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Sunday, May 23, 2004
Concept Ten:
Any member of a
service body can petition that body for the redress of a
personal grievance, without fear of reprisal.
Although NA is
a spiritual fellowship, its members are human. We have strong
opinions and attitudes, and the free expression of those
attitudes is our responsibility and right during the course of
contributing to the decision-making process. We learned the
value of considering all viewpoints in the Ninth concept. When
we have been the minority voice ourselves, however, and have
challenged the status-quo with our ideas and input, sometimes
our freedom imprisons us.
Occasionally we might become stereotyped and judged rather than
listened to and understood. If we suffer hurt during the
process, the Tenth Concept allows us a vehicle by which we might
address our grievance without fear of reprisal.
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A process for considering a Tenth Concept
petition is an essential item for each service committee.
Hearing such a petition is often a painful time during a
committee’s life together. If a process has been developed and
clearly defined in the committee’s guidelines or procedures, the
anguish of hearing a fellow member’s grievance can be lessened,
and mutual respect between all parties involved should be more
easily attained.
As a guiding principle, the Tenth Concept is
not designed to be used as a weapon against those who disagree
with us. It is intended, rather, as a balance mechanism which
can protect the integrity of our personal involvement in the
delivery of Public Information services..
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