The Men's Step Application Group of Bellevue, Washington humbly describe themselves as "just a bunch of very fortunate sober drunks who love sharing this gift with others. We absolutely insist on enjoying life by learning to 'live out loud'. In doing so, we make plenty of mistakes. We are not blessed with any special knowledge or wisdom of anything, but we are learning to let go of our fear of being ourselves, whatever that may be. Thanks for helping us be who we are and let's enjoy this gift together!"

Visit their website, first checking out Gresham's Law article, then tour the "Big Book Comes Alive" section. They've gone to considerable lengths to carry the message of love and service.

Here's the prayer posted on the BBCA introduction page: I now pray that I be given the capacity to set aside everything I think I know about God, about me, about my fellow man, about the Twelve Steps, and please allow me to gain a fresh new vision, perspective and understanding of what God, what me, what my fellow man and The Twelve Steps are all about. AMEN

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

(To visit the source site, either click on the word "visit" below or click here: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Theism)

Here's an Encyclopedic discussion of Theism that may open some new paths for your consideration:

Theism is the belief in one or more gods or godesses. More specifically, it may also mean the belief in God, a god, or gods, who is/are actively involved in maintaining the Universe.

This is a new area wide [Alaskan] calendar of sober events and activities from groups or individuals.

Page 152…”But am I to be consigned to a life where I shall be stupid, boring and glum”…..”Have you a sufficient substitute?”

Let’s get a fellowship going in this town like no other. What do you or your group like to do for fun? If every group were to sponsor one event a month with individuals filling in here and there, we would have all sorts of things going on here.

Page 132 “…But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it.”

Listen to recovery music in the baground as you surf this and other Internet sites. Interesting. Check it out. Just click on the microphone at the top center of the page.

Treatment centers find that their 'graduates' who move into Oxford Houses are MUCH more likely to recover from alcoholism and drug problems. Experience shows that people in the early stages of recovery will find that Oxford House provides a great solution for their housing needs...a bargain at twice the price!

We need more good Oxford Houses everywhere!

If you're looking for a huge collection of recordings made during presentations by many fine speakers, you've found it!

Note: you can listen to these on-line or download them onto your hard drive, then 'burn' a CD at your leisure -- CDs you can share with old-timers and newcomers alike.

Here's a sample of suggested appetizers:

(1.) Charlie P., Maysville, Ark., 1986
"Charlie" of the Joe and Charlie Big Book Tapes tells his story

(2.) Myers R., Dallas, Texas
from "12 Step Happening", Reykjavik, Iceland, 2003

(3.) Chris R., Ingram, Texas
at the Primary Purpose Group, Dallas 16th Anniversary 3/04

Here's a great source of essays, speaker tapes, and other treasures for A.A. members.

Be sure to check out all the nooks and crannies because treasures abound!

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

You can download a great set of speaker tapes from this page, including:
o A complete set of Joe & Charlie tapes circa 1998
o Myers R. in Iceland
o Chris R. & Co. at the PPG 15th Anniversary meeting
o Joe McQ (of Joe and Charlie) in a solo presentation on the 12 Steps.
o Dara of the PPG

These are in "RM" format; you can freely download RealPlayer from www.real.com or from the website of the Primary Purpose Group of SC at www.aaprimarypurpose.org (see their weblink on this site).

To download and save copies of these files, put your cursor on the desired "RM" file (not the "RAM" version), right-click your mouse button, and select "save link as" - then select where you wish to save your copy and enter an appropriate filename.

With Realplayer, you can not only play audios in RM and MP3 format, you can also "burn" audio CDs for use on your stereo - or give them to those who need to hear really good speaker tapes.

This site offers excellent downloadable essays and a first-class Big Book Study Guide.

You can download the word-processing files and print out your own Study Guide or you can order a high-quality bound copy of the PPG BIG Book Study Guide for $17 via e-mail. In either case, you'll get some two hundred pages jam-packed with meaningful explanations and a list of questions.

By reading the big book and working through the study guide, you will truly know the contents of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous... it is an excellent next-generation version of the pioneering work by Joe McQ and Charlie P, the Arkansas Travellers who have presented Big Book workshops to half a million people.

A wise man reportedly said "An apprentice who fails to surpass his master fails his master." In this case, Cliff B. and his protoge's are building on the legacy of the aging Arkansas Travellers in a manner that should make the masters proud.

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

This site has a huge selection of speaker audios in MP3 format.

You'll see on this page the array of 12-step groups represented here. An alcoholic may be well-advised to check out the CA Selection, that of Cocaine Anonymous. You'll find several familiar speakers here who don't talk about "outside issues" at AA meetings -- unless they're speaking to another fellowship. Some of this material is meaty and profound, especially those addressing spirituality and sponsorship, something that may have slipped on the 'priority list' of some AA groups.

A website for those interested in the history of Alcoholics Anonymous.

To visit the site, click here: http://silkworth.net/index1024.html

This noteworthy site has a page that offers both speaker audios and text.
Sandy B's talks on the steps deserve attention, along with any talks by Bob O.

This new website offers valuable insights and tools for those interested in learning more about Alcoholics Anonymous and its 12-Step Program of Recovery.

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

Al-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength and hope with one another, in order to solve their common problems and help others do the same.

The only requirement for membership is that there be a relative or friend with a drinking problem.

Here's a new find -- you may wish to take a look and provide a comment below.

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

The Anonymous Press is a non-profit outfit that produces some very useful editions of the "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous since the basic text is now in the public domain (i.e., no longer copyrighted). Offered by fine folks in recovery.

The Study Edition, either hardcover or softcover, is really useful for those who wish to study the Basic Text of Alcoholics Anonymous (Foreword to Page 164). It has great word indexes - find any word or subject by page number and paragraph. The '30s -era dictionary defines the way the "First 100" used them. Best of all, opposite each page is a blank, ruled page where you can write extensive notes! The perfect tool for Big Book Studies. Footnotes explain obscure references and text revisions.

The Mini Edition easily fits into a pocket so you have a convenient reference while out and about or at a meeting -- it includes the Original Manuscript of How It Works.

The reprints of the First Edition are sure to raise an eyebrown or two - at $3.50, they're a perfect gift.

Serious Big Book students will find the "Electronic Editions" are worth their weight in gold -- a REALLY fast way to find if and where it's in the book! The Basic text, the Original Manuscript, Manuscript comparisions, dictionary, subject and word index, First Edition Stories...windows, macintosh, even palm & pocket PC!

When you order, get a couple Index Pamphlets for your friends or to fit in your standard Big Book.

I order a couple softcover study editions for friends every year, and lots of Mini Editions to give to newcomers...less than $2.50 per copy!

To visit the site, click on the word "visit" below:

With all the earnestness at my command, I urge you to visit the website of the The Hindsfoot Foundation, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1993 for the publication of materials on the history and theory of alcoholism treatment and the moral and spiritual dimensions of recovery.

My initial impression: awesome!

In the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, Appendix II - Spiritual Experience (4th ed. pg. 568), contains a now-famous quote attributed to Herbert Spencer:

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance — that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”

A recent article entitled "The Survival of a Fitting Quotation" By Michael StGeorge may be of great interest to those who have heard of doubt that Herbert Spencer ever said or wrote that now-famous quote published in twenty million copies of Alcoholics Anonymous. See http://www.geocities.com/fitquotation/ for the web version of the article.

For some students of the Big Book, the attribution of the quote is not so important as the message. Still, it's likely to help you win a round of Trivial Pursuit at your next meeting after the meeting.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was a British philosopher who attempted to apply the theory of evolution to philosophy and ethics in his series Synthetic Philosophy (1855-1893).

There are reports that "THIQ" plays a role in alcoholism. An "Essay on The THIQ Hypothesis" by Dennis McClain-Furmanski can be found by clicking on the phrase "visit The THIQ Hypothesis" below.

On the other hand, a contradictory note is found on a web page titled "EXPLODING DRUG MYTHS" where the authors respond to various myths:

"36. THIQs are a cause of alcoholism. This is an old theory, which was very attractive in the early 1970s. It suggested that alcoholics, when they drink, form opiate-like THIQs (abbreviation for several artificially-formed chemicals) in the brain, to which they become dependent. Later research was not able to consistently find THIQs in the tissues of alcoholics compared to those of non-alcoholics. Thus, the "THIQ theory" is no longer popular among most scientists."

Found in December of 2006 at www.utexas.edu/research/asrec/myths.html published by the Addiction Science and Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin.

Here's a website addressing some of the problems confronting Alaska Natives and potential solutions for those problems.

On Bill Wilson:
From the rubble of a wasted life, he overcame alcoholism and founded the 12-step program that has helped millions of others do the same
By SUSAN CHEEVER

Monday, June 14, 1999
Second Lieut. Bill Wilson didn't think twice when the first butler he had ever seen offered him a drink. The 22-year-old soldier didn't think about how alcohol had destroyed his family. He didn't think about the Yankee temperance movement of his childhood or his loving fiance Lois Burnham or his emerging talent for leadership. He didn't think about anything at all. "I had found the elixir of life," he wrote. Wilson's last drink, 17 years later, when alcohol had destroyed his health and his career, precipitated an epiphany that would change his life and the lives of millions of other alcoholics. Incarcerated for the fourth time at Manhattan's Towns Hospital in 1934, Wilson had a spiritual awakening — a flash of white light, a liberating awareness of God — that led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous and Wilson's revolutionary 12-step program, the successful remedy for alcoholism. The 12 steps have also generated successful programs for eating disorders, gambling, narcotics, debting, sex addiction and people affected by others' addictions. Aldous Huxley called him "the greatest social architect of our century."

[Formerly part of the Rutgers University website, this is now a free-standing site.]

After years of widespread acclaim & awards, the Virtual Religion Index has moved to its own domain.

This site is designed to advance research in matters of religion. As a global forum that may be accessed instantaneously anywhere, the internet promises to surpass the impact of the printing press on the study of religion. Gutenberg made possible the family Bible. The WWW puts a global library of free information on the desk of anyone with a computer &telephone line.

Efficient use of these resources, however, requires cataloging. Many religion-related web pages offer lists of links to sites of related interest. Some are extensive & a few annotated. Still, important tools & texts are often published & stashed in out of the way corners of the web, like here. To locate them one needs something deeper than a list of favorites, yet more circumspect than a search engine.

This Virtual Religion Index is a tool for students with little time. It analyzes & highlights important content of religion-related websites to speed research. Hyperlinks are provided not only to homepages but to major directories & documents within. Our purpose is not to circumvent tours of worthy sites, but to cut down the time spent on surfing & sorting of gopher searches. After all if you know what source has information you can use, chances are you will visit it more often. We offer this free service in hope that you will come here again & again.

This site has been maintained since 1995 as part of one man's service commitment to the fellowship that saved his life.

"Many generous visitors have asked to make contributions to help "Bob Y." maintain this site." In the past, he was very reluctant to accept any direct donations. However, economic times change and it is rapidly becoming a financial burden for him to continue. The expense to maintain this site is over $700 per year. The site will remain operational with or without donations for as long as Bob can afford to do so. His sponsor advises him that, when people offer to help, he is obliged to allow them to do so.

In that spirit, if you would like to visit the site, download some very good speaker audios, and make a donation, go to http://www.elmoware.com/spktapes.htm now. You'll find a host of audios and the name & address of a man whose mission deserves your support.