I made a mistake a few weeks ago. I sat up late one night and watched a documentary (Jonestown: Paradise Lost) on Jim Jones and the horror that took place at Jonestown. Being younger than that generation I had been taught at school only in passing what had gone on there; that it was a cult, that Jim Jones convinced everyone to commit suicide by drinking cyanide laced Kool-Aid, that it was a good example of why we should not uphold one person as an authority on our lives. Little did I realize just the scope of horror of what had occurred.

Why was it a mistake to watch the show? I still see the images of small children being brought forward by their parents, to have syringes filled with the poisonous drink squirted into their mouths. I see my young girls, and try to imagine what could convince a parent to commit such an act?

These people deserved better. Jim Jones far worse.

I hope that the memory of this show fades away now.