Jim Jones

I was listening to NPR and someone was saying how "drink the kool-aide" is an offensive phrase to the survivors of Jonestown.

Jim Jones was the head of a cult that was really big in California and in progressive politics before it relocated to Jonestown in South America. There, they ended up killing a visiting Congressman, and then Jim Jones got over 900 of them to kill drink cyanide-laced kool-aide.

Before they moved and went crazy, it really seems like the beginnings of the church was really remarkable, and the followers were very thoughtful and well-meaning. Little by little, as the church began to demand more and more of their money and time and loyalty, the situation warped into something more nefarious. Jim Jones was not what he seemed.

We are all drinking some kind of kool-aide. Hopefully we won't be so unpleasantly surprised, though.