On this day in history: November 18, 1978 Mass Suicide in Jonestown where Jim Jones leads his followers in the drinking of a poisoned cocktail in Guyana, East Africa.
In all, 913 people died and 276 of them were children. The re-enactments I've seen were not gentle, they had armed guards ready to shoot anyone who tried to not drink the poison cocktail so I'm sure how it can really be called a mass suicide. It would be more appropriate, I think, to call it a mass murder by brainwashing and then by force. Also, from the Wiki link, they had dry runs where everyone was given what they thought was poisoned Flavor-Aid. Those that didn't drink it were engaged in a debate and usually complied quickly. Only after everyone had drunk the fake poison would they be told that it was just a test of loyalty to Jim Jones.
Friends don't let friends get brainwashed into being culties. And real friends will tie you up to keep you from being sucked into a cult if you're prone to that sort of thing. Really, really good friends will even break into a cult to get you out but its just best to stay out of them to begin with. Any group of people that requires you to subordinate your own desires for some false prophet's desires is no place you want to be. Of course, I'm reminded of David Koresh and his Branch Davidians and the colossal clusterfuck that was the taking of their compound in Waco. There are cults everywhere, heck Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are part of a cult, just a really big and well organized and thoroughly scary cult.
Tags: Jonestown, cult, suicide, Waco
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