12 Step DC

clonnie spam bombed 12_step_dc last night. Some of it was pretty creative, some of it wasn't, but all of it was:
A) abusive.
B) cut & pasted into multiple, unrelated posts.
C) Bashing 12 Step groups.
All of these factors put clonnie in violation of the groups guidelines and LJ's TOS. While I won't ban the person (in a loose spirit of the traditions and a 12 Step groups primary purpose), or disable Anonymous posts, I have had a plan in case this happened again.

The policy that I as the mod had hoped I wouldn't have to set forth is as follows: Report said abuse to LJ TOS, screen the comment, ignore from there. Do not reply to the comment, do not delete the comment. Email me with a link to the post the offending comment appeared in, then I will also report them to LJ TOS again as The MOD.

If anyone has any input or concerns on this policy, please comment about it here. This policy is for YOUR group, and as a result is fluid to your needs. I'm not going to hold some sort of online group conscience, but I do want you to know that your input is not only welcome, but requested.

For any of you who knew Alvin C., the guy who managed the Westside Club in Georgetown, he passed away last week. His service will be tomorrow. You can check the Westside website for more information.

"When Kristen was 17 and drinking out of control, her psychologist referred her to an Alcoholics Anonymous group that specialized in helping the youngest drinkers. In the Midtown Group, members and outsiders agree, young people could find new friends, constant fellowship, daily meetings, summer-long beach parties, and a charismatic leader who would steer them through sobriety.

But according to more than a dozen young people who structured their lives around the group, the unusual adaptation of AA that Michael Quinones created from his home in Bethesda became a confusing blend of comfort and crisis. They described a rigidly insular world of group homes and socializing, in which older men had sex with teenage girls, ties to family and friends were severed or strained, and the most vulnerable of alcoholics, some suffering from emotional problems, were encouraged to stop taking prescribed medications."

From the front page of today's Washington Post, full article here.

WAIA Meeting This Tuesday. If you consider yourself a member of AA in the DC Metro area, please make plans to be there. See this past post for more info.

( Letter from St. Patrick'sCollapse )

Now, I don't know how valid this letter is (I will edit this post once I confirm it to be valid, delete if found not be valid). What I do know is that, if valid, I am not surprised. It seems like a logical step on the churches part in order to keep themselves in the clear, legal wise. Should Midtown be cleared of the alegations before them, it will be a shame that it came to this. However, I (personaly, not as a member of AA) do feel that a "better safe than sorry" stratagy is prudent at this time.

Hi everyone .. My name is Lori and I'm an Alcoholic and Addict.

I lived 97% of my life in Northern VA and got sober in 2002 (7/29) at the Unity Club in Falls Church. A year and a half ago I moved down to Orange, Virginia and got me a new Home Group (The Out to Lunch Bunch!) but I still feel a very strong connection to the DC Community and have a lot of sober friends there. I still hit meetings up there when I go home to visit family and friends.

I attend AA meetings for the most part and occasionally hit an NA meeting here and there (Not many to choose from down here in the boonies).

My drug of choice is whatever you have to offer tho left to my own devices, I'll head to the Rum Store for a jug of Bicardi.

I'm looking forward to seeing Sarah tomorrow as she celebrates 17 years right here at my Home Group! (heh, we must be on some other list together to have both found this one :)

I hope you all have a dandy day and remember to Keep it Simple!

My name is Sarah
My sobriety date is 5/10/1990 (yes, that means tomorrow is my 17th anniversary!)
I currently live in Springfield, just south of DC
While I did most anything organic I could get my hands on (I used to think that as long as I didn't do chemical stuff like meth, I wasn't an addict...ha on me, huh?), I far and away preferred the booze.
I consider myself a member of AA, though I've in the past attended NA, AlAnon, and CoDA
I don't get to meetings at all these days, though I'm going to one tomorrow. I've had a hard time getting back to meetings after moving up to DC about four years ago. Thankfully I am able to work the steps and carry the message in the rest of my life, but I'm missing the fellowship a lot these days, and am kicking myself to get out to meetings again.

Check at your regular meetings to make sure that you have an active GSR and WAIA Representative. If not, call a group conscience and volunteer!

WASHINGTON GENERAL SERVICE ASSEMBLY MEETING
Meets every 2nd Monday of the month at 7:30pm
Silver Spring Presb. Church
580 University Blvd.
Silver Spring, Maryland

WASHINGTON AREA INTERGROUP ASSOCIATION
Meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 8:00pm
Grace Episcopal Church
1607 Grace Church Rd
Silver Spring, Maryland


WASHINGTON AREA INTERGROUP ASSOCIATION CONTACT INFO
4530 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 111
Washington, DC 20008
202 966-9115
TDD 202-966-9782
E-mail: aa-dc@starpower.net
WWW: http://www.aa-dc.org

The article in Newsweek & on MSNBC: A Struggle Inside AA- Recovering alcoholics say a Washington, D.C., group has hijacked the 12-step program's name.

The news story on Fox 5: Disturbing Accusations Against Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous

The news story on ABC 7: Are members of a District meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous being lured into a cult?

Other coverage (all anti-Midtown): TheTruthAboutMidtown.Com and The Fall of Midtown on MySpace.

Thoughts? Concerns?

( My thoughts under the cutCollapse )

If you are a member of AA in the DC area, I urge you to make sure you opinion is heard by our trusted servents (no matter your view).
- Tell your WAIA Rep and GSR to bring it up in the next meeting
- Attend the next WAIA & GSA meetings (2nd week in June)
- Contact WAIA & AA World Services

Name: "Scary" Dave R. (Sorry, that's all you get on the intarwebs)
Sober Date: 11/28/1994
Location: Takoma Park
Fellowship I attend: AA, sometime NA
Vice of choice: Marijuana, PCP, Alcohol, LSD (Pretty much in that order)
Other groups you frequent: Various Buddhist meditation groups
Other Info:
- I got sober at the age of 16.
- I can count how many times I drank alcohol on two hands, but I can't even tell you all the drugs I did.
- I never made any financial investment in my addiction (ie, I never paid for what I used, I did however purchase paraphinalia).