I know that once I have a program of rigorous honesty, anonymity helps me to balance what I need to share. By that I mean what's really going to be my own experience, strength, and hope that others may identify with as opposed to something that I want to share; something that might be meant to sound good. Good topic, thanks Don!
Yes I agree, avery good question! Some may fear retaliation,loss of work.ostrzation from others if there anonymity to NA/AA/CA etc were divulged.Even if other family members knew etc.Unless we are actually interegated by the CIA or something I believe we can remain honest and still protect our anonymit.If pressured we could say we attend a therapuetic group that helps us and others in spiritual matters of their lives.. and we choose to keep it anonymous(many will probably not like that answer ,may want to dig further)We could say we attend a program for personal reasons etc.and want to keep it anonymous)no different than ,sex addiction,chronic gambling,therapies we probably wouln't want to share about either. Check this out,I always struggled with this same factor in my faith beliefs E.G.- I'm lined up against the wall,the Roman soldier says"do you believe this man is your God and if you say yes,you will die,if you say no you will be let go!....My thoughts as a youth were I must always be honest and say what is true ,so I shall die. another scenario'' SS storm troopers, bust down the door, push you against the wall and ask "are you hiding any Jewish people here.you are but you say no,because true honesty would bring death! I firmly believe that God knows our hearts and Honesty is what we always strive for ,God will evaluate the situation and JUDGE ACCORDINGLY.now these are my thoughts and my stuff and maybe a little dramactic,but they captivated my life for many years. We must be careful though not to rationalize were our honesty is,the difficult part!! Like our 6th step tells us.even though we are entirely ready to have God remove our defects,would we want to become some "brutally honest" that we would say whatever even if it was hurtful and caused others much pain? We also work on tolerance,discretion and what is our purpose for what we are doing..Anyway good question like to see what others think...Thanks Stacey,thanks Don.....
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Our purpose is to remain clean,just for today,and to carry the message of recovery.
When we from the Third World apply for a visa to the US, one question asked is "did you use drugs ?"
If I said, Id have less chances so i may say no; a lie.
But in case of going to an NA Convention, theyd want to know why I want to goto an NA Convention if I hadnt used drugs !!!
This is a Goddamned catch 22,,, no reasons are given for rejection of visas, and Third World people need to wait a minimum of 6 months to apply again,, no guarentees whatsoever even then.
And the moneys gone too, the application fees of 150 us..
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Raman an addict clean and serene just for today in NA Worldwide ; live to love and love to live the NA Way !!!