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SOS Conference 2000: Business Meeting Highlightsby Jim Christopher Commitments for three new SOS brochures were made over muffins, orange juice, and coffee at the SOS business meeting, held Sunday, August 13 at the Center for Inquiry-West. Duaine (SOS Dallas) and Steve (SOS Austin) agreed to produce a new brochure entitled "SOS Behind Bars." The brochure will provide an overview for those concerned with SOS within the criminal justice system, including criminal justice personnel, counselors, judges, and laypersons starting meetings in jails, prisons, and halfway houses. Malcolm Rees (SOS London) agreed to submit a new brochure based upon his "Back to Basics in Sobriety" talk given at the conference in which he stressed the need for SOS groups to place emphasis on the "SOS Sobriety Priority" rather than other issues. Steve (SOS Europe), Jim Monroe (New York, SOS International Advisory Board member) and Jim Christopher committed to create a new brochure emphasizing the SOS autonomy philosophy and also the value of each individual in recovery in SOS with or without consistent SOS group participation. Several persons committed to help build our existing web sites and to help folks surfing the "net" specifically in search of SOS to find us more easily. This needs work, due to a split-off Web site/organization, not SOS, which appears to be deliberately confusing those looking for SOS. I then addressed an issue that has beset virtually every nonprofit organization; certainly SOS has experienced this phenomenon on a few occasions since its founding. Specifically, some people are uncomfortable with the trust, freedom, and individual self-empowerment rampant in the SOS environment. In the mid 1980s, for instance, a group of people broke away from SOS to form another organization which was to include secularized 12 steps and "structure." After a short time, the group disbanded. A number of years later, in the early 1990s another group split away, fearing freedom of thought, again, desiring more "structure," i.e. control. I addressed this issue in a question and answer format in the SOS newsletter (vol. 3, #2, Summer 1990), reiterating the simple, no-hidden-agenda SOS individual group autonomy position in clear, straightforward terms. Excerpts follow: To avoid what one convener recently called "wasting precious conference time with political issues," I will use this space to address certain concerns that have arisen from time to time during the movement's evolution. Q: What is SOS? A: Our name says it all: Save Our Selves and Secular Organizations for Sobriety. This is what we are. We hold that sobriety is a separate issue from all other issues. Sobriety is our priority, and the sense of urgency of our "sobriety priority" is conveyed via our acronym, SOS. By achieving and maintaining sobriety, we can Save Our Selves and experience individual recovery, i.e. human growth, self-esteem, empowerment, and learning, without mind-altering chemicals or debilitating habits. Q: Which words, if we were to pin a label on SOS, would best describe the atmosphere/environment of an SOS meeting and the persons attending? A: Freethought and freethinkers. Q: Are non-secular or religious/spiritual persons welcome? A: All who seek sobriety/recovery are welcome. Some members of SOS are secular or non-religious, while others hold their religious or spiritual beliefs as a separate issue from their sobriety. Q: What program does SOS offer? A: SOS does not require a belief in a "higher power," nor does it offer a "spiritual 12-step program" or "design for living" as AA does. We utilize a suggested strategy for achieving and maintaining sobriety called the "sobriety priority." However, all pathways to sobriety are respected. Q: What meeting format is used? Are SOS formats standardized? A: SOS does have a suggested meeting format. However, each meeting is autonomous, and, in practice, formats vary considerably, reflecting the desires of the individual group. In SOS, the meetings are as unique as the members. To sum up: sobriety, recovery, autonomy - that's SOS. Since the advent of the Internet (both a blessing and a curse), and especially over the past few years, it appears that yet another split-off entity (in the form of a Web site, a rather dysfunctional "Web master" and his fledgling organization) has deliberately spewed misinformation, distortions, and outright lies about yours truly and about SOS, into cyberspace. The attempted takeover and attempted cultification of SOS was discovered early on by sharper SOS members than yours truly. I finally caught on, however, when I was eventually viciously attacked by phone. Still, SOS is about abstinence and trust in recovery. Our freedom freaks out demagogues. After discussing this situation all persons attending the SOS business meeting emphatically agreed that we should continue our various efforts (including the creation of an online international SOS meeting and contacts list) and move on with our lives. We adjourned for a lovely SOS sober Sunday at the beach.
A 'Net Note' from DuaineSOS came about because of a need. The need is still here, and the way of getting help to those in need has become easier if you have a computer or have access to one. There are programs that will let you talk to someone in SOS using type, voice or both. The program that I like the best is at http://www.firetalk.com. To make this technology work it takes people. We need volunteers to help launch cyber meeting places. When it is fully in place there could be 24 hour a day meetings, or a place where someone in need would have a place to reach out, and reach a real person, in real time. No matter how great the technology it can't work without people. We really do need you. I can't express it enough. We need your help to make this work. This cyber SOS meeting will be world-wide. At http://www.sosbehindbars.com there is a voice page if you would like to download firetalk there. We could have SOS meetings at firetalk, go to General, then SOS meeting, enter a pass word, and you're in. We could set up meetings on a Web page. There are many possibilities. There are also many voice, type programs, and more to come. We don't have to use just one. Let's experiment. Try different programs. If we have your help and are flexible, we will succeed. To be a part of this new cyber talk, meeting or outreach help with real people in real time, contact me. My e-mail is sosbehindbars@hotmail.com; phone is 972-272-7331; firetalk number is 79558 TV.
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