The People's temple
James Warren Jones, more commonly known as Jim Jones, commenced the Peoples Temple in Indiana in 1955. Publicly Jim portrayed himself as a devoted Christian preacher. Privately he was actually an atheist who wanted to eradicate the Christian faith and promote Communism. He would later familiarize the members with communism in his sermons by twisting Jesus’ teachings to have a communistic message. His teachings also evolved as he claimed the U.S. government was the Anti-Christ He disguised his sick social agenda with his advocacy of religion.
Jones attracted a congregation by allowing non-segregated church, which he strongly believed in, by promoting casual attire in church so the poor portion of the congregation would feel more comfortable to attend, and by performing fake healings. Word of the “healings” traveled around town and provoked an investigation that led Jones to move to California with 140 of his members.
His congregation attracted notably more people in California. As The Peoples Temple grew he tightened the reins on his congregation by forcing them to cut ties with their families and become more attached with their new Peoples Temple “family”. He also asked them to turn over their material possessions and substantial amounts of money to the church. This money was used to keep the church going and to help the community. Some of the recognition the church initially received was because of the service to the community they provided. The Congregation had elderly homes and help for the poor and homeless. But this good press didn’t last forever. Members began to speak out against the temple because of the abuse they experienced. They claimed Jones and other members would beat people if they wavered from their beliefs of did something that was considered unacceptable, like seeing family members not part of the church, and beat them if they spoke out about the beatings. Even when they spoke out to the press their stories weren’t published because of the support Jones provided for the newspapers. It wasn’t until a couple reporters converged to speak out for the welfare of the community that the truth was exposed. This led yet another investigation.
Around 1974, Jones sent a group of people to Georgetown, Guyana in South America (a previously British colony) to rent almost 4,000 acres of land for what they called The Jonestown Agricultural Project. They built little houses, two school houses, a first aid station, and a pavilion where they would hold their meetings. They grew their own fruits and vegetables and were able to sustain themselves. Philip Blakely, one of the original settlers of Jonestown, claims that the compound was one of the most amazing places he had ever been, but once Jones actually moved there it all turned into a nightmare for him. Jones and most of the other members moved down because of the social scrutiny by the increasingly aware media.
It was then that Jones began to fall into his black hole faster than ever. He confiscated any medicine they had and began to take it himself. He was always under the influence of amphetamines and barbiturates and wore sunglasses to hide his glazed eyes. The abuse of the medicine began to drive him to paranoia. The humiliation and beatings of the members intensified. He would also test the congregations “loyalty” by lining everyone up and handing out cups with Kool-Aid which was supposedly poisoned with cyanide. They were told they would die in forty-five minutes. When forty-five minutes was up he would then tell them he was proud they were so loyal and that one day they would have to drink it again but that that time it would be poisonous.
The families of the members in Jonestown were progressively more and more worried every day. Jones regulated the communication between them and the outside world. This distress put pressure on the U.S. to help the families who thought their loved ones were being held against their will. Congress man Leo Ryan and eighteen other people flew down on November 14, 1978 to see if they could investigate what was really going on. Jones accepted them and showed them all around the compound. Everyone was told by Jones to be on their best behavior and to pretend to be happy, and they did so until the night before the team was to leave. A lady approached a team member and passed him a note asking them to help get her out. This caused others to speak up and request to leave too. Jones was notified and responded by allowing them to leave with Ryan. The Next day, November 18, they were at the airstrip ready to leave when a group of The Peoples Temple arrived in a truck and fired upon them. Five people, including Congressman Leo Ryan, died, and eleven others were shot. When word got back to Jonestown Jones told the community that their only way out was to commit “revolutionary suicide”. They made a batch of Kool- Aid, Valium, and Cyanide. They forced the children to drink it and then drank it themselves. Jones himself didn’t drink the Kool-Aid but was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Over 900 people were found dead. The tragedy created by Jones caused many Anti-Cult groups to spring up around the country and caused investigative personnel to take family members more seriously.
It was then that Jones began to fall into his black hole faster than ever. He confiscated any medicine they had and began to take it himself. He was always under the influence of amphetamines and barbiturates and wore sunglasses to hide his glazed eyes. The abuse of the medicine began to drive him to paranoia. The humiliation and beatings of the members intensified. He would also test the congregations “loyalty” by lining everyone up and handing out cups with Kool-Aid which was supposedly poisoned with cyanide. They were told they would die in forty-five minutes. When forty-five minutes was up he would then tell them he was proud they were so loyal and that one day they would have to drink it again but that that time it would be poisonous.
The families of the members in Jonestown were progressively more and more worried every day. Jones regulated the communication between them and the outside world. This distress put pressure on the U.S. to help the families who thought their loved ones were being held against their will. Congress man Leo Ryan and eighteen other people flew down on November 14, 1978 to see if they could investigate what was really going on. Jones accepted them and showed them all around the compound. Everyone was told by Jones to be on their best behavior and to pretend to be happy, and they did so until the night before the team was to leave. A lady approached a team member and passed him a note asking them to help get her out. This caused others to speak up and request to leave too. Jones was notified and responded by allowing them to leave with Ryan. The Next day, November 18, they were at the airstrip ready to leave when a group of The Peoples Temple arrived in a truck and fired upon them. Five people, including Congressman Leo Ryan, died, and eleven others were shot. When word got back to Jonestown Jones told the community that their only way out was to commit “revolutionary suicide”. They made a batch of Kool- Aid, Valium, and Cyanide. They forced the children to drink it and then drank it themselves. Jones himself didn’t drink the Kool-Aid but was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Over 900 people were found dead. The tragedy created by Jones caused many Anti-Cult groups to spring up around the country and caused investigative personnel to take family members more seriously.
Watch the whole documentary on youtube, the following video is one of the last portions of it. We recommend you watch the whole documentary form the beginning but if not at least watch the portion we have linked onto the following button.
Video: 2:15-8:57