Al-Anon's Tradition 10

Tradition 10: The Al-Anon family groups have no opinion on outside issues: hence our name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

Al-Anon's Tradition 10 always seems to be one of the easiest traditions to discuss during my home group's monthly tradition meetings. At first, it seems cut and dried: don't link Al Anon with anything not related to it. However, there are some interesting subtitles that have come out as we've discussed this tradition over the years.

(Photo by Carl Dwyer.)

According to my notes on Tradition 10, we have the right to express ourselves in relation to our experience, strength and hope, but yet we should stay out of things that are not our business. Tradition 1 states "Our common welfare should come first." and Tradition 10 backs that up by creating a safe environment for all members. Opinions are distractions from Al-Anon's primary purpose (to help friends and relatives of alcoholics)  and could lead to divisions among members. We can do anything we want on our own time, but we must keep our opinions out of meetings, where the focus is to work on how alcohol has affected us. This is also why crosstalk is not allowed-- we don't want to make judgements on another member's share, but instead we should listen and figure out what we can use from it to improve our own situation. We should look for commonalities among to bring us together. 

According to the Tradition 10 chapter in Paths to Recovery, “outside issues can divert us from our primary spiritual aim.” (P. 220 1997 edition)  We can do anything we want on our own time, but we must keep our opinions out of meetings, where the focus is to work on how alcohol has affected us.  Using this idea as a guide helps us to sort out what is important to discuss in a meeting. While alcoholism is a big problem in society we can’t decide which treatments or social solutions are best during meetings. That would be focusing on others and not on ourselves. Opinions also disrupt the healthy atmosphere of the group by giving one person more attention than others. This distracts from other members who also need attention for personal matters. The chapter on Tradition 10 also mentions,  “Not taking a stand supports inclusiveness.” (P. 221 1997 edition.)

When people bring up outside opinions during Al Anon meetings we should not react but talk calmly to them about it instead. Since many members have a fear of conflict, Al Anon meetings provide a safe place to test our new skills in this respect. We learn to express ourselves without getting involved in other people’s business. As my sponsor often says, “Say what you mean without saying it mean.”