Over the past several weeks and even months, I have gone through periods of contemplation about what to include in the next blog. Needless-to-say, there have been any number of subjects and events that have occurred during this period that would warrant some discussion. One arena that continues to receive a great deal of attention focuses on the divisions that are so prominent throughout the country. A recent article in The New York Times, discussed the way in which the country has become so divided, both politically and geographically. The prevalence of division can also be based on religious differences, socio-economic differences, cultural differences, sexual differences, and the list goes on and on. Certainly, there is something to be cherished in the differences amongst people—we all do not need to think alike, look alike, believe alike. Healthy discord makes us all stronger, but strident discord makes us all distrustful and alienated. Do we insulate ourselves from those who are different? Perhaps we do and this insulation tends to breed a myopic view of life and what makes up the various nuances of existence.
As I have reflected on the tenor of the times, I have been drawn back to November 18, 1978. Many might recall this is the infamous day that over 900 souls left this earth at the direction of the Reverend Jim Jones, the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple. On this fateful night, Jones had come to the decision that he would test the loyalty of his followers to lay down their lives for the cause and for him. The cause as he described it was to create some type of socialistic utopia amid a jungle in Guyana, a small country in South America. The settlement became known as Jonestown and it was in this enclave that babies and children were given a poisonous concoction that led to death within about a five-minute time period. Jones believed that if the babies and children went first, then families would have no reason to continue living and would voluntarily take their own life by drinking the cyanide-laced punch. Some did escape and they have become the source of the information that has been forthcoming about what took place in the far-removed jungle enclave. In her book, A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception and Suicide at Jonestown, Julia Scheeres wrote that he wanted the world to think this was some uniform decision that his followers made to willingly killed themselves, but that can certainly be contested. There was a line of guards with crossbows and another line of guards behind them with guns to make certain that the suicides and murders happened. Does raise the question of how voluntary the decision to die was among the members of the cult. In the conclusion of his Rolling Stones article, “13 Things you should know about the cult massacre”, David Chiu stated that much of what was promised to the followers of Jim Jones were a myriad of lies and misinformation. The phrase, “drinking the Kool Aid has been popularized following what took place at Jonestown. While this term has been characterized as offensive, it does lend some measure of credence to people blindly following a person, a belief, a conspiracy or something that is odious and unfounded.
Bringing this into the current climate in our country, it seems as if there are a significant number of individuals who are believing the lies and misinformation that has been son obvious over the past several years. During the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency, The Washington Post identified 30,573 false or misleading statements made by him. Perhaps the most onerous lie, deals with the results of the most recent election won by Joe Biden. Trump has repeatedly made claims that the election was stolen from him due to fraudulent state voting practices. Following the election at least 86 lawsuits were filed by Trump and others contesting the results in several states and none were found to have merit. Some of these lawsuits were filed in courts where judges nominated by Trump presided, yet they found no reason to support the claims that were being made. Regardless, this has not stopped the claims from being repeated over and over by Trump and his followers. The “Big Lie” has become a rallying point for the Trump faithful and the adoration shown to him by bright and thoughtful individuals has been nothing short of amazing. It is believed that confronted in a private context, many of those who publicly support the “Big Lie” would agree that it is unfounded.
To combat the loss of the presidency, the House and the Senate, several states controlled by Republican legislatures and governors have enacted laws that are geared to suppress the voting by certain groups of people. The states of Georgia, Florida, Texas and others on the horizon have attempted to curtail the opportunities for people to vote. Voting is one of the most sacred components of a free and open democracy and to do anything to diminish that right is unconscionable.
The relationship between what took place at Jonestown and what is taking place today is ever so apparent, yet perplexing. How did so many adults die by following a dictum propagated by their leader and how can so many believe what a leader says when he has lied or misinformed over 30,000 times in four years?
Some who read what I have written will not agree and might take offense to the connection I have attempted to identify. That is OK, but I would ask that each of us stop and reflect on where we are and where do we want to be in the future. Are some “drinking the Kool-Aid” rather than stepping back and looking at what is being said and what is being expected.