by AlphaOmega 26 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Okay, here goes...
I've seen many many many references to Kool-aid here, such as "Don't drink the Kool-aid" etc etc BUT I can't work out what it's all about.
BUT, my imagination tells me that MAYBE someone went to a Memorial Meal, "partook of the emblems" and discovered that it wasn't wine, but Kool-Aid.
Am I right or is there something else going on?
It's a reference to the Jonestown Massacre in 1978, when 900+ members of the peoples Temple committed suicide in a compound in Guyana by drinking Kool-Aid laced with cyanide, although some reports claim it was Flavor-Aid. Since then, the term "drinking the Kool-Aid" has been used in reference to cult ordered suicide.
There is a lot of information on the tragedy here
Ah !
Nothing to do with the Memorial Meal then. It's funny how the imagination works.
Thank you
Kool-Aid is a reference to the poison kool-aid that infamous cult leader Jim Jones had his followers drink en-masse in the Jones town massacre in Guyana in the 1970's. Younger people would probably not immediately get this reference if they were born after 1970 or too young to remember it in the news. Hundreds of men, women and children were killed.
Jim Jones started out as a regular evangelical preacher, who was very charismatic and develped quite a following after himself. He started to try and assert more and more control over his church and eventually started an isolated commune of sorts called "Jonestown" in the jungle of Guyana. He became more and more egomaniacal and paranoid and many allegations of abuse were leveled at him by the families of some of his followers. They claimed they were being held by force and not allowed to leave. Some journalist and a senator I believe came to Jonestown to check it out and as they were about to board the plane to fly back to the states, Jim Jones had them shot. He knew then it would only be a matter of time before the authorities came for him, so he put into effect a mass suicide plan for the commune. They served the children the poison kool-aid first, then the parents, and so on up the heirarachy. Some people tried to flee into the jungle and were shot. (A few might have escaped, I can't remember). When the authorities did come they just found a mass of dead bodies. There have been a few movies made about it. You can check the video store archives if you are interested. It is a fascinating story.
The analogy is used to compare the watchtower doctrine as similiar death-dealing "poison". This analogy may seem a stretch to some, but in reality, witnesses are willing to sacrifice their very lives and their children's lives to follow the society doctrine on blood transfusions even though they make no medical sense and no other relgion in the world views the bible's dietary sanctions on blood as applying to life saving blood transfusions. By signing the no blood cards, witnesses are agreeing in advance, in writing, to "drink the kool-aid" that the society gives them, in any flavor or color, they choose to serve it.
Hope this helps
Cog
Anyone see the segment on it on History Rocks this week on the History Channel? It was a long segment with lots of archival audio and footage set to the music of Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper". I really recommend catching it if it airs again. I really wish I had taped it.
Jehovah's Witnesses drink figuartive Kool Aid every day. On average, three are ordered to commit suicide by refusing blood transfusion every day. It averages out as a rough estimate to about a thousand a year world wide.
In such dribs and drabs the world does not notice another Jonestown massacre taking place every single year!
Just saw a production on that tonite. They're now choosing to no longer call it a mass suicide, but rather a mass murder. Jones was a bitch. There was evidence to suggest that he had someone shoot him. He did not necessarily shoot himself. One of the biggest pieces of shit that a mother could bear. I feel bad for his parents. That man was an unstable piece of garbage. 300 children out of the 908 that died. Many were forced to take it. They interviewed Jones' son and several others who made it out alive. The guy who killed the congressman got 18 years and got out in 2002. He's roaming free after killing a congressman. Yay justice!
Thanks for asking, I did not know the word, either.
Jehovah's Witnesses drink figuartive Kool Aid every day. On average, three are ordered to commit suicide by refusing blood transfusion every day. It averages out as a rough estimate to about a thousand a year world wide.
In such dribs and drabs the world does not notice another Jonestown massacre taking place every single year!
Good points Gill.
And what of the slow suicide one commits daily as a JW by not really living this life, waiting for the next, the "real" one to come. That is tragic as well.
Here's a bit of trivia that may be of interest:
The Jonestown "KOOL-AID" wasn't the KOOL-AID® brand product, but a product called "FLAVOR-AID". The press referred to it as kool-aid because everyone in the USA knows what that is, while FLAVOR-AID is rather scarce in the marketplace.
If you're planning a cult gathering in the jungle, it can be purchased here: http://www.mybrandsinc.com/ShopOnline/Catalog.asp?t=6&s=F&ss=FAID&p=628
