Moops

Politics:  One's political stands and opinion.

I've never felt quite as uneasy about Tradition Ten as I've been during the pandemic.  As a reminder: "Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy."  I've learned too much about the political beliefs of too many members recently and it has begun to color my opinion of them as recovering alcoholics.  This is no good and Tradition Ten attempts to explain why this is so.

I've enjoyed the friendships I've made over the years with people who have vastly different opinions than me on matters political, religious, moral, ethical, etc, etc, ad infinitum.  These relationships have been very important to me - they show me that good people can see the same things differently and that if I try to see what they're seeing at worst I can learn tolerance of others and - surprisingly - that there may be a better way of viewing the world.  Like when I came into AA and found out that you clueless idiots actually knew what you were talking about.  I listened to people who were going at life differently and I'm sure as hell glad I did.

There are people who think a sanitary face mask is a political statement.  Frankly, as a scientist I see it as a preventative health precaution to ward off a highly infectious virus - I'm trying to stay healthy and, just as importantly, to respect the health of others.  But there it is - right on my face.  If someone sees it through a political kaleidoscope there isn't much I can do to hide that.

I'm tempted to ask these folks what their reaction would be if they were wheeled into an operating room for open-heart surgery and saw that none of the doctors and nurses were wearing masks.

There's a guy in my morning meeting who wore a hoodie this winter which stated that he supported guns.  Frankly, this dude can stock his basement up to the rafters with weaponry - I don't give a shit and it's none of my business.  That being said I've never spoken a word to him, a loss for both him and me.  I'M not going to approach a big, angry looking guy and tell him to take off his gun sweatshirt and I don't think you should, either.

I have a friend speaking for me this Friday on Step Six.  He's a man who has openly contradicted me over the years when he thought I was straying off the path.  He wasn't self-righteous about it and he delivered these bon mots in a relaxed fashion, always with a smile or a laugh.  He disagreed with me and - more importantly - knew our friendship was strong enough to weather that disagreement.  He wasn't trying to prove that he was right, that he was better than me - he was just stating his opinion.

Tolerance:  An acceptance of or patience with the beliefs, opinions, or practices of others; a lack of bigotry.
Bigotry:  Fanatical intolerance.

So now I'm faced with the prospect of people ranting about wearing a mask in the middle of a meeting.  How interested am I in getting to know their opinion on anything else?

Not too fucking interested.