79. Another Point of View

The first person to share at an AA meeting that night called himself a traditionalist. He spoke at length about AA's shortcomings.  I’d met many like him. They accused anybody who disagreed with them of stinkin’ thinkin’.  Claiming to follow the ‘real AA’ more closely than others, they overlooked AA’s Conference-Approved Literature.   They ignored Bill W.'s advice on cooperating with doctors, including psychiatrists.  Believing they had been misdiagnosed, many felt all mental health diagnoses were false. They were traditionalists who picked cafeteria style which traditions they followed and which they ignored.  Their type I was hardly unique to AA. 

I’d learned not to argue with them.  The best I could do was offer a patient, kind, and reasonable point of view to counter their extremism.

Today I will try to offer a patient, kind, and reasonable point of view.