Glittering generalities was one of the seven main propaganda techniques identified by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis in 1938 (http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/proptech.htm, Retrieved 10/09/2011 @ 2:14 PM)
Nothing good ever happened in a bar.
How’s that for a glittering generality? I heard the thought in question, at a meeting on 10/8/2011 at the No-Frills meeting of the Friendship Center in Derry, NH. A group of us who knew each other from a secret Facebook group for AA (so clandestine that if I told you the name I would have to kill you) went to this meeting in order that we could actually meet each other and put faces to the avatars on our Facebook accounts.
I wrote the saying down with the idea that it was a great statement and made total sense, worthy of amplifying from this bully pulpit. However, reason sank in when I began to try to add some meat to its bones.
The fact is that good things do happen in bars. I’ve heard great music in bars, met awesome people, watched exciting sports events, eaten delicious meals, enjoyed laughter and camaraderie with my peers, danced the night away with abandon (and my wife), and so forth.
I know that many bad things have happened in bars, both to others and me. Many of us have sown the seeds of driving under the influence, vehicular homicide, destruction of property, domestic violence, adultery, and other poor and criminal behavior. The good thing is that I no longer have to worry about engaging in any of the above while under the influence because I just don’t drink today. However, many people (shall we call them normal?) have had wonderful things happen in bars without the attendant bad things that could have happened and didn’t.
We need be careful of glittering generalities; propaganda is always propaganda, even when it seems to make sense. Question everything and then decide for yourself. Debate principles of various programs vis-à-vis what books state, what people say and even your own thoughts on any given day. Examine and reexamine as you move forward; a meaningful idea must have more than thought behind it – a fact isn’t a fact unless we have good evidence to back it up. Avoid the use of “no one,” “nothing,” “never,” “all” and “every” to the extent possible.
The idea that the Twelve Steps of AA or NA (or any other step program) is sacrosanct, an immutable law of life, is simply untrue. The only part of our recovery we need to do perfectly is to stop doing what is ruining or killing us (times however many things we are doing that we ought not to do). The rest may or may not apply as we grow within and through our own recovery program. Everyone’s program is different, just as is everyone’s journey to and through sobriety.
The truisms that guide us are not always as “true” as we might think. Whenever you hear something in the halls and think, “That’s a wonderful concept, a real chestnut to keep for another day,” perhaps you might be best to think, “That’s a chestnut for another day, but before I eat it, let me roast it and see how it tastes after I’ve had it cooking for a while.”
Peace out,
M
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