Does this writer attend A.A. meetings, groups, seminars, or conferences? Does this writer believe in God? Has this writer confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in his heart that God raised him from the dead? Has this writer read the 43 books and over 850 articles published by Dick B.? I have.
Has this writer ever reached out to a newcomer in a meeting? Has he ever welcomed one? Has he ever given his phone number to one? Has he ever led anyone in Alcoholics Anonymous to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Has he ever spoken at an A.A. meeting, conference, or group? I have.
Has he ever read the multiple biographies and autobiographies of Bill Wilson, of Dr. Bob Smith, of Lois Wilson, of Anne Ripley Smith, of Dr. William D. Silkworth, of Clarence H. Snyder, of Grace Snyder, of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., of Frank N.D. Buchman, of Mrs. Samuel Shoemaker, of Rowland Hazard, of Garrett Stearly, of Cebra Graves, of Frank Amos, of Norman Vincent Peale, of Ebby Thacher, of Father John C. Ford, of Sister Ignatia, of Father Ed Dowling, of Russell Firestone, of James D. Newton, of Eleanor Forde Newton, of Dwight Moody, of Ira Sankey, of F.B. Meyer, of Allen Folger, of Henry Moorehouse, of Henry Drummond, of Billy Sunday, of George Williams, of General Booth, of Jerry McAuley, of S.H. Hadley, of Francis Clarke, of Amos Wells, of Sherwood Eddy, of Henry B. Wright, of Robert E. Speer, of T.S. Elliott, of Ethel Willetts, of Carl Jung, of William James, of Judge Walter Smith, of Mrs. Walter Smith, of Gilman Wilson, of Helen Wilson, of Fayette Griffith, of T. Henry Williams, of Clarace Williams, of Henrietta B. Seiberling, of Sue Smith Windows, of Robert R. Smith, of Professor Weatherford, of B.H. Streeter, of L. Parks Shipley, of James Houck, of Victor Kitchen, of A.J. Russell, of Harold Begbie, of Stephen Foote, of Garth Lean, of Michael Hutchinson, of T. Willard Hunter, Cecil Rose, of Bunny Austin, of Harvey Firestone Sr., of Russell Firestone, of Bill Wilson's grandfather "Willie," of Dr. Tunks, of Joe McQuany, of Charlie Parmley, or of the Shoemaker circle in New York, the Shoemaker circle in Pittsburgh?
I have. In fact, I have interviewed most of these people, and read the books of most of them.
Has the writer ever spoken to A.A. secretaries, treasurers, General Service Representatives, Delegates, Trustees, archivists, loners, newcomers, families, and office workers? I have.
Has the writer ever personally met, talked at length with, and questioned A.A. newcomers? I have. Has he ever sponsored an AA? I have. Has he ever spoken at a Celebrate Recovery meeting, an Alcoholics Victorious conference, an Overcomers conference, an Overcomers Outreach, Inc. Conference? a treatment center, a Christian treatment center, a group of Christian Counselors, at Betty Ford, at Christian churches, to Christian recovery fellowships, to conferences of Christian leaders and workers from all over the world, to wardens, state and federal elected leaders and substance abuse research leaders, to officials, addictionologists, universities and colleges, interventionists, Hazelden executives and workers, Christian Protestant ministers, Jewish Rabbis, Roman Catholic priests, or pastoral counselors, or Salvation Army officers, or YMCA workers, or Christian Endeavor members and leaders, or rescue mission leaders and workers? I have.
Has this writer ever visited and researched at the Griffith House Library, Wilson House, East Dorset, Vermont; or the Dr. Bob Core Library at North Congregational Church, St. Johnsbury, Vermont; or St. Johnsbury Academy; or Burr and Burton Academy; or the St. Paul's Library in Akron, Ohio; or the Seiberling Gate Lodge library in Akron; or the Episcopal Church Archives in Austin, Texas; or the Shoemaker Room at Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh; or the Brown University Collection; or the headquarters of the Oxford Group in Washington, D.C.; or the libraries and collections of Oxford Group leaders such as George Vondermuhll, Jr.; or the Buchman home in Pennsylvania; or the offices and library of the Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office in New York; or the Princeton Alumni archives; or The Pittsburgh Experiment offices and archives; The Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation leaders and its original "golf club crowd," or the Hartford Seminary Library; or the Bierce Library at the University of Akon; or the libraries at Dr. Bob's Home, or the present and retiredf archivists at Dr. Bobs Home, of the Akron Intergroup; or Golden Gate Seminary and San Anselmo Seminary in Marn County, California; of the records of Calvary Church in New York, Calvary Church in Pittsburgh, and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Akron, of university professors and librarians?
I have. In fact I have donated over 30,000 books, manuscripts, papers, articles to them.
Have you ever read and studied the Book of Acts, the Book of James, Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians and then asked why so many observers and AAs themselves have likened early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship founded in 1939 to First Century Christianity at work.
If John L. has answered no to twenty of the foregoing questions, or to most, or to all, there's a question for him. When are you going to start learning instead of opining, reporting instead of condemning, advocating instead of libeling, telling truthful facts instead of occasionally quoting some other anti-A.A. writer? If the answer is equivocal, evasive, negative, or confusing to us, then you have a lot of traveling, interviewing, reading, learning, and thinking to do.
One early A.A. challenge was: Give me news. Not views!
Will he?
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