The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
I learned something the other day, regarding "CAL" (conference approved literature). The ONLY things that are CAL approved by AA, Al-Anon, etc., are books that are anonymous and or specifically written for these groups - i.e. AA Big Book, Courage to Change, etc....
Even such treasures like Melody Beattie (Codependant No More) or Toby Rice Drews (Getting Them Sober), are not CAL approved, and for good reason.... As good as these books are, it would be such a 'slippery slope' for our organizations to "promote" some and not others - it would lend itself to the potential of influence, favoritism, etc., etc....
I guess my point is..... some sites (and most meetings) only allow "CAL" books, articles, etc.... We allow much more than that, but (as moderators), we try our best to keep the overall focus on recovery, and not allow things that take people off on paths that are not conducive to recovery, and the principles of Al-Anon....
Just thought I would share that - I've been around (here and elsewhere) for quite a long time, and I don't think I ever understood that about CAL stuff, until I was told by Toby a month or so ago....
Take care Tom
__________________
"He is either gonna drink, or he won't.... what are YOU gonna do?"
"What you think of me is none of my business"
"If you knew the answer to what you are worrying about, would it REALLY change anything?"
Thanks for reminding everyone what Conference Approved Literature is. While we are somewhat liberal about things discussed on the board here at MIP we stick to the "CAL only" idea in the chat room during meetings as was decided long ago by group conscious meetings.
While I personally have read many books on recovery, both CAL and not (and they have all been helpful to me) I certainly see the necessity for "keeping it Al-anon" in our meetings, for the reasons you give.
I try pretty hard to stick to that rule on this board as well. Even though this is an open board, it's primary purpose is still helping people effected by the family disease of alcoholism utilizing the principals of the 12 step program of Al-anon.
I certainly got a lot out of the writings of Melody Beattie, et al., but it all began with Al-anon for me. Prior to this program I would have never picked up a book on recovery. Al-anon opened the door for me in so many, many ways. My sponsor and others from the beginning encouraged me to find whatever resources might help me. And even recommended things to me, outside of meetings.
We as members of al-anon, have a responsibility to try our best to preserve what was given to us as a proven method of recovery. It is not the ONLY method, but it is a proven one. It works and has worked when other systems failed, due to becoming involved in outside issues and interests.
I guess Al-anon is kinda holy to me. It has taught me how to live. I am glad it has not been diluted by the infusion of outside ideals and outside issues. It is here for whoever wants it and it is a pure program based on no ideal of profit making, or ego building or fame seeking.
AA and Al-anon are gifts from God, as I see it.
Incidentally, keeping it simple, keeping it al-anon takes all the question out of whether or not something is "appropriate" to be posted here. It avoids the controversy which can rear it's head at times when outside issues appear.
Thanks for your service, and thanks for your input.
This board is entitled "Al-Anon Family Group Message Board." Despite its name, this board does not purport to be an Al-Anon message board. Therefore, I think that it is important to remember that just because someone belongs to MIP does not necessarily mean that he/she is an Al-Anon.
How do I know that I am an Al-Anon??
--I attend meetings --I have a sponsor --I work the Steps and the Traditions in all my affairs --I do service work
I have supplemented Al-Anon with other tools of recovery (counseling, non-Cal books, attending AA meetings, etc.), but I try very hard to keep those things separate from Al-Anon.
During Al-Anon meetings, I do not discuss non-CAL material or counseling. After meetings, nothing is off limits and my Al-Anon friends and I have great discussions about non-Al-Anon recovery. I enjoy going to AA conventions and AA speaker meetings. But, I try to remember that AA is a different program and while I feel a great affinity for it, it is not my program so I tend to keep my mouth shut.
The concern that I have about this board is that alot of things that are not Al-Anon (ideas, concepts, tools) are put out there in such a way that a newcomer or someone who is not well-grounded in the program can become confused about what Al-Anon is and is not. That is not to say that those things are "bad" or "wrong," they are just not Al-Anon. And, I worry about the newcomer who finds this board looking for Al-Anon and that that may or may not be what he/she finds here.
Yours in Recovery,
SLS
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Do not be anxious about tomorrow; tomorrow will look after itself. The Bible, from Courage to Change, p.138
I tend to agree with all that has been said thus far.
My thought about confusing the newcomer is that if I mention something that is not CAL(not often), I try to remember to say it is not CAL. If we periodically have the conversation that we are having now, then it will eventually be understood that Al-Anonis Al-Anon and everything else is everything else. I dothink that if it ever became a serious problem, I would certainly vote to stick to CAL only, but so far I don't think it has been.
Thank you for this discussion.
In recovery,
__________________
~Jen~
"When you come to the edge of all you know you must believe in one of two things... there will be earth on which to stand or you will be given wings." ~Unknown
Well, y'all, I am glad I posted that other topic. It opened up a discussion that I didn't really know how to bring up. I was unsure of the protocol here as I have seen other books and such promoted by individual posters. So, I really wasn't sure what the group conscious was about non-CAL.
Personally, in a meeting, I only refer to CAL. I was "brought up" in alanon with the steps and traditions and CAL. I have seen some our local f2f meetings straying a bit and some newcomers who aren't getting why we do things the way we do them. I think my local f2f meetings are going back to basics which is good for all of us involved.
I would like to go a bit deeper with this topic and ask a few questions here....
Is there a difference between alanon CAL and AA CAL? As I have understood it there is. And AA CAL is NOT alanon CAL. Like the Big Book is not alanon CAL and therefore should NOT be refered to in an alanon meeting. And also the Bible. Although there are quotes in our meditation books, the Bible itself is NOT CAL. Any thoughts about this?
There must be some other guide lines for CAL besides the anonymous rule. Or are things quoted in our readings allowed to be non CAL? I understand that information has to be approved by the conference, but is it a majority rule or does it have to unanimous(sp?). I have read Lois' story and I remember how the 12 steps and 12 tradtions were made, but how do we do it here in alanon when it comes to new stuff?
P.S. I posted that article because it said so well what I try to get across to others, but just to be safe I do believe I will stick to CAL myself in anything with the name ALANON!!!
P.P.S. why are we NOT sticking to the suggested guidelines of alanon here on the message board anyway?
Serendipity, Yes thank you for getting this discussion started.
CAL is Conference Approved Literature. That means that any thing that is CAL has been approved for inclusion in the Al-Anon program by the Al-Anon World Service Conference. That's the big shindig that is advertised in several mailings to the group every year. Delegates from Areas all over the world are the voting population for this conference as I understand it. Publications are submitted to the conference and the voting delegated do just that. They vote to appove or not. If they vote to approve, it is included in the Al-Anon literature catalog.
The way to tell if a piece of literature is CAL is to get familiar with the catalog, so you can recognise the stock numbers that are used. All CAL will have a stock number (B-6, B-16, P-31, M-1, M-44) They are inside the front title page of books, or on the back of pamphlets or other materials. Older books sometimes do not have the stock numbers printed in them, but they have Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc printed where the author would be listed inside. They also usually state inside that they are Approved by World Service Conference Al-Anon Family Groups.
I think there needs to be a unanimous vote to approve CAL, but I'm not positive about that.
As a newcomer I was very confused abou this and other Al-Anon stuff because the lady who "ran" my original home group would never follow the traditions and would never order literature. Unfortunately now everyone has moved out of that group and the membership will probably lapse eventually. My ESH is that a group can never go wrong sticking to CAL and following the basic guidelines set out in the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts.
As far as the message board, we are also not conference approved. The message board is not an Al-Anon meeting. It has been described many times as like the meeting after the meeting, when everybody hangs around and gabs after. The Al-Anon World Service Conference has a method of registering a chat meeting(though I've heard it is not perfect), but I don't think there is a way to register a message board as a real Al-Anon meeting. So we have always just followed basic Al-Anon principal of loving interchange.
This is my understanding, but if I have anything incorrect, please somebody let me know.
In recovery,
__________________
~Jen~
"When you come to the edge of all you know you must believe in one of two things... there will be earth on which to stand or you will be given wings." ~Unknown
Is there a difference between alanon CAL and AA CAL? As I have understood it there is. And AA CAL is NOT alanon CAL. Like the Big Book is not alanon CAL and therefore should NOT be refered to in an alanon meeting. And also the Bible. Although there are quotes in our meditation books, the Bible itself is NOT CAL. Any thoughts about this?
This question concerning the Bible & CAL was answered at an Area Assembly (business meeting) that I attended as a Group Rep in August 2008 for the Louisiana State Al-Anon Family Groups.
One Day at a Time in Al-Anon is the only devotional that has quotes from the Bible. It was one of the first devotional books written. Therefore it was when our program was early in it's life and trying to do the best it could. It has since been voted by the members too use other quotes for the devotionals.
I believe this month's Forum states that our ODAT in Al-Anon is 40 yrs old this year - So I guess we can imagine 40 yrs ago, our trusted leaders were using the information available to them at the time.
I love the CAL material used at our meetings. We have even been challenged to promote lesser known materials at our meetings, which has been awesome at getting our group out of the same ole same ole routine.
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No matter what me and my God are going to be ok, even better than OK -
