Macklemore had a huge hit with "Thrift Shop" and is staying sober with the AA program. In the current issue of RS he talks quite a bit about meetings and program stuff.
Seems like he is violating Tradition 11. But it's not unlike others in recent times. Here is the abbreviated online article:
oh nice Tanin for sharing the article , I alway heard gift shop and never thought anything of his music, but I downloading his album the other day and was shocked on the content. And now i'm hooked . :)
@Tanin , I looked up tradition 11 and even though I like the message in the song , I can see why the tradition is there. I'm not sure now if, the song, does more good then bad.
MandM, the song itself has a a great story/message. It's real. And it does not mention "Alcoholics Anonymous."
The problem is that Macklemore is putting himself out there IN PUBLIC MEDIA as an AA member. Therefor, anything he does gets associated with AA in the public mind. Through Tradition 11, AA has sought to protect itself and the AA member both. If he has a relapse, for example, it will be publicly reported -- mentioning AA's name. Not a good outcome.
Macklemore is finding out about pressures put on people who are famous AND are AA members IN PUBLIC. They put him "in some box as a saint I never was" as he says in The Heist. They expect more from him, even though he's just another drunk. Not a good outcome.
AA has had problems with famous members and T11 since our earliest times. AA has also had problems with non-famous members who put themselves out in the public media as AA members.Nowadays, public media includes the Internet. According to AA guidelines, we should not be using full names or full face pictures when we post, text or blog. We should avoid posting anything that breaks our anonymity or that of someone else.
These guidelines are frequently violated. Here, on this forum, for example.
There are two major reasons for this. People don't know. People don't care.
