{"id":64832,"date":"2015-10-28T23:50:17","date_gmt":"2015-10-28T23:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=64832"},"modified":"2026-02-20T14:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:42:11","slug":"commentaries-on-drinking-the-kool-aid","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=64832","title":{"rendered":"Commentaries on \u201cDrinking the Kool-Aid\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s note<\/strong>: the jonestown report made note every year in its 13 editions between 2007 and 2019 of the numerous articles, op-ed pieces, and commentaries that specifically mention the use of the phrase “Drinking the Kool-Aid,” even if it isn\u2019t the focus of the entire piece. Even though the report suspended the annual listing beginning in 2020, the references continue on a near daily basis in online media sources.<\/p>\n

(The listing below includes several references from 2014 and 2015. The entries include the source and nature of the references. Even as the URLs themselves often go defunct, we will continue to note the outdated links.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"jj<\/a>The expression \u201cdrinking the Kool-Aid\u201d is now deeply embedded into American slang. While its origins are painfully understood by most of the people who visit this site, it\u2019s also true that no one knows when or in what context it first entered our slang lexicon. As time passes, two other characteristics of slang will occur: its earliest meaning will morph into a multitude of derivatives \u2013 indeed, that has already begun to happen \u2013 and fewer and fewer people who use it will know where it came from.<\/p>\n

This past year saw the publication of several commentaries on the use of the phrase, including:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t drink the Kool-Aid on the phrase \u2018Drink the Kool-Aid\u2019<\/strong>
\nby Matthew Hansen, Omaha World-Herald<\/em>, August 7, 2015
\nNote<\/strong>: Access to this article at http:\/\/www.omaha.com\/columnists\/hansen\/hansen-don-t-drink-the-kool-aid-on-the-phrase\/article_96e4c976-7f19-59a4-adcd-9c65848a08dc.html requires a paid subscription.<\/em><\/p>\n

This column analyzes the expression \u201cdrinking the Kool-Aid\u201d as \u201cone of the strangest, most horrifying and oddly unjust pieces of slang in the English language.\u201d Quoting Rebecca Moore \u2013 the co-manager of this website \u2013 the column points out that \u201cThe passing years drained the horror out of the event that birthed the phrase, and it was this distance from the event that made it possible for a politician, a business exec or a regular Joe to utter it without guilt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Science Of Brainwashing, Big And Small<\/strong>
\nby Chris Weller, Medical Daily<\/em>, May 21, 2015
\nhttp:\/\/www.medicaldaily.com\/seen-tv-science-brainwashing-big-and-small-334280<\/a><\/p>\n

Beginning with the issue of whether the deaths in Jonestown should be considered as suicide or murder, this article points out that, \u201cThe question matters.\u201d Primarily a review of a book on brainwashing, the author applauds its insights \u201cinto how easily our brains can change, and how those changes actually happen on a daily basis\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cDay to day, our fragile psyches might never face the threat of brainwashing on the scale of parental coercion or Kool-Aid-drinking cults, but it may still be in our interest to stay keenly aware of when we\u2019re being influenced to feel or think a certain way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A logical approach for religion living<\/strong>
\nby Rev. Buddy Herrington, The Spectrum<\/em>, St. George, Utah, April 24, 2015
\nhttp:\/\/www.thespectrum.com\/story\/life\/2015\/04\/24\/logical-approach-religion-living\/26328073\/<\/a><\/p>\n

In discussing his path to his religious faith, this United Methodist minister writes in a column, \u201cEven as a young child, I had some difficulty just buying into many ideas just because somebody else told me they were best. I loved my parents, but just because they believed something didn\u2019t mean that I had to believe the same exact ideas.\u2026 At the religious level, I wanted to actively think about what I was being told. I definitely did not want to \u201cdrink the Kool-aid\u201d as the followers of that terrible proclaimer Jim Jones. He fed his followers bad religion, and then he poisoned them with spiked Kool-aid. Many of them just followed blindly to their deaths.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Are we entering World War III?<\/strong>
\nby James Baker, Cincinnati USA<\/em>, March 4, 2015
\nNote<\/strong>: Access to this article at http:\/\/www.cincinnati.com\/story\/news\/local\/indian-hill\/2015\/03\/04\/column-entering-world-war-iii\/23736301\/ requires a paid subscription.<\/em><\/p>\n

This guest column consider how we create our own belief systems as articles of faith, influenced by family and society, then suggests \u201cwe are engaged in an escalating war with people who have been taught a different set of beliefs.\u2026 [Recruits to ISIS] are being taught that if they die, it is as a martyr. They believe they would die as heroes; they are taught that this is a religious duty. They are drinking the Jonestown Kool-Aid of a political cult. They have been swindled by deceptive recruiting practices.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Don\u2019t Drink the Kool-Aid<\/strong>
\nConcretized Christianity<\/em>, February 24, 2015
\nhttps:\/\/concretizedchristianity.wordpress.com\/2015\/02\/24\/dont-drink-the-kool-aid\/<\/a><\/p>\n

After expressing surprise that people under 40 have no idea where the Kool-Aid expression originates, the unidentified writer on this Christian website gives a somewhat distorted history of Peoples Temple \u2013 complete with such loaded words as \u201csociopathic,\u201d \u201cslavish\u201d and \u201cpredator\u201d \u2013 and compares Jim Jones to Charles Manson. The writer then suggests that the best safeguard is \u201cour unwavering conviction that the sole source of absolute truth is God\u2019s word\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWho in your life and where in your life is the Kool-Aid being offered?\u201d the column concludes. \u201cAre you aware of it? Do you know it? And what is your response to it?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is It Kosher to \u201cDrink the Kool-Aid\u201d?<\/strong>
\nby Katy Waldman, Slate.com<\/em>, January 30, 2015
\nhttp:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/lexicon_valley\/2015\/01\/30\/is_the_phrase_drink_the_kool_aid_offensive_because_of_jonestown.html<\/a><\/p>\n

In a column that \u201creflect[s] on certain words or phrases that lie in the margins of acceptability,\u201d the author explores the expression\u2019s transition \u201cfrom simple murder weapon to symbol of cultish complicity\u201d and \u2013 given that few people know its origins — considers whether it has lost its power to convey any sense of tragedy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A few things to work on in 2015<\/strong>
\nEditorial, The Herald<\/em>, Everett, Washington, January 1, 2015
\nNote<\/strong>: The url for this editorial at http:\/\/www.heraldnet.com\/article\/20150101\/OPINION01\/150109926 is defunct.<\/em><\/p>\n

In its annual column of its recommendations for New Year\u2019s resolutions that celebrities and newsmakers could make, the editorial board of the Everett Herald concluded with one for itself. \u201c[T]o demonstrate that we’re not above self-improvement, we’ll make a resolution ourselves. Forthwith, we resolve not to use the following clich\u00e9d words and phrases in editorials.\u201d Among the dozen words and phrases was \u201cdrink the Kool-Aid.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The phrase \u2018drank the Kool-Aid\u2019 is completely offensive. We should stop saying it immediately.<\/strong>
\nby James Richardson, The Washington Post<\/em>, November 18, 2014
\nNote<\/strong>: Access to this article at https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/posteverything\/wp\/2014\/11\/18\/the-phrase-drank-the-koolaid-is-completely-offensive-we-should-stop-saying-it-immediately\/ requires a paid subscription.<\/em><\/p>\n

The guest column by a former California reporter and cuurent Episcopal priest in Virginia describes the use of the phrase as \u201cflip\u201d and \u201cannoying,\u201d then continues with a description of the events that gave rise to it. \u201cMany of us have not forgotten the nightmare of Jonestown,\u201d the article concludes. \u201cThe rest of you need to clean up your language.\u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Remembering Jonestown And Why We Should Stop Saying ‘Drink The Kool-Aid’<\/strong>
\nby Jay Barmann, sfist.com<\/em>, November 19, 2014
\nhttp:\/\/sfist.com\/2014\/11\/19\/remembering_jonestown_and_why_we_sh.php<\/a><\/p>\n

Written at the anniversary of the deaths in Jonestown \u2013 and quoting the Richardson article immiediately above \u2013 the author admits, \u201cIt’s probably impossible to scrub away an idiom that’s so ingrained in American culture, as Richardson suggests. But nevertheless people should revise their thinking about what truly happened at Jonestown, and how one man’s drug-induced delusions and megalomania ended the lives of 909 people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If I ever use the phrase \u201cDrink the Kool-Aid\u201d again, please do me a favor and kick me in the teeth<\/strong>
\nby Mark Maynard, markmaynard.com<\/em>, November 18, 2014
\nhttp:\/\/markmaynard.com\/2014\/11\/if-i-ever-use-the-phrase-drink-the-kool-aid-again-please-do-me-a-favor-and-kick-me-in-the-teeth\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the fact that over 300 of the dead were children. It made a huge impact on me as a kid. And, when I think of Jonestown, it\u2019s always the first thing to come to my mind\u2026 I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a phrase I\u2019ve ever used here, but, if it is, I\u2019m sorry. \u2026 And I promise not to ever do it again.\u201c<\/p>\n

The blog includes several comments, including one defense of the continued use of the expression. \u201cBlack humor is a survival skill\u2026 Also as a metaphor, \u2018don\u2019t drink the Koolaid\u2019 works, whether willingly done [or] forced. One often does things and supports things because one thinks one must, not because one believes. For me the implication, is \u2018you know better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The expression has found new venues outside of the linguistic. Rich Mnisi, a South African clothing designer, presented a collection in 2014 called Don\u2019t Drink the Kool Aid Kid<\/a> during a show of African Fashion International in Johannesburg, which included a male model wearing a Kool-Aid placard hanging from his neck.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And finally:<\/p>\n

Demonstrating that entrepreneurs can continue to find new and offensive ways to market the expression, the T-Shirt company Better Than Pants has conjoined the Kool-Aid man with an image of death<\/a> (Warning<\/span>: The image on the shirt is graphic).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor\u2019s note: the jonestown report made note every year in its 13 editions between 2007 and 2019 of the numerous articles, op-ed pieces, and commentaries that specifically mention the use of the phrase “Drinking the Kool-Aid,” even if it isn\u2019t the focus of the entire piece. Even though the report suspended the annual listing beginning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":64830,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-64832","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64832"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133839,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64832\/revisions\/133839"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}