An Applause Message to Daily Reprieve Center, Inc., Oregon

Old fashioned A.A. – Your great, tremendous web presentation, Daily Reprieve Center Website, Oregon.

Allow me, please to heap congratulations on you for the strenuous, balanced, comprehensive approach you have taken to the A.A. early scene. You have included the views of both friend and foe. And you have made a point of producing “evidence” and specific citations.

Oddly, this was probably the dream of Bill Pittman when he convened an historians’ conference perhaps twenty years ago at Hazelden where he invited every stripe and shape of person making contributions to, researching, or possessed of direct knowledge of our history. Many seem to have forgotten that I passed around and secured the signatures of almost all present to a paper in which they agreed to continue their united quest. And much highly useful material could have been researched, amassed, and disseminated. But the conference was no sooner over than just the opposite occurred.

The result has been some very weird, close minded, and distracting groups of so-called history lovers. Very very few of them have been researchers or writers, and some have a very acerbic attitude toward the labors of others in the field. Either a police, censorship, or prohibition mode. The net result has been the furthering of idolatry, phony spirituality, name-calling, and contention. Not to mention trivia and distracting opinions.

What I see in your work is an attempt to balance a lot of hard-won disparate views and offer the viewer the websites that leads to them. A tremendous task—well done. We tried to do that in Archives 2000, but that too vanished into the dust.

I have serious doubts that the historians themselves with ever gather with unity of purpose, as opposed to axe-grinding and closed ears. On the other hand, there are lots of fine, hardworking, experienced, knowledgeable AA folks in the mix. Many are good friends of mine. I have quoted many. I use the materials of many. And it has been sad to see this much-needed gang of folks splinter away from doing a job that A.A. GSO itself is probably unable, unwilling, and ill-equipped to do. And that does not make for the progress that can be made when business folks, professionals, laborers, government people, social agencies, religious leaders, and even Generals, vets, and Boy Scouts convene, submit papers to peers, and learn learn learn from the work of others.

Anyhoo. Thank you. I shall personally widely cite your page and work. I think it sets a great example for those who want to join in fact-finding to the end of glorifying and serving God and helping newcomers who still suffer.

God bless,

Dick B.
Author, 42 titles & over 500 articles on A.A. History
Exec. Dir., International Christian Recovery Coalition
Christian Recovery Resource Centers - Worldwide
www.DickB.com
DickB@DickB.com
(808) 874-4876
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837

Ps 118:17 (NJB):
I shall not die, I shall live to recount the great deeds of Yahweh.

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