Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Don't drink the Kool-Aid

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown massacre at the Peoples Temple in Guyana. The community of more than 900 people took part in the "mass suicide" when they drank cyanide-laced Kool-Aid under the “instruction” of temple leader Rev. Jim Jones.

It is said that members of the church flocked to it and Jones looking for something new. It was reported his preachings stressed the need for racial equality and diversity and focused on feeding the poor and finding them jobs.


It’s great his followers felt he offered them a better life … possibly even connected them to some Higher Power. But when did their affection and dedication to this man shift to where Jones became their Higher Power?


Why are people so quick to believe someone else when they have no hope in their lives? What is it that clicks in a person's mind, throwing out all reason to what is fundamentally right and wrong?


What scares me is that in our current tumultuous economic times, will people again be to grab any piece of hope that comes their way? Will they make decisions they may otherwise have abandoned in order to be happy?


I hope that people realize there is always a glimmer of light at the end of the dark … even if that glimmer is small.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Maybe many people are afraid to think for themselves. Maybe they are filled with so much doubt that they feel that their thoughts or ideas couldn't possibly have any value. Maybe they feel that they have lost control of their lives and they look to others to give them back their control. To me that isn't even logical.