Traditions Opinion-Free Tradition Ten – Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the OA name ought never be drawn into public controversy. When I first joined OA in 1990, I assumed all members thought the way I thought and believed what I believed. I was sure we all felt the same about religion, politics, and social action. My first clue … Read More
Share It Outside Issues A concern arose as I was reading the April 2017 issue. The article in “What Works for Me” and the “Send Us Your Stories!” box imply that OA is a place to set forward personal likes or dislikes as advice or suggestions. They also imply that exercising, taking baths, and having pets are promoted by OA. They may be good ideas … Read More
Traditions Tradition 10: Capital Idea I recently had a spiritual aha moment: Many of us learned that a proper noun is not just a person, place, or thing, but a specific person, place, or thing, usually beginning with a capital letter. If I’m talking about a proper noun in a meeting, I’m probably referring to an outside issue (and possibly breaking the spirit of anonymity). In … Read More
Traditions Speaking Traditions The Tradition Ten article in the October 2015 Lifeline (“Learning Curve”, p. 19) provided me with some food for thought. The author implied that the facilitator had acted out a character defect by pointing out the importance of not citing non-OA-approved literature at OA meetings. I disagree. It is so easy for an OA meeting to get off track when … Read More