Keep Your Kids from the Kool-Aid
Published November 8, 2023
In November 1978, over 900 people committed mass suicide in the South American country of Guyana. They were Americans. They were part of a cult headed by Jim Jones. They had fled to South America to escape growing opposition to the cult in the United States. However, American officials started investigating reports of abuse in Guyana as well. An American congressman came to visit and was murdered along with four others. This led Jones to proclaim that the end was near – it was only a matter of time before American forces would storm his compound. He instructed all his followers to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. Obediently, almost all of them did, including 304 children and young people.This is where the expression “drinking the Kool-Aid” comes from. It refers to people ingesting poison under the influence of a powerful leader. Of course, today nobody is referring to literal poison – it’s used to refer to poisonous ideas.
Comments
Post a Comment
Welcome! Please feel free to comment, but anti-Christian comments or profanity will not be tolerated. Thank you, ed.