Traditions War: a pathway to peace
Chapter 11
World Service Inventory
THE WORLD SERVICE INVENTORY
When Judge Pollack failed to
admonish Grateful Dave over the Baby Blue court case and opted instead to
admonish both Dave and WSO to make concessions to one another, WSO realized
their grip on the literature copyrights was not secure. It is possible that the
�Inventory� was designed to shut down the only service body that could give
WSO serious problems if it wanted to do so.
It proved to be a successful �non-move� meaning it appeared benign
and sincere but was actually adroit in that it achieved one goal while appearing
to reach for another. The Fellowship was very clear about what it expected World
Services to do and the policies and procedures for doing it. No region requested
the �inventory� and yet WSO controlled the instruments of communication from
WSC, WSB, WSO, the NA Way Magazine and the Fellowship Reports. So?
To
change the service structure, especially in regard to the Second Tradition,
required pressure on the Twelve Traditions. The Twelve Concepts, while well
intended, contain language that is the gravest assault on the Twelve Traditions
since they were approved by AA in 1955. Along with the Steps, we were encouraged
to adopt the Twelve Traditions of AA as a 12 Step fellowship. As a member of the
NA World Service Conference, I was asked to do a report on the AA service
structure and found the 12 Concepts of Service to AA to have real teeth and
certain provisions to protect the rights of the AA Fellowship. Any serious
reader should compare the two documents side-by-side. We have to do a partial
comparison here to make it clear that the NA Concepts are not related beyond
being numbered twelve.
Once the Concepts were in place,
the Guide to Local Services could be approved. This was such a damaging and
exhausting process, that it just plain wore out members to oppose it. The breach
of trust was so enormous that NA members could either disbelieve what they were
being told by a few members or they would have to get up in arms and challenge
the whole organization of world services. Few members were willing to do this,
so they took the choice of disbelieving what they were told or they ignored it.
Right or wrong, we only have so much time apart from work and our families. And
no one was expecting an attack from such a source, a source that was supposed to
be serving. And, after all, God would not let such an awful thing happen, right?
hits in 2004!
Reprinted from the
N.A. FELLOWSHIP USE ONLY
Copyright � December 2001
Victor Hugo Sewell, Jr.
NA Foundation Group
6685 Bobby John Road Atlanta, GA 30349 USA
404.312.5166
All rights reserved. This draft may be copied by members of Narcotics Anonymous for the purpose of writing input for future drafts, enhancing the recovery of NA members and for the general welfare of the Narcotics Anonymous Fellowship as a whole. The use of an individual name is simply a registration requirement of the Library of Congress and not a departure from the spirit or letter of the Pledge, Preface or Introduction of this book. Any reproduction by individuals or organizations outside the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous is prohibited. Any reproduction of this document for personal or corporate monetary gain is prohibited.
Last update January 12, 2006