuals and the group at Chatham Thursday”.
Finally that old chestnut was retrieved from the fire and the poor fellow, at the end of his tether no doubt under this vicious and prolonged assault upon his and his group’s integrity:
“if this behaviour continues outside of the AA rooms I may personally consider a legal remedy" – for being told to have a nice day we suppose.
Finally we are lifted again to a loftier and more detached view of this whole sordid affair and reminded by Mark M (or is it the group):
“Finally, both Chatham Thursday and I (they’ve become almost interchangeable by now) would like to thank Intergroup and the GSR’s for raising the issue of AA unity. We have certainly both individually and collectively learnt much from this experience
Yours sincerely
Mark M
Chatham Thursday GSR”
With reference to that wonderful piece of irony “The True Picture” penned by Mark M a number of letters followed in protest at his breach of the anonymity of a fellow member, John H, that Machiavellian master of intrigue who has single handedly masterminded this devilish campaign against the poor unfortunates of the Strood/Rochester/Gravensend branches of the cult (the victims in all this!) in West Kent
Transcriptions
1. This was from Old Nick (John H) himself and addressed to the then Intergroup Secretary
Dear Ray,
Thank you for your reply to my letter regarding anonymity at Intergroup. I thank you for the opertunity [sic] to reply during matters arising.
Regarding the apology I demand nothing, but I believe in the spirit of our fellowship it would be apprpriate [sic]. The fact tht the letter was passed to the chairman only minutes before the start is unfortunate but not relevant. You must realise that this was deliberate as the person concerned arrived twenty five minutes before the start. I think you will agree that the chairman has collective responsibility for what happens at Intergroup and you will recall that Mark was allowed to continue reading after my name was read out. If the Chairman has no responsibility it begs the question why have a Chairman. Further to this point if there is no responsibility for GSR reports then one assumes anything goes? Whilst the chairman does not write these reports he must address traditions broken as a result of such readings. A step ten would be appreciated.
Many people are appalled at this occurrence and as such I believe an apology would be preferable to a vote of no confidence.
Yours sincerely,
John H (Anon) Well used to be
cc. Peter G
[Editors comment: What fiendish cunning! A request for an apology from Mark M – how presumptuous!]
2. Letter from the Chatham Friday group addressed to the Secretary, WKIG
Tony L. Secretary, Chatham, Friday
On behalf of Chatham Friday group, 13th July 01
The Secretary
West Kent Intergroup
Dear Ray,
Ref: Open letter from Mark M dated 18th April 2001
I would be grateful if you would read this letter at the coming Intergroup meeting.
I wish to take this opportunity to express the Friday Chatham Group’s deep concern over the manner in which the aforementioned letter was put to Intergroup We are also saddened by the fact that no action was taken to safeguard tradition 12 as stated in the WKIG aims and structures in the Considerations section. We also remain bewildered as to why no mention was made in the minutes relating to the meeting, or steps were taken to deal with this flagrant breach of anonymity.
With reference to section headed The True Picture (in the aforementioned letter), we again were shocked and dismayed to discover that the Thursday Chatham Group deemed it acceptable to break a member’s anonymity to confirm their explanation.
With further regard to their explanation, believing reports to Friday GSR were based on resentment, the Friday Group members concerned strongly refute this erroneous belief and can only reiterate that these reports were based on the experience of newcomers who attended Chatham Thursday and the group in London at the time. The members concerned wish to convey their dismay and sadness that these reports were not taken as originally intended for the sole purpose of preserving unity and concern for our common welfare in the true spirit of AA.
Ref: Section Conclusion
With reference to the above, we fail to understand that an open letter read aloud, breaking a member’s anonymity: “the spiritual foundation of all our traditions” reassures intergroup and all members who read this letter that the Chatham Thursday Group honours and respects these traditions.
Finally, I would like to state my personal view of these extremely unfortunate events, which I am sure my fellow members will share. I have faith in the strength of the Fellowship and the power of this programme, and I would hope that these distressing matters will be resolved and valuable lessons learnt from this whole situation.
Yours in fellowship,
Tony L.
Secretary
Chatham Friday Group
3. Letter from the Chatham Tuesday Group addressed to the Secretary, WKIG
Gill M, G.S.R, Chatham Tuesday
The Secretary
West Kent Intergroup Cc: West Kent Intergroup Chairman
And Vice Chairman
30th June 2001
Dear Ray,
Reference letter from Mark M. Dated 18th April 2001.
I would be grateful if you would read this letter at the coming Intergroup Meeting.
It is with deep regret that I find it necessary to reply to the letter from Mark M. G.S.R. Chatham Thursday, which was read out at the last Intergroup Meeting on the 20th April.
Firstly I would like to say that I was deeply saddened by the way in which a member’s anonymity was broken in the letter. This is not in the traditions or spirit of what A.A. is about and surely contravenes Tradition 12.
The other point I would like to make very clear is that my report in January 2001, stated ‘A few members have expressed concerns over a neighbouring Group, who appear to be telling newcomers they have to go to London to get a Sponsor’. I put this in my report after phoning the Chairman about this matter and asked for his advise [sic]. He said ‘he had received many phone calls from Secretaries and G.S.R.’s complaining of this’, (as was reported in the minutes’ and suggested I raise this at Intergroup.
I can assure this Intergroup that my report was the truth and in no way based on any individuals resentment. This report was prepared by me following a Group conscience meeting where a fairly new member raised this concern. He was very confused and bewildered by this. I also had several other members speak to me about this matter.
I can assure this Intergroup that this is the ‘True Picture’.
Yours in fellowship
Gill M. G.S.R. Chatham Tuesday.
[Editors comment: Clearly these groups and these individuals are totally incapable of thinking for themselves and are in the sway of the mind control master John H – that was irony by the way – just in case you missed it]
4. Group report from Tony L, GSR, Chatham Tuesday Group – October 2003.
Our group continues to attract between twenty and thirty members each week. All positions are filled. Regular contributions are made to Intergroup.
We have noted our Intergroup Chairman’s remarks to the last assembly here concerning the activities of a group operating in the Medway area. We have experienced difficulties with these people attending our meetings and sidelining newcomers with their particular message – and encouraging them to leave the group and go elsewhere for meetings and sponsorship. We are keeping vigilance, and fully endorse the Chairman’s remarks.
Tony L. GSR
[Editors comment – so nothing’s changed there then!]
5. Relevant extracts from: West Kent Intergroup – Minutes of the 101st Assembly – Friday, 22nd April, 2005.
Complaints to the WKIG
The following two letters have been received by the West Kent Intergroup and were read out:-
1. From David H TLO for East Sussex to the Chairman of West Kent Intergroup
21st April 2005
Hi Paul,
As you know, the telephone helpline service for East Sussex and West Kent is shared between our two groups of responders, with each Intergroup maintaining its own Twelfth Step List. I am currently in the process of updating the East Sussex list and I will be in a position to vouch for every single name on it.
This is important for your responders who will not know the East Sussex 12th Steppers personally. Equally, the East Sussex Responders have to trust in the integrity of the West Kent List.
Reports have reached me that certain groups within West Kent are preaching a gospel somewhat removed from normal AA lines. Each group is, of course, autonomous, but I believe this is a matter that affects AA as a whole.
These groups have been identified as Strood Thursday and Rochester Monday Big Book and I understand that they have been saying that in order to get sober, newly recovering alcoholics must attend only these groups and must follow certain other actions, including ringing two newcomers every day.
It is obviously up to individual sponsors what they say to their own sponsees (also including, I understand, an instruction not to share at meetings until after completing Step 5), but what particularly concerns me as Telephone Liaison Officer is the ‘suggestion’ that recovering alcoholics should stop taking other medication.
Telephone Responders and 12th Steppers are often asked for medical advice by the still-suffering alcoholic (and family members) and the AA guidelines are clear; we do not and cannot give it! We can share our own experience if it is relevant, but medical matters are medical matters and should be dealt with by medical specialists.
I am therefore extremely concerned that East Sussex responders might be passing suffering alcoholics on to 12th Steppers from these two groups (who, of course, they do not know) who may be giving this kind of advice.
The telephone service is vital to AA and we are extremely grateful in East Sussex that West Kent currently shares more than half the burden. However, you will appreciate my concern and I would be extremely grateful for your reassurance that inappropriate advice and suggestions will not be given by members from these two groups
David H
East Sussex Telephone Liaison officer
6. Letter from a GSR to the Secretary of WKIG – 16th April 05
Dear Chris,
It is with regret that I find it necessary to write this letter to W.K.I. in the light of all the lengthy discussions we have had on this issue.
I was approached by a fairly new member on the 3rd February 05 after the meeting at Gillingham, she said she wished to make a complaint about a member of the Thursday Strood Group who told her to stop taking her prescribed medication. She went on to say she had done as was suggested and ‘went mad’.
She sought help from her Doctor and was put back onto her medication.
I assured her that I would pass her complaint on at the next Intergroup meeting.
Please could this matter be addressed by this assembly.
Yours in fellowship.
Thereafter, according to the minutes a “a prolonged and wide ranging discussion followed.” and a letter was produced by Mark M – the DAF letter (see Trans 1 – 4th letter of the series dated 3rd November 2000.
After this letter had been read out there followed yet more “prolonged and wide ranging discussion” – something which intergroup is very good at – not so hot on action though. In the course of the discussion:
“There were a number of complaints aired concerning the actions of AA members associated with the Rochester/Strood Multigroup. These may be summarised as follows:-
That members from the Rochester/Strood Multigroup, in particular from the Strood ‘A Vision for You’ Group have:
· Told people to come off drugs which have been prescribed by doctors.
· Informed people that they could not complete the 12 Step Programme while on prescribed drugs.
· Attempted to get people to leave their sponsors and get a new one from the Strood/Rochester group.
· Disparaged the effectiveness of other groups.
· Aggressively sought to recruit newcomers at other meetings.
· Informed people that they are unsponsorable.
Those members of the Rochester/Strood Multigroup who were present at the meeting vigorously denied that the behaviour complained of, was actually taking place.
The following motions were proposed, seconded, and carried unanimously:
1) Group are asked to ensure that all members are fully aware of the following passage from the AA Guideline No 9
“Never interfere with or make any comments upon the treatment or drug regime patients may be undergoing. This is the responsibility of the doctors and has absolutely nothing to do with us. We repeat, we are not professionals”
2) The following actions are in breach of AA guidelines:
· Giving instructions that, or suggesting that, members should come off prescribed medication.
· Telling members to dump their sponsors and to get one at another group.
· Attempting to attract newcomers away from other groups.
· Telling members they are unsponsorable.”
Well, that’s the end of the history lesson and – yes, it was a chore and congratulations if you’ve managed to wade through it. Maybe the lesson to be learnt is that nothing has changed. Discussions have been held (wide ranging and otherwise), letters have been sent, objections raised, proposals passed, questions asked, protests lodged etc – and all to no avail. The cult groups continue to follow exactly the same lines as they’ve always done; whether it be on medication issues, promotion of their own groups, poaching, or any of the other strategies that have been dealt with in sometimes laborious detail on this site. Maybe it will sink in finally that these are not people that we can do business with, or who are amenable to any kind of argument. They have made up their minds that their way is the only way and until the rest of us (mainstream AA) fall into line they will not be satisfied. So it’s time for action – and not via intergroup, or region, or any of the usual structures of AA. The only remedy is action by grassroots AA members. Some ideas have been indicated throughout the site – over to you.
(All original correspondence on file)
24/11/07
WKIG - yawn
Well we’ll keep this one brief since there’s isn’t really much new to say and enough time has already been wasted on the joke that West Kent Intergroup has become.
Preliminary reports suggest that the agenda was managed by the Secretary (a self declared cult supporter) so that any dissenting items were placed towards the end of the session. In similar mode a vote was manoeuvred to the beginning of the meeting to reinforce the fantasy that WKIG can ever be a unified entity. By this device subsequent items were nicely marginalised or ignored; any dissenting voices were variously dismissed, undermined or rubbished; never has there been such a conglomeration of willing victims that have been so readily led to the slaughter. Our predictions were essentially accurate – nothing has been resolved, nothing has come out of the discussion (if it can be called that) – and if nothing changes then …...
West Kent Intergroup is finally a creature of the cult – to recap nearly 50 per cent of its officers are cult members, the remainder are either sympathetic to them, ignorant or so disunited that they could barely agree on the time of day let alone anything more significant. Two out of the three delegates to Region are cult members. At least one of the conference delegates from this region is a cult member (the present Vice Chairman of WKIG). Don’t look for leadership for mainstream AA from this direction – it isn’t coming. The voting patterns of the cult Intergroup officers essentially disenfranchise a large proportion of the membership of AA – specifically in the Medway and Maidstone areas; thus democracy has been completely destroyed for the whole of the Intergroup.
A few additional points for your information: in anticipation that the cult would lose control of the WKIG convention this year a proposal had been put forward by the Aylesford Group (for this group read their GSR – cult member; treasurer and Vice Chairman – cult member) to combine the East Kent and West Kent conventions. By this means it was hoped to bring the joint convention back under the control of the cult – this seems to have failed. For those of you who are not in the know the East Kent Intergroup are facing exactly the same problems as West Kent – in their case their problems stem from the Kearsney meeting (Wednesday evening) which is virtually a carbon copy of the Strood/Rochester/Gravesend infection creating precisely the same problems in East Kent as the latter have done in West Kent for the last seven or eight years now: dangerous advice on prescribed medication, mind control techniques under the guise of sponsorship, packing intergroup meetings with their members, co-opting the local bleeding deacons etc (see rest of site for details).
WKIG - yawn
Well we’ll keep this one brief since there’s isn’t really much new to say and enough time has already been wasted on the joke that West Kent Intergroup has become.
Preliminary reports suggest that the agenda was managed by the Secretary (a self declared cult supporter) so that any dissenting items were placed towards the end of the session. In similar mode a vote was manoeuvred to the beginning of the meeting to reinforce the fantasy that WKIG can ever be a unified entity. By this device subsequent items were nicely marginalised or ignored; any dissenting voices were variously dismissed, undermined or rubbished; never has there been such a conglomeration of willing victims that have been so readily led to the slaughter. Our predictions were essentially accurate – nothing has been resolved, nothing has come out of the discussion (if it can be called that) – and if nothing changes then …...
West Kent Intergroup is finally a creature of the cult – to recap nearly 50 per cent of its officers are cult members, the remainder are either sympathetic to them, ignorant or so disunited that they could barely agree on the time of day let alone anything more significant. Two out of the three delegates to Region are cult members. At least one of the conference delegates from this region is a cult member (the present Vice Chairman of WKIG). Don’t look for leadership for mainstream AA from this direction – it isn’t coming. The voting patterns of the cult Intergroup officers essentially disenfranchise a large proportion of the membership of AA – specifically in the Medway and Maidstone areas; thus democracy has been completely destroyed for the whole of the Intergroup.
A few additional points for your information: in anticipation that the cult would lose control of the WKIG convention this year a proposal had been put forward by the Aylesford Group (for this group read their GSR – cult member; treasurer and Vice Chairman – cult member) to combine the East Kent and West Kent conventions. By this means it was hoped to bring the joint convention back under the control of the cult – this seems to have failed. For those of you who are not in the know the East Kent Intergroup are facing exactly the same problems as West Kent – in their case their problems stem from the Kearsney meeting (Wednesday evening) which is virtually a carbon copy of the Strood/Rochester/Gravesend infection creating precisely the same problems in East Kent as the latter have done in West Kent for the last seven or eight years now: dangerous advice on prescribed medication, mind control techniques under the guise of sponsorship, packing intergroup meetings with their members, co-opting the local bleeding deacons etc (see rest of site for details).
By the way, if the Tunbridge Wells and other outlying groups of WKIG should entertain the illusion that somehow they are exempt from this problem then we can guarantee that that exercise in self deception will be shattered in the not too distant future. If we were cult members we would definitely be checking out the Tunbridge Wells groups – dedicated facilities, car parking, fairly central location, easily accessible, and in the same location all through the week – if ever there was a plum target you would be it. Personally we’d go for infiltrating maybe just one meeting and then gradually move in on the others: a tea maker here, treasurer there and so on until before you knew it you'd be nicely sewn up. Still don’t take our word for it – just sit tight and keep your eyes firmly shut and maybe they won’t notice you – place your bets!
Round Three!
The Fellas
The Fellas
20/11/07
The Conclave of the Gods
Yea oh mortals! The time approacheth. Here at the accultwatch office we can barely contain our excitement – every muscle tensed, each brow furrowed, our breath fully bated. Moment by moment that dread day draws ever closer. Even time seems to drag itself but slowly forward, each second another weight around our necks as the day of reckoning beckons our unwilling attendance. But go we must for the gods have summoned all.
Usually the mighty ones meet only on Mount Olympus but so significant is this occasion and so eager are they to intervene in the affairs of mortals they have through their boundless power transported their home to the humble environs of Priority House, Maidstone Hospital, their arrival timed for the appointed hour.
The mighty ones aware of their awesome appearance have, from the depths of their compassion, taken on the guise of characters familiar to those of us who dare to attend this awful event. Even so these outlines still strike fear into the hearts of all present. Of course Zeus presides over the proceedings but on this occasion his consort Hera will not be attending. In her place the mighty one has enlisted the service of the Oracle of Delphi, renowned not only for her wisdom but also for the impenetrability of her pronouncements. Yes Mummy and Daddy are back!!
Before these are assembled the huddled masses of mere mortals, their bodies quivering with fear in the presence of their masters, faces turned to the floor since they dare not look upon the incomprehensible visages of the gods, even when they have taken human form. Facing the mighty overlord of the gods and to his left are assembled the vast hordes of the Dark Lord, assembled from every corner of their mad realm. To all appearance they resemble ordinary humans but their hearts beat a rhythm of homage to the Dark One, his name only to be spoken in the sacred ceremony of admission to the inner circle. Beneath each of one of their eyelids are inscribed one initial of the Master’s name – “D” and “B”. In their midst stands their earthly leader, he whose name must forever remain anonymous, for to utter even the merest syllable results in a fate so deadly that we cannot speak of it here. Unquestionably this man is of many talents exemplified by the deviation of his form from the usual human template; for instead of two arms he bears four and in his hands are carried the symbols of authority. In the first right hand is carried the Great Mobile Phone - this symbolises his mastery of communication, the power of his words, and the range of his influence. In his first left hand he bears the Briefcase of Wisdom which within its voluminous depths are secreted the archives of the hidden words, the Real Programme of Recovery – the true path of AA of which he, and the chosen ones, are the valiant guardians. Upon his second left arm he bears the Shield of Sanctimoniousness thus symbolising his sole grasp of the Great Truth and its defence against the ignorance of the many. Finally in his great right hand he carries aloft the Sword of Self-Righteousness that he brandishes in great sweeps as he declaims to his heathen brethren, pointing out the error of their ways.
To the right of Zeus are gathered the remnants of that foolish band which dared to speak out against their betters – the shivering denizens of Medway. Within the compass of his great mercy he has deigned to allow them into his presence on this terrible night but on condition that they refrain from speaking for, or indeed thinking for themselves, for this surely is the province only of the gods.
Zeus speaks and our ears are deafened by his wisdom. So profound is his speech that we cannot repeat his utterance – suffice to say that the great Lord has indeed made his presence known. When he had finished he turned to the Oracle and she in turn uttered the Holy Words – “What shall we do?” Her eyes were full of sorrow and pity as she gazed down upon the fools that lay prostrate at her feet. Then she lay before us the maze of proposals that had been composed by her and the other Great Ones (for there were none amongst us who had the wit to frame such plans) - occasionally the Words of Power were spoken; ‘GSO’, ‘York’, ‘Board Members’, ‘Trustees’, and on several occasions the sacred ‘Concepts’ were invoked. All of us at the assembly were rendered virtually insensible by the time that she had concluded her address; we were indeed utterly bereft of thought throughout her disquisition so dumbfounded by the opacity of her arguments; but not for us to reason but only to submit to the will of the Mighty Ones.
Well we quite enjoyed that little fantasy but now back to the real world.
Intergroup meet on Friday night at the usual place at the usual time. A vast raft of proposals have been put forward which we predict will result in a lengthy discussion arriving at no conclusion other that that the groups will be asked to have yet another group conscience going over exactly the same ground as they have done one way or another for the last seven (or is it eight years now?). Since most of the West Kent membership are utterly sick of the whole thing (plus there is little point in any contribution from the groups since look at what happened the last time they were asked for their views – they were just ignored – if intergroup doesn’t like it it just gets disappeared) we imagine that that will lead absolutely nowhere which is exactly what the cult groups want. Their hope is that everything will die down and they can settle back into the business of subverting AA. Well that was their plan but… In the meantime some of us have (dare we say) been both thinking for ourselves and acting upon those reflections. So now most of the Medway groups are cult proofed – any cult member trying it on in any of those groups will be enjoined to take their business elsewhere – politely and perhaps not so politely. Yes boys and girls the rules have just been changed! No cult member (or supporter) can now become a member of any of those groups so infiltration is no longer an option. Those groups who haven’t signed up for it yet are already being targeted by the cult – specifically the Chatham Sunday morning group – you have been warned. For any group that is interested cult proofing is quite easy and fully within the traditions of AA. Make no mistake – the cult are not going to go away and it’s no use going to meetings in another area – because they’re likely to be there as well. If the miracle fails to materialise on Friday evening (we are not even taking bets on that one) then one thing that you can be quite sure of is that things are not just going to go away. West Kent Intergroup may not be prepared to grasp the nettle but others are....
The Conclave of the Gods
Yea oh mortals! The time approacheth. Here at the accultwatch office we can barely contain our excitement – every muscle tensed, each brow furrowed, our breath fully bated. Moment by moment that dread day draws ever closer. Even time seems to drag itself but slowly forward, each second another weight around our necks as the day of reckoning beckons our unwilling attendance. But go we must for the gods have summoned all.
Usually the mighty ones meet only on Mount Olympus but so significant is this occasion and so eager are they to intervene in the affairs of mortals they have through their boundless power transported their home to the humble environs of Priority House, Maidstone Hospital, their arrival timed for the appointed hour.
The mighty ones aware of their awesome appearance have, from the depths of their compassion, taken on the guise of characters familiar to those of us who dare to attend this awful event. Even so these outlines still strike fear into the hearts of all present. Of course Zeus presides over the proceedings but on this occasion his consort Hera will not be attending. In her place the mighty one has enlisted the service of the Oracle of Delphi, renowned not only for her wisdom but also for the impenetrability of her pronouncements. Yes Mummy and Daddy are back!!
Before these are assembled the huddled masses of mere mortals, their bodies quivering with fear in the presence of their masters, faces turned to the floor since they dare not look upon the incomprehensible visages of the gods, even when they have taken human form. Facing the mighty overlord of the gods and to his left are assembled the vast hordes of the Dark Lord, assembled from every corner of their mad realm. To all appearance they resemble ordinary humans but their hearts beat a rhythm of homage to the Dark One, his name only to be spoken in the sacred ceremony of admission to the inner circle. Beneath each of one of their eyelids are inscribed one initial of the Master’s name – “D” and “B”. In their midst stands their earthly leader, he whose name must forever remain anonymous, for to utter even the merest syllable results in a fate so deadly that we cannot speak of it here. Unquestionably this man is of many talents exemplified by the deviation of his form from the usual human template; for instead of two arms he bears four and in his hands are carried the symbols of authority. In the first right hand is carried the Great Mobile Phone - this symbolises his mastery of communication, the power of his words, and the range of his influence. In his first left hand he bears the Briefcase of Wisdom which within its voluminous depths are secreted the archives of the hidden words, the Real Programme of Recovery – the true path of AA of which he, and the chosen ones, are the valiant guardians. Upon his second left arm he bears the Shield of Sanctimoniousness thus symbolising his sole grasp of the Great Truth and its defence against the ignorance of the many. Finally in his great right hand he carries aloft the Sword of Self-Righteousness that he brandishes in great sweeps as he declaims to his heathen brethren, pointing out the error of their ways.
To the right of Zeus are gathered the remnants of that foolish band which dared to speak out against their betters – the shivering denizens of Medway. Within the compass of his great mercy he has deigned to allow them into his presence on this terrible night but on condition that they refrain from speaking for, or indeed thinking for themselves, for this surely is the province only of the gods.
Zeus speaks and our ears are deafened by his wisdom. So profound is his speech that we cannot repeat his utterance – suffice to say that the great Lord has indeed made his presence known. When he had finished he turned to the Oracle and she in turn uttered the Holy Words – “What shall we do?” Her eyes were full of sorrow and pity as she gazed down upon the fools that lay prostrate at her feet. Then she lay before us the maze of proposals that had been composed by her and the other Great Ones (for there were none amongst us who had the wit to frame such plans) - occasionally the Words of Power were spoken; ‘GSO’, ‘York’, ‘Board Members’, ‘Trustees’, and on several occasions the sacred ‘Concepts’ were invoked. All of us at the assembly were rendered virtually insensible by the time that she had concluded her address; we were indeed utterly bereft of thought throughout her disquisition so dumbfounded by the opacity of her arguments; but not for us to reason but only to submit to the will of the Mighty Ones.
Well we quite enjoyed that little fantasy but now back to the real world.
Intergroup meet on Friday night at the usual place at the usual time. A vast raft of proposals have been put forward which we predict will result in a lengthy discussion arriving at no conclusion other that that the groups will be asked to have yet another group conscience going over exactly the same ground as they have done one way or another for the last seven (or is it eight years now?). Since most of the West Kent membership are utterly sick of the whole thing (plus there is little point in any contribution from the groups since look at what happened the last time they were asked for their views – they were just ignored – if intergroup doesn’t like it it just gets disappeared) we imagine that that will lead absolutely nowhere which is exactly what the cult groups want. Their hope is that everything will die down and they can settle back into the business of subverting AA. Well that was their plan but… In the meantime some of us have (dare we say) been both thinking for ourselves and acting upon those reflections. So now most of the Medway groups are cult proofed – any cult member trying it on in any of those groups will be enjoined to take their business elsewhere – politely and perhaps not so politely. Yes boys and girls the rules have just been changed! No cult member (or supporter) can now become a member of any of those groups so infiltration is no longer an option. Those groups who haven’t signed up for it yet are already being targeted by the cult – specifically the Chatham Sunday morning group – you have been warned. For any group that is interested cult proofing is quite easy and fully within the traditions of AA. Make no mistake – the cult are not going to go away and it’s no use going to meetings in another area – because they’re likely to be there as well. If the miracle fails to materialise on Friday evening (we are not even taking bets on that one) then one thing that you can be quite sure of is that things are not just going to go away. West Kent Intergroup may not be prepared to grasp the nettle but others are....
11/11/07
Intergroup Conscience Questions
Well it’s finally arrived. With bated breath we have eagerly awaited the transmission of this important document: Intergroup Conscience Questions, 114th Assembly 23/11/07 (order may vary). It is somewhat dry reading but we will try and remedy that [our additions and commentary in square brackets]
1) Start future WKIG meetings at 7.30 p.m. [Why not! Have you got anything better to do on a Friday night? Let’s finish at midnight and make it a real party!]
2) Any new group to be ratified by the Intergroup. [Oops! Stable door and horse bolting spring to mind]
3) In order to free time for the discussion of the more topical agenda items, we do not have GSRS reporting and only report by exception i.e. if there are issues that a particular group is facing. [Well we should say so! But on the record of the last intergroup meeting you can be quite sure who will be choosing the topical agenda items – remember agenda item 6 – you don’t!! Of course you don’t! It never existed. Mummy and Daddy made it go away. Nasty item 6!! – by the way, sorry about all the !!!!’s but we are trying really hard here to make this interesting and relevant – an impossible mission we know but never avoid a challenge!!]
4) Do we always choose the right person for the job or do we just fill a hole? [Well in the case of this particular hole – it’s has all the characteristics of a black hole – and they can never be filled – and additionally not even light can escape from it – yep! – intergroup is quite definitely a black hole – shouldn’t someone tell the observatory?? Or there is the other kind of hole – the one that we all end up in eventually – 6 foot under. Who really wants to fill that hole – well not us for sure]
5) Should an officer of WKIG send a representative to Region when the representative is known to be a member of an anti AA web-site group and should Alternate Liaison Officers be ratified by Intergroup? [We wonder which anti AA website this would be? We know of no anti AA website – but an anti cult site – now you’re talking!]
6) Should there be a list available to GSRs (like the 12th Step List) naming prison visitors? Who is visiting prisoners in the name of AA? [God knows! No really, God does know! Let’s hope it’s not a cult member though – the prisoners have a tough enough time as it is]
7) Do we really need a 12th Step List co-ordinator? Not a position in the past and TLO confirms he can handle and anyway calls go to him.[That’s an easy one – no! – ask the last co-ordinator – it’s a waste of time – do we get a prize now?]
8) Do we need a Literature secretary? Not a position in the past and can this position be covered by the Share Liaison Officer who deals with the Share Literature? Existing Share Liaison Officer is due to rotate out in January 2008. Rather than take a members job away, would it be possible if the Literature Secretary would like, for him to transfer? [This is a piece of cake – same answer as for 7 above]
9) WKIG groups will all stay together and work together.[Got to hand it to whoever put this one forward – definitely should be nominated for the award for the world’s greatest optimist - there goes that squadron of flying pigs again!]
10) That the WKIG ceases to operate as it is no longer viable. Should this proposal be accepted, groups will be invited to discuss the possibilities for the future. [Aaaaahhh – the light dawns!]
11) If members are so unhappy with their Intergroup why don't they go off and form their own Intergroup? [Ooooohhh – who got out of the wrong side of bed that morning? – but surely the same question could be asked of the cult groups – but then they’re not renowned for their perspicacity]
12) Does the Intergroup fairly represent the views of the Groups forming the Intergroup, and does it operate democracy in the AA way, giving due recognition of minority views? (concept 5.) [Two answers to this one: Short Form – no. Long form – noooooo – not even to majority views]
13) We discuss Item 6 (deleted at the last Intergroup meeting) should be reinstated, the vote recorded and acted upon. [Nice idea but now we can see several squadrons of flying pigs passing by, all munching on green cheese, the whole scene resplendently lit by an enormous blue moon]
14) That a vote of no confidence in the Chairman be held at the conscience meeting. [Sorry folks – already been done in Medway]
15) Only GSRs have the right to vote on all issues and Intergroup Officers have no right to vote. [The voice of sanity]
16) That Intergroup remain exactly the way it is, and rather than criticism, gratitude is expressed by the membership for the time and effort that officers of Intergroup have freely given. That anyone who finds it necessary to criticise any of the officers will be given the opportunity to stand for election for that officer's position, against the present post-holder. All groups should agree to work towards AA unity, whatever the cost to individual or group. [Thank you Mummy and Daddy! Well we’ve been put in our place again and thank God for that. We thought that we were losing our minds. Can no one but you see the truth of the matter?? Martyrdom beckons and who are we to pass up such an opportunity? Well we shall for starters! You will find gratitude to be in short supply for the efforts of some of the self serving officers of this particular intergroup. We can only suggest that they go elsewhere, anywhere in fact, to freely bestow their time and effort to someone else’s detriment – then you might find our gratitude to be abundant. As for the second invitation – with the turn of events it may not be necessary. And finally it is customary when planning a suicide mission to ask for volunteers – in this instance we’re afraid that we will not be taking up the invitation – there is valour and there is stupidity and the last injunction falls into the second category – “whatever the cost to individual or group” – Custer’s Last Stand!]
Well that took all of half an hour - let's hope the actual rather pointless meeting takes not much longer for the sake of the sanity of some of the GSRs and intergroup officers - as for the remainder - the cult GSR, intergroup officers and supporters -we're afraid that there is not much hope - sanity departed some time ago - that is if it were there in the first place.
Yes - we're back
The Fellas
Intergroup Conscience Questions
Well it’s finally arrived. With bated breath we have eagerly awaited the transmission of this important document: Intergroup Conscience Questions, 114th Assembly 23/11/07 (order may vary). It is somewhat dry reading but we will try and remedy that [our additions and commentary in square brackets]
1) Start future WKIG meetings at 7.30 p.m. [Why not! Have you got anything better to do on a Friday night? Let’s finish at midnight and make it a real party!]
2) Any new group to be ratified by the Intergroup. [Oops! Stable door and horse bolting spring to mind]
3) In order to free time for the discussion of the more topical agenda items, we do not have GSRS reporting and only report by exception i.e. if there are issues that a particular group is facing. [Well we should say so! But on the record of the last intergroup meeting you can be quite sure who will be choosing the topical agenda items – remember agenda item 6 – you don’t!! Of course you don’t! It never existed. Mummy and Daddy made it go away. Nasty item 6!! – by the way, sorry about all the !!!!’s but we are trying really hard here to make this interesting and relevant – an impossible mission we know but never avoid a challenge!!]
4) Do we always choose the right person for the job or do we just fill a hole? [Well in the case of this particular hole – it’s has all the characteristics of a black hole – and they can never be filled – and additionally not even light can escape from it – yep! – intergroup is quite definitely a black hole – shouldn’t someone tell the observatory?? Or there is the other kind of hole – the one that we all end up in eventually – 6 foot under. Who really wants to fill that hole – well not us for sure]
5) Should an officer of WKIG send a representative to Region when the representative is known to be a member of an anti AA web-site group and should Alternate Liaison Officers be ratified by Intergroup? [We wonder which anti AA website this would be? We know of no anti AA website – but an anti cult site – now you’re talking!]
6) Should there be a list available to GSRs (like the 12th Step List) naming prison visitors? Who is visiting prisoners in the name of AA? [God knows! No really, God does know! Let’s hope it’s not a cult member though – the prisoners have a tough enough time as it is]
7) Do we really need a 12th Step List co-ordinator? Not a position in the past and TLO confirms he can handle and anyway calls go to him.[That’s an easy one – no! – ask the last co-ordinator – it’s a waste of time – do we get a prize now?]
8) Do we need a Literature secretary? Not a position in the past and can this position be covered by the Share Liaison Officer who deals with the Share Literature? Existing Share Liaison Officer is due to rotate out in January 2008. Rather than take a members job away, would it be possible if the Literature Secretary would like, for him to transfer? [This is a piece of cake – same answer as for 7 above]
9) WKIG groups will all stay together and work together.[Got to hand it to whoever put this one forward – definitely should be nominated for the award for the world’s greatest optimist - there goes that squadron of flying pigs again!]
10) That the WKIG ceases to operate as it is no longer viable. Should this proposal be accepted, groups will be invited to discuss the possibilities for the future. [Aaaaahhh – the light dawns!]
11) If members are so unhappy with their Intergroup why don't they go off and form their own Intergroup? [Ooooohhh – who got out of the wrong side of bed that morning? – but surely the same question could be asked of the cult groups – but then they’re not renowned for their perspicacity]
12) Does the Intergroup fairly represent the views of the Groups forming the Intergroup, and does it operate democracy in the AA way, giving due recognition of minority views? (concept 5.) [Two answers to this one: Short Form – no. Long form – noooooo – not even to majority views]
13) We discuss Item 6 (deleted at the last Intergroup meeting) should be reinstated, the vote recorded and acted upon. [Nice idea but now we can see several squadrons of flying pigs passing by, all munching on green cheese, the whole scene resplendently lit by an enormous blue moon]
14) That a vote of no confidence in the Chairman be held at the conscience meeting. [Sorry folks – already been done in Medway]
15) Only GSRs have the right to vote on all issues and Intergroup Officers have no right to vote. [The voice of sanity]
16) That Intergroup remain exactly the way it is, and rather than criticism, gratitude is expressed by the membership for the time and effort that officers of Intergroup have freely given. That anyone who finds it necessary to criticise any of the officers will be given the opportunity to stand for election for that officer's position, against the present post-holder. All groups should agree to work towards AA unity, whatever the cost to individual or group. [Thank you Mummy and Daddy! Well we’ve been put in our place again and thank God for that. We thought that we were losing our minds. Can no one but you see the truth of the matter?? Martyrdom beckons and who are we to pass up such an opportunity? Well we shall for starters! You will find gratitude to be in short supply for the efforts of some of the self serving officers of this particular intergroup. We can only suggest that they go elsewhere, anywhere in fact, to freely bestow their time and effort to someone else’s detriment – then you might find our gratitude to be abundant. As for the second invitation – with the turn of events it may not be necessary. And finally it is customary when planning a suicide mission to ask for volunteers – in this instance we’re afraid that we will not be taking up the invitation – there is valour and there is stupidity and the last injunction falls into the second category – “whatever the cost to individual or group” – Custer’s Last Stand!]
Well that took all of half an hour - let's hope the actual rather pointless meeting takes not much longer for the sake of the sanity of some of the GSRs and intergroup officers - as for the remainder - the cult GSR, intergroup officers and supporters -we're afraid that there is not much hope - sanity departed some time ago - that is if it were there in the first place.
Yes - we're back
The Fellas
02/11/07
West Kent IG and Monty Python
Well, it’s that time of the year again. West Kent Intergroup is girding itself up for the quarterly shindig to which the groups send their GSRs and Intergroup ignores them. It might just be more fruitful to stay at home that night (23rd Nov) and let them play with themselves. To add to the fun (?) propositions are flying around in all directions like fireworks; plenty of noise, lots of oohs and aahs, but let’s face it, at the end of the evening it’s all just going to boil down to a damp squib. Incidentally one would have thought that with the sheer quantity of these proposals that someone would have got married by now – but alas love is not in the air. We don’t think Intergroup have quite got the message yet – but the groups have – you are a defunct Intergroup, ‘You are not pinin'! You have passed on! You are no more! You have ceased to be! You are expired and gone to meet your maker! You’re a stiff! Bereft of life, you rest in peace! If you hadn't been nailed to the perch you’d be pushing up the daisies! Your metabolic processes are now 'istory! You’re off the twig! You’ve kicked the bucket, you’ve shuffled off your mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! YOU ARE AN EX-INTERGROUP!’ (our thanks to the Dead Parrot sketch a la Monty Python)
Nuff said
Well, it’s that time of the year again. West Kent Intergroup is girding itself up for the quarterly shindig to which the groups send their GSRs and Intergroup ignores them. It might just be more fruitful to stay at home that night (23rd Nov) and let them play with themselves. To add to the fun (?) propositions are flying around in all directions like fireworks; plenty of noise, lots of oohs and aahs, but let’s face it, at the end of the evening it’s all just going to boil down to a damp squib. Incidentally one would have thought that with the sheer quantity of these proposals that someone would have got married by now – but alas love is not in the air. We don’t think Intergroup have quite got the message yet – but the groups have – you are a defunct Intergroup, ‘You are not pinin'! You have passed on! You are no more! You have ceased to be! You are expired and gone to meet your maker! You’re a stiff! Bereft of life, you rest in peace! If you hadn't been nailed to the perch you’d be pushing up the daisies! Your metabolic processes are now 'istory! You’re off the twig! You’ve kicked the bucket, you’ve shuffled off your mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! YOU ARE AN EX-INTERGROUP!’ (our thanks to the Dead Parrot sketch a la Monty Python)
Nuff said
26/10/07
Breaking news - 12th Step List Coordinator
Apparently West Kent Intergroup have received two nominations for the above office currently held (temporarily) by that well known self-declared cult member ("they're a good thing" Barbara) Vice Chairman of WKIG. The two nominees come from where you ask in eager anticipation? Well here's a surprise - both are from the Strood/Rochester/Gravesend cult groups. If one of these nominations is accepted by Intergroup the cult will have nicely wrapped up access to all newcomers coming into WKIG and they will have increased their stranglehold on that intergroup. But not to worry, we've no doubt that our Chairman and Secretary (Daddy and Mummy) are up to the task - NOT.
Breaking news - 12th Step List Coordinator
Apparently West Kent Intergroup have received two nominations for the above office currently held (temporarily) by that well known self-declared cult member ("they're a good thing" Barbara) Vice Chairman of WKIG. The two nominees come from where you ask in eager anticipation? Well here's a surprise - both are from the Strood/Rochester/Gravesend cult groups. If one of these nominations is accepted by Intergroup the cult will have nicely wrapped up access to all newcomers coming into WKIG and they will have increased their stranglehold on that intergroup. But not to worry, we've no doubt that our Chairman and Secretary (Daddy and Mummy) are up to the task - NOT.
09/10/07
Chaos reigns in West Kent Intergroup – so what’s new!
A few observations:
Business as usual – the minutes have been distributed – several small forests will need to be ravaged to supply the paper for this version of War and Peace – 25 pages (or thereabouts) reporting the confusion that is WKIG – and even making its own large contribution to ensuring that the chaos continues.
Initial comments from several sources on the matter suggest there has been significant doctoring of the minutes resulting in misrepresentation of many of the group reports – generally in favour of the cult’s agenda. Complaints on this are on the way with a number of GSRs acknowledging that they were misled by the Chairman’s remarks at the beginning of the last meeting.
Apparently all is not well amongst the officers of WKIG – one half do not know what the other half are up to. The initial proposal’s wording was changed without the consent of its author and put in language that was intended to be deliberately inflammatory – this was the first stage of the sabotaging process. This culminated in the manipulation of the agenda by the Chairman and the Secretary and misdirection and pressuring of GSRs and group officers by both – time to go perhaps!
This is standard cult practice – divide and rule playing off one member against another - and if possible throw in some obfuscation.
Reports indicate that the cult campaign of propaganda continues with many complaints against this web site – again thanks for the publicity – any attacks from the cult always results in site hits going up – well over 10,000 now - keep up the good work boys!
There is widespread anger amongst AA members at the way in which the meeting was run and the fact that the Intergroup ignored the wishes of the membership. It has now become clear that the proposal to remove the cult groups would have been successful if the votes of the groups had been honoured - but this is not an honourable intergroup. So round 1 to the cult and its supporters – but now we come to round 2
Enough confusion and time for clarity – a few proposals have been put forward by a number of members for action:
1) Groups who are unhappy with the WKIG can withhold group contributions and instead send them directly to York.
2) Groups can record a vote of no confidence in the WKIG and send a letter via the GSR to that effect calling for the resignation of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary – alternatively for the resignation of all officers – and for subsequent elections to be held to vote in new officers – voting to be by GSRs only and ONLY after receiving direction from their group membership.
3) GSRs can organise their own meeting and have a vote on the proposal independently of the WKIG – and send the results to that august body – it is likely that on present form it will be ignored but at least it will be on the record – if necessary the result can be communicated to Region and GSO.
4) Currently at least 6 officers of WKIG are from the Strood/Rochester/Gravesham Hospital cult groups – additionally 2 of the 3 reps to region are from the same groups. This is an unacceptably high level of infiltration by the cult groups – intergroup should adopt a policy to reverse this and stop it happening in future.
5) Groups can send in the following proposals to the existing intergroup (while it still shambles along) – these should be sent to the Secretary (as long as she remains in office – hopefully not much longer) in advance of the next Intergroup meeting on the 23 November:-
a) challenging the formation of what amounts to a steering committee (a favourite of the cult) within intergroup – this is what has effectively divided the WKIG;
b) that Intergroup should honour the wishes of the votes of the groups (13 in favour of the proposal to remove the cult groups)
6) Groups can refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the existing intergroup (its actions more than support such a view) and organise themselves as independent groups (nominally sending GSRs to WKIG meetings) whilst establishing an alternative to WKIG. This does not constitute splitting from the intergroup but rather setting up a replacement to the corrupt body that currently poses as one. Groups should consider cult proofing methods as outlined in the site – the replacement intergroup should aim to be similarly protected against any attempt by the cult to subvert mainstream AA.
7) An alternative Where to Find can be produced excluding reference to the cult groups.
Chaos reigns in West Kent Intergroup – so what’s new!
A few observations:
Business as usual – the minutes have been distributed – several small forests will need to be ravaged to supply the paper for this version of War and Peace – 25 pages (or thereabouts) reporting the confusion that is WKIG – and even making its own large contribution to ensuring that the chaos continues.
Initial comments from several sources on the matter suggest there has been significant doctoring of the minutes resulting in misrepresentation of many of the group reports – generally in favour of the cult’s agenda. Complaints on this are on the way with a number of GSRs acknowledging that they were misled by the Chairman’s remarks at the beginning of the last meeting.
Apparently all is not well amongst the officers of WKIG – one half do not know what the other half are up to. The initial proposal’s wording was changed without the consent of its author and put in language that was intended to be deliberately inflammatory – this was the first stage of the sabotaging process. This culminated in the manipulation of the agenda by the Chairman and the Secretary and misdirection and pressuring of GSRs and group officers by both – time to go perhaps!
This is standard cult practice – divide and rule playing off one member against another - and if possible throw in some obfuscation.
Reports indicate that the cult campaign of propaganda continues with many complaints against this web site – again thanks for the publicity – any attacks from the cult always results in site hits going up – well over 10,000 now - keep up the good work boys!
There is widespread anger amongst AA members at the way in which the meeting was run and the fact that the Intergroup ignored the wishes of the membership. It has now become clear that the proposal to remove the cult groups would have been successful if the votes of the groups had been honoured - but this is not an honourable intergroup. So round 1 to the cult and its supporters – but now we come to round 2
Enough confusion and time for clarity – a few proposals have been put forward by a number of members for action:
1) Groups who are unhappy with the WKIG can withhold group contributions and instead send them directly to York.
2) Groups can record a vote of no confidence in the WKIG and send a letter via the GSR to that effect calling for the resignation of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary – alternatively for the resignation of all officers – and for subsequent elections to be held to vote in new officers – voting to be by GSRs only and ONLY after receiving direction from their group membership.
3) GSRs can organise their own meeting and have a vote on the proposal independently of the WKIG – and send the results to that august body – it is likely that on present form it will be ignored but at least it will be on the record – if necessary the result can be communicated to Region and GSO.
4) Currently at least 6 officers of WKIG are from the Strood/Rochester/Gravesham Hospital cult groups – additionally 2 of the 3 reps to region are from the same groups. This is an unacceptably high level of infiltration by the cult groups – intergroup should adopt a policy to reverse this and stop it happening in future.
5) Groups can send in the following proposals to the existing intergroup (while it still shambles along) – these should be sent to the Secretary (as long as she remains in office – hopefully not much longer) in advance of the next Intergroup meeting on the 23 November:-
a) challenging the formation of what amounts to a steering committee (a favourite of the cult) within intergroup – this is what has effectively divided the WKIG;
b) that Intergroup should honour the wishes of the votes of the groups (13 in favour of the proposal to remove the cult groups)
6) Groups can refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the existing intergroup (its actions more than support such a view) and organise themselves as independent groups (nominally sending GSRs to WKIG meetings) whilst establishing an alternative to WKIG. This does not constitute splitting from the intergroup but rather setting up a replacement to the corrupt body that currently poses as one. Groups should consider cult proofing methods as outlined in the site – the replacement intergroup should aim to be similarly protected against any attempt by the cult to subvert mainstream AA.
7) An alternative Where to Find can be produced excluding reference to the cult groups.
Finally to those of you who say in a faintly self-righteous manner – ah – this is all just politics! Well so is what is happening in Burma – we guess that doesn’t matter either! What this is about is safeguarding newcomers to AA who are still systematically being abused by the cult’s perversion of the recovery programme and by its idolatrous positioning of the sponsor at the centre of the programme (a human power) rather than a Higher Power - a God of our understanding.
29/09/07
A dark day for West Kent Intergroup and AA
It has occurred to us that a few of you may have formed the impression that because of the levity of some of our entries we are not entirely committed to our endeavour. Let us assure you, well-wishers and ill-wishers, that we are deadly serious. For those of you who would rather that we just went away - IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. This website will go out of existence the moment that it has achieved its objective – not an instant sooner or an instant later. To remind you of this:
It has occurred to us that a few of you may have formed the impression that because of the levity of some of our entries we are not entirely committed to our endeavour. Let us assure you, well-wishers and ill-wishers, that we are deadly serious. For those of you who would rather that we just went away - IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. This website will go out of existence the moment that it has achieved its objective – not an instant sooner or an instant later. To remind you of this:
”Finally we seek to restore AA to a healthily disorganised state where no faction within the Fellowship may seek to impose its will upon the rest and that the rights of the individual are always upheld.”
For our well-wishers we value your support and encourage you to get Into Action. For our ill wishers – Get used to it!
West Kent Intergroup Meeting
This was held last night at the usual venue commencing at 7.45pm. It was well attended (the usual suspects from the Strood/Rochester axis were present in large numbers).
For those of you who clung to the illusion that AA was run by its members then last night’s Intergroup meeting was an education. The session was opened by the Chairman who gave a speech broadly telling us what we were there for, the value of AA unity and how important it was to place “principles before personalities”. Unfortunately this particular piece of hypocrisy was swiftly blown out of the water by …. the Chairman – who almost in the same breath immediately drew our attention to one of the members present at the meeting. This member was identified as the force behind this website (still not got it have you!) www.aacultwatch.co.uk (incidentally we should at this point extend our thanks to the Chairman for the first formal endorsement of the site – albeit a less than enthusiastic one – and for the free publicity that this generated). The Chairman’s action on drawing personalities into the non-debate that followed and the potential consequences that may follow from this will be discussed later.
It seems that the Chairman is inclined to error for which he apologised to the group. He admitted that he had been guilty of confusedly misdirecting the groups on the matter of the proposal that had been put before them viz. the expulsion of the Strood/Rochester groups from Intergroup, their removal from the entry in the local Where To Find and removal of their members from the telephone contacts list. We, it seems, had all quite got the wrong end of the stick. Instead of following Intergroup’s instructions to simply debate the issue and then refer the matter back to Intergroup for more discussion a majority of the groups had simply decided to discuss the matter for themselves and vote on it. Foolishly we had all decided to make up our own minds on the matter and then instruct Intergroup on how to proceed. The fact is that of the 31 groups in West Kent at least 13 had quite clearly voted for the expulsion of the Strood/Rochester cult groups. 2 groups to our knowledge had abstained. For the remaining 16 we are not sure of the numbers who abstained, voted against the proposal, or for all we know, voted in support of the move. All of us had engaged in an entirely futile exercise. All those alcoholics, despite which way they voted, who sat through (in one case at least over one and a half hours of group conscience) had expended our energies to no avail. No we were quite clearly at fault. We had laboured under the considerable misapprehension that the members, the groups and their GSRs were the driving force behind Intergroup and that the officers of the group were our humble servants. Well boy were we put in our place!
The Chairman went on to point out that for the reasons he had given he felt that the proposal should be quashed. He then went on, just to ensure that no one had missed his partiality on the matter, that should Intergroup decide not to remove the proposal and instead discuss it further and vote on it, that he hoped that the GSRs present, should they hear any information that might modify their views to the extent that this would oblige them to change their vote then they should act on their own conscience – and of course ignore the already expressed views of the members of the groups that they represented. It seems that in this eventuality both the Secretary of Intergroup (who we shall come to in a moment) and the Vice Chairman (member of the cult groups) were already primed to give evidence to effect this change of heart in the GSRs in favour of the cult groups. The members present were also subjected to a lecture from the confused and error prone Chairman on the importance of GSRs voting at this juncture - that to abstain would simply be a wasted vote thus leaving the battle ground to be fought over by the fors and againsts; such irresponsibility it seems would be regarded with disfavour by the headmaster. Again we must express our thanks for the Chairman’s comments on the website – www.aacultwatch.co.uk - he expressed his disquiet with the site and thought it to be harmful to AA and that we really shouldn’t be looking at it at all – for to do so would give us the oxygen of publicity – clearly a very confused chairman! And he clearly doesn’t know a great deal about the alcoholic personality to give such advice. However his sterling performance was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the Strood/Rochester contingent – a more muted response from mainstream AA.
Now we come to the second part of the double act. The Secretary rose to her feet and started her part of the choreographed performance. It sounded at first that the chairman was not the only member present prone to error. Much was said about procedural matters and the finer distinctions between an AGM (Annual General Meeting) and an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting). Consultations had been held with GSO. By this point most of the assembly were starting to develop that glazed look in their eyes (including some of the axis) which usually occurs when drivel is being dressed up as significant fact. However it turned out that the Secretary was in fact not error prone but had been right all along but because of these procedural issues the proposal should never have seen the light of day. We were all treated to a quick tour of a misquoted version of concept 12 (warranty 5?). This seems to be rapidly moving up as runner up to the frequently and equally misquoted Tradition 4 – the first half of which is eagerly cited by the cult groups on every occasion neatly forgetting about that inconvenient second half (see Appendices for both Concepts and Traditions). The key stress seemed to be that the proposal was essentially “punitive”. Now, we are always eager to introduce clarity to replace confusion – so a brief digression.
It should not be thought that the intent of the proposal or for that matter the actions of the website www.aacultwatch.co.uk are intended to be punitive. We would rather liken our efforts to those of a surgeon engaged in excising a malignant tumour from the body of the patient. A number of options are available in this instance. a) the tumour can be ignored and allowed to spread only to inhibit the healthy functioning of the other organs of the body until finally it renders the patient beyond recall and death only awaits b) the condition can be ameliorated, stopping short of full remedial measures, thereby extending the life span of the patient but only to delay the inevitable c) drastic and invasive surgery is employed, the diseased cells removed and supplementary measures applied to ensure the return of the body to full health. Obviously the first option appears to be the least painful but offers no chance of recovery; the second option simply puts off the evil day; the last, although painful and perhaps unpleasant to view, at least restores the individual to health and perhaps with a less complacent attitude towards their well being in the future. To return to our main point – the surgeon can only be foolishly described as bearing malice towards the tumour – how ridiculous – his actions can hardly be described as punitive – that would be quite insane - no - he has identified a problem, made a diagnosis, and implemented a treatment regime keeping fully in his or her mind the objective of restoring the patient to an optimum level of health.
To return to the main theme:
Her contribution neatly segued from the Chairman and beautifully set up the meeting for the vote for quashing the proposal. One member did raise a question as to quite where this was all coming from to which the Chairman tiredly repeated his script. Another member to his credit did protest at the completely undemocratic nature of the whole proceedings. By this time the chairman was quite exhausted by the role he was playing and dismissed the objection on the grounds that “we really don’t have time for this”. Well quite right too - God forbid that there be any real discussion of the foregoing – let’s just bash on through and get it done on the nod. (Note: an observation at this point – it was interesting to see that the Chairman did not occupy centre stage at the top table – this position was occupied by the Vice Chairman – a sign of things to come?).
We could all see that the guy was quite tuckered out by the whole distasteful farrago and out of compassion the vote was taken. 41 (of those eligible to vote - and that was not made crystal clear) voted for the proposal to be quashed and 11 voted against. You could almost hear the sigh of relief from the cult assembly as the proposal was neatly disappeared – as were the last vestiges of democracy in West Kent Intergroup.
The rest of the session proceeded as usual with every opportunity being taken by cult members to further personalise the issue even when it wasn’t the subject under discussion. But fortunately the Vice Chairman (cult member) for our edification had decided to come out of the closet and has declared that “cults are a good thing” – they are spiritual movements or some such rubbish. So it turns out, to return very briefly to our overindulged Borg theme – they weren’t really baddies – they were a spiritual movement.
Well we don’t know what you think – and we certainly wouldn’t dream of telling you either – but what do you reckon? It would seem that in future you really don’t need to waste your time reflecting on any proposal or policy matters, or indeed discussing them in your groups, or that you should be daft enough to actually make a decision and send your GSRs to Intergroup to communicate those decisions only to discover that any time that Intergroup (and the cult) don’t like them they can easily come up with a sleight of hand that invalidates the whole process. So our advice is – for what it’s worth – save your breath - Big Brother and Big Sister will look after all your needs and you really shouldn’t worry your pretty little heads with all that complicated stuff. Mummy and Daddy know best.
Or maybe you’re not that happy about it – and maybe you’re not too keen to have an Intergroup that dismisses your views with a wave of the hand, that discourages genuine debates, that ignores group votes, that tries to dictate to the membership what it should think, what it should read and to what extent it can participate. Maybe it’s time to take a long hard look at these Intergroup officers and question whether their expiry date has arrived. How happy are you at the present imbalance of influence of the cult in this intergroup and its dominance by cult members? Are the Chairman’s, Secretary's and Vice Chairman’s continued tenures in those positions acceptable given their incompetence that led to so much time being wasted by so many people?
Finally just some icing on the cake - apparently the post of 12th Step list co-ordinator has fallen recently vacant. For fear that this lack should place newcomers at risk a cult member proposed that the Vice Chairman (another cult member – self-declared this time) should fill the post temporarily. They gracefully accepted the role. Now there’s a shock.
Over to you
For our well-wishers we value your support and encourage you to get Into Action. For our ill wishers – Get used to it!
West Kent Intergroup Meeting
This was held last night at the usual venue commencing at 7.45pm. It was well attended (the usual suspects from the Strood/Rochester axis were present in large numbers).
For those of you who clung to the illusion that AA was run by its members then last night’s Intergroup meeting was an education. The session was opened by the Chairman who gave a speech broadly telling us what we were there for, the value of AA unity and how important it was to place “principles before personalities”. Unfortunately this particular piece of hypocrisy was swiftly blown out of the water by …. the Chairman – who almost in the same breath immediately drew our attention to one of the members present at the meeting. This member was identified as the force behind this website (still not got it have you!) www.aacultwatch.co.uk (incidentally we should at this point extend our thanks to the Chairman for the first formal endorsement of the site – albeit a less than enthusiastic one – and for the free publicity that this generated). The Chairman’s action on drawing personalities into the non-debate that followed and the potential consequences that may follow from this will be discussed later.
It seems that the Chairman is inclined to error for which he apologised to the group. He admitted that he had been guilty of confusedly misdirecting the groups on the matter of the proposal that had been put before them viz. the expulsion of the Strood/Rochester groups from Intergroup, their removal from the entry in the local Where To Find and removal of their members from the telephone contacts list. We, it seems, had all quite got the wrong end of the stick. Instead of following Intergroup’s instructions to simply debate the issue and then refer the matter back to Intergroup for more discussion a majority of the groups had simply decided to discuss the matter for themselves and vote on it. Foolishly we had all decided to make up our own minds on the matter and then instruct Intergroup on how to proceed. The fact is that of the 31 groups in West Kent at least 13 had quite clearly voted for the expulsion of the Strood/Rochester cult groups. 2 groups to our knowledge had abstained. For the remaining 16 we are not sure of the numbers who abstained, voted against the proposal, or for all we know, voted in support of the move. All of us had engaged in an entirely futile exercise. All those alcoholics, despite which way they voted, who sat through (in one case at least over one and a half hours of group conscience) had expended our energies to no avail. No we were quite clearly at fault. We had laboured under the considerable misapprehension that the members, the groups and their GSRs were the driving force behind Intergroup and that the officers of the group were our humble servants. Well boy were we put in our place!
The Chairman went on to point out that for the reasons he had given he felt that the proposal should be quashed. He then went on, just to ensure that no one had missed his partiality on the matter, that should Intergroup decide not to remove the proposal and instead discuss it further and vote on it, that he hoped that the GSRs present, should they hear any information that might modify their views to the extent that this would oblige them to change their vote then they should act on their own conscience – and of course ignore the already expressed views of the members of the groups that they represented. It seems that in this eventuality both the Secretary of Intergroup (who we shall come to in a moment) and the Vice Chairman (member of the cult groups) were already primed to give evidence to effect this change of heart in the GSRs in favour of the cult groups. The members present were also subjected to a lecture from the confused and error prone Chairman on the importance of GSRs voting at this juncture - that to abstain would simply be a wasted vote thus leaving the battle ground to be fought over by the fors and againsts; such irresponsibility it seems would be regarded with disfavour by the headmaster. Again we must express our thanks for the Chairman’s comments on the website – www.aacultwatch.co.uk - he expressed his disquiet with the site and thought it to be harmful to AA and that we really shouldn’t be looking at it at all – for to do so would give us the oxygen of publicity – clearly a very confused chairman! And he clearly doesn’t know a great deal about the alcoholic personality to give such advice. However his sterling performance was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the Strood/Rochester contingent – a more muted response from mainstream AA.
Now we come to the second part of the double act. The Secretary rose to her feet and started her part of the choreographed performance. It sounded at first that the chairman was not the only member present prone to error. Much was said about procedural matters and the finer distinctions between an AGM (Annual General Meeting) and an EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting). Consultations had been held with GSO. By this point most of the assembly were starting to develop that glazed look in their eyes (including some of the axis) which usually occurs when drivel is being dressed up as significant fact. However it turned out that the Secretary was in fact not error prone but had been right all along but because of these procedural issues the proposal should never have seen the light of day. We were all treated to a quick tour of a misquoted version of concept 12 (warranty 5?). This seems to be rapidly moving up as runner up to the frequently and equally misquoted Tradition 4 – the first half of which is eagerly cited by the cult groups on every occasion neatly forgetting about that inconvenient second half (see Appendices for both Concepts and Traditions). The key stress seemed to be that the proposal was essentially “punitive”. Now, we are always eager to introduce clarity to replace confusion – so a brief digression.
It should not be thought that the intent of the proposal or for that matter the actions of the website www.aacultwatch.co.uk are intended to be punitive. We would rather liken our efforts to those of a surgeon engaged in excising a malignant tumour from the body of the patient. A number of options are available in this instance. a) the tumour can be ignored and allowed to spread only to inhibit the healthy functioning of the other organs of the body until finally it renders the patient beyond recall and death only awaits b) the condition can be ameliorated, stopping short of full remedial measures, thereby extending the life span of the patient but only to delay the inevitable c) drastic and invasive surgery is employed, the diseased cells removed and supplementary measures applied to ensure the return of the body to full health. Obviously the first option appears to be the least painful but offers no chance of recovery; the second option simply puts off the evil day; the last, although painful and perhaps unpleasant to view, at least restores the individual to health and perhaps with a less complacent attitude towards their well being in the future. To return to our main point – the surgeon can only be foolishly described as bearing malice towards the tumour – how ridiculous – his actions can hardly be described as punitive – that would be quite insane - no - he has identified a problem, made a diagnosis, and implemented a treatment regime keeping fully in his or her mind the objective of restoring the patient to an optimum level of health.
To return to the main theme:
Her contribution neatly segued from the Chairman and beautifully set up the meeting for the vote for quashing the proposal. One member did raise a question as to quite where this was all coming from to which the Chairman tiredly repeated his script. Another member to his credit did protest at the completely undemocratic nature of the whole proceedings. By this time the chairman was quite exhausted by the role he was playing and dismissed the objection on the grounds that “we really don’t have time for this”. Well quite right too - God forbid that there be any real discussion of the foregoing – let’s just bash on through and get it done on the nod. (Note: an observation at this point – it was interesting to see that the Chairman did not occupy centre stage at the top table – this position was occupied by the Vice Chairman – a sign of things to come?).
We could all see that the guy was quite tuckered out by the whole distasteful farrago and out of compassion the vote was taken. 41 (of those eligible to vote - and that was not made crystal clear) voted for the proposal to be quashed and 11 voted against. You could almost hear the sigh of relief from the cult assembly as the proposal was neatly disappeared – as were the last vestiges of democracy in West Kent Intergroup.
The rest of the session proceeded as usual with every opportunity being taken by cult members to further personalise the issue even when it wasn’t the subject under discussion. But fortunately the Vice Chairman (cult member) for our edification had decided to come out of the closet and has declared that “cults are a good thing” – they are spiritual movements or some such rubbish. So it turns out, to return very briefly to our overindulged Borg theme – they weren’t really baddies – they were a spiritual movement.
Well we don’t know what you think – and we certainly wouldn’t dream of telling you either – but what do you reckon? It would seem that in future you really don’t need to waste your time reflecting on any proposal or policy matters, or indeed discussing them in your groups, or that you should be daft enough to actually make a decision and send your GSRs to Intergroup to communicate those decisions only to discover that any time that Intergroup (and the cult) don’t like them they can easily come up with a sleight of hand that invalidates the whole process. So our advice is – for what it’s worth – save your breath - Big Brother and Big Sister will look after all your needs and you really shouldn’t worry your pretty little heads with all that complicated stuff. Mummy and Daddy know best.
Or maybe you’re not that happy about it – and maybe you’re not too keen to have an Intergroup that dismisses your views with a wave of the hand, that discourages genuine debates, that ignores group votes, that tries to dictate to the membership what it should think, what it should read and to what extent it can participate. Maybe it’s time to take a long hard look at these Intergroup officers and question whether their expiry date has arrived. How happy are you at the present imbalance of influence of the cult in this intergroup and its dominance by cult members? Are the Chairman’s, Secretary's and Vice Chairman’s continued tenures in those positions acceptable given their incompetence that led to so much time being wasted by so many people?
Finally just some icing on the cake - apparently the post of 12th Step list co-ordinator has fallen recently vacant. For fear that this lack should place newcomers at risk a cult member proposed that the Vice Chairman (another cult member – self-declared this time) should fill the post temporarily. They gracefully accepted the role. Now there’s a shock.
Over to you
