On the night of 28 November 1978, almost 1,000 people died by suicide (and a few by gunshot) at the self-styled commune of Jonestown, Guyana. We need not recount the details of this horrific event.[1] But we do need to review a key reason why this tragedy occurred.
Rather than being ruled under a Higher Law, the people involved, while victims of a terrible crime, had submitted themselves to rule by taboo.
According to the Bible, the Higher Law is God’s moral law. And its essential principle is that it legislates against theft of all types, whether stealing somebody’s property, spouse, liberty, or life. If you want to know if you are violating God’s moral law, ask yourself a simple question: am I stealing from somebody through my current decisions?
In contrast, rule by taboo is being controlled by another individual’s personal foibles and convictions. There is nothing wrong with having personal convictions. The problem comes when we take our convictions and transform them into Higher Law, and demand, by force, that others obey them. This is precisely what the Sadducees and Pharisees had done during Jesus’ day, and why He chastised them for violating the weightier provisions of the law. In an effort to “build a hedge around the law” they created a host of taboos. Puritan Britain did the same, banning the ownership of dice and playing cards (“Peasant! You might gamble!”).
This doesn’t mean that voluntary institutions cannot have standards and regulations. For example, a private school can require a dress code. If parents do not like it, they can withdraw their children. Of course, this problem becomes acute when dealing with government schools, the aptly described “12-year sentence.”[2]
But, in a society patterned on liberty, government should be focused on opposing forms of theft. When force is used beyond this, one enters the world of taboo. Under taboo, one never knows when they are violating a given law, code, regulation, or even somebody’s personal hatred. They live in constant strain, wondering when the power of the state will be turned against them. It is much like the game Whac-A-Mole. When your head pops up, you are wacked… hard. Taboo leads to tyranny, because there are no limits to where taboo will go.
And this is precisely what happened at Jonestown. Prior to the move to Guyana, many of Jim Jones’s followers left when they had the chance. They were the fortunate ones. Once in Guyana, those who remained were in a virtual prison because it was so difficult to escape through the surrounding jungle. Confined to the camp, Jones ratcheted up the pressure of taboo, resulting in tragedy.
Many governments have functioned under taboo: the late Roman Empire, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Maoist China to name a few.
And now comes… the United States, with its form of secular Pharisaism.
We have a choice: we will either have Liberty under Law, or Tyranny under Taboo.
Coming next: Somebody will be Under the Ban
[1] See Raven: the untold story of the Rev. Jim Jones and his people. Tim Reiterman, New York: E.P. Dutton, 1982. Reiterman’s book is still arguably the best on the subject. Yet, while he extensively mentions Jones’s socialist beliefs, the word “socialism” has not a single entry in the index.
[2] See The Twelve-Year Sentence: Radical views of compulsory schooling. William F. Rickenbacker, ed., San Francisco: Fox & Wilkes, 1974
Russ Rodgers has several books published on Amazon.
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.
Substack: American Free News Network Substack
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA
1 thought on “Liberty Under Law- or Tyranny Under Taboo”