PART 20 - The Response of the WSO Executive Committee and Board of Trustees
I wrote to the WSO Executive Committee (who were responsible for the actions of the Executive Director) and appealed his decision to prevent any staff from WSO communicating with me.
I thought it was ridiculous that a worldwide-organisation such as Al-Anon, whose one and only purpose is to help, should instruct its staff to excommunicate an Al-Anon member. Particularly when the commentary on the Warranties states that no member of Al-Anon can be expelled from the fellowship - WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!&nbbsp; Talk about hypocrisy... (or is that denial?)
Anyway, the Executive Committee replied in a letter dated April 10, 2001. The main points of the letter were as follows, and I quote:-
| (i) | it was the agreement of the Committee that further dialogue with the WSO would not be productive for any of us; |
| (ii) |
it is not the practice of the WSO to involve itself in the internal affairs of another Al-Anon structure; |
| (iii) |
the Executive Committee upholds [the Executive Director's] decision to prohibit any further direct communication between yourself and the World Service Office staff; |
| (iv) |
there is no need for further clarification; and |
| (v) |
our prayers are with you for your future. |
The letter came from the Chairperson of the WSO Executive Committee. So I once again proceeded to work through Al-Anon bureaucracy (Al-Anon is here to be bureaucratic - not to help!) I appealed to the Board of Trustees.
I received a letter advising that my appeal would be placed on the agenda of the July meeting of the Board of Trustees and that I would receive a reply before September. A letter dated July 30, 2001 was received. The text of the letter was as follows:-
Letter Dated July 30, 2001 from WSO:-
"Re: Formal Complaint Regarding Executive Decision of the Executive Director
Your appeal of April 10, 2001 was placed on the agenda of the July 24-25, 2001 Board meeting. After discussion, the Board of Trustees of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. decided to uphold the decision of its Executive Director to prohibit direct communication between you and the WSO staff.
Please know that your appeal was heard and discussed in the light of the Concepts of Service and Traditions of the Al-Anon program.
The Web site that you have established is in direct violation of our trademark registration. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I sincerely and respectfully request that you take it down immediately.
We wish you well, and pray you find the recovery, peace, and serenity that you are seeking.
Yours in service,
Chairperson, Board of Trustees
Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc."
So they didn't like my Concept V appeal website. Well, desperate events call for desperate measures. I have had to put my life on hold these past two years while the Al-Anon groups and Al-Anon structure (including GSO and WSO) mess me about and due to a lot of procrastination my Concept V appeal has not been speedily heard or dealt with. Thank God for the internet. I had to exercise my Concept V appeal (as is my right as a minority Al-Anon member) and in addition typing out what happened has helped me. I have also been getting feedback from other Al-Anon members via the internet (quite a few of whom find it hard to believe that it actually happened - denial again) and that has been helping me too.
The statement that the website is a direct violation of Al-Anon's trademark registration is of course mistaken. This is a Concept V appeal website by a member of Al-Anon. It is therefore an Al-Anon website and therefore entitled to use Al-Anon logos. It is not the official website of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters Inc and the disclaimer on the opening page of this website makes that clear (or at least I would have thought so...)
So now that the WSO Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees had upheld the Executive Director's decision to break The Traditions (ie Al-Anon has only one purpose, Tradition Three etc) I wrote again to WSO asking that my appeal be taken to the final port of call - the Al-Anon groups in the form of the World Service Conference.
I had previously been misled by a WSO staff member who said that the World Service Conference was only for North America and had no bearing on world-wide Al-Anon. Thankfully, I got hold of the Al-Anon service manual and gained a deeper understanding about the role of the World Service Conference.
I wrote to WSO requesting that my appeal be heard at the World Service Conference. You would think that a straightforward matter. Their response?
At the end of September I received a letter from WSO which stated:-
"Your letter of August 8, 2001, indicates that there is confusion as to the
charge of the World Service Conference and that of the Board of Trustees of
Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc.
"It is the duty and responsibility of the Board of Trustees to conduct the
operations of the World Service Office, and therefore, it is not appropriate to
take your appeal to the World Service Conference.
"It is sometimes very difficult to accept things that are not in accordance
with our wishes.
"Chairperson, Board of Trustees".
Once again, that old stalling tactic of Al-Anon - to procrastinate, hoping that I would get bored or fed-up and then walk away. Well, as any ACoA will tell you, in order to survive you have to grit your teeth and persevere - which is what I am doing.
So I again replied to WSO pointing out that the Board of Trustees are answerable to the World Service Conference and the World Service Conference have the power to over-rule the Board of Trustees. Read the Al-Anon Service manual if you don't believe me.
And the response of WSO to that?