30 Years After Jonestown

It's been thirty years to the day since the horror of Jonestown.

It was then, on Nov. 18th, 1978, that 909 members of The Peoples Temple, under the crackpot leadership of the 'Rev.' Jim Jones, commited mass suicide by drinking cyanide laced Flavor-Aid.

Reports indicate that some members were forced to drink the deadly cocktail while others (namely the elderly) were injected with the poison against their will.

More info on the event here, here, here and here.

But who was this Jim Jones, the infamous leader of the doomed Peoples Temple?



According to the Rick Ross Institute:

"Jones began his group in San Francisco and was once a respected community leader. He started programs to help the elderly and poor. His circle of friends once included leading politicians, who once defended him against allegations of abuse.


...the Rev. Jim Jones was a popular figure and something of a religious celebrity in San Francisco [who] participated in fashionable charity events...


Jones was...an ordained minister of the Disciples of Christ, a respected mainline denomination. At one point his congregation numbered 8,000. It was composed largely of poor African Americans.


Jones...was embraced by liberal politicians such as U.S. Representatives Phillip and John Burton, Assemblyman Willie Brown and Mayor George Moscone.


After the tragedy at Jonestown these politicians found it difficult to explain how Jim Jones so easily took them in.


One of Jones' long time followers Tim Stoen explained, "There wasn't anything magical about Jim's power. It was raw politics. He was able to deliver what politicians want, which is power. And how do you get power? By votes. And how do you get votes? With people. Jim Jones could produce 3,000 people at a political event.''


Jones first step on his path to political influence began in the Fall of 1970. He created a fund for the families of slain police officers. This was the beginning of a viable process he used to make valuable friends through charitable contributions.


The first bad press Jones received in the Bay area was a somewhat critical story run by the San Francisco Examiner in 1972. The paper exposed that Jones had claimed to be a "prophet" and said he could raise the dead.


Perhaps to preempt any further embarrassment Jones subsequently gave out grants to 12 newspapers. He even bussed his people to demonstrate in support of reporters who had been jailed for not revealing confidential sources. Ironically, the man who would later flee from the press and oppress dissent within his group once said in 1973 that he wanted "to defend the free speech clause of the First Amendment.''


In 1973 the San Francisco Examiner briefly ran articles critical of the Temple. However, Jones' political machine continues to garner him influence by helping to elect Mayor Moscone, District Attorney Joseph Freitas and Sheriff Richard Hongisto in 1975.


And Jones was still spreading money around to seemingly buy influence. A writer for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in 1976, "Many a San Franciscan and many a project have received sizable checks from Peoples Temple, accompanied by only a short note from Jim Jones, saying, `We appreciate what you are doing,' ''


Jones gave money to the NAACP, the Ecumenical Peace Institute and a senior citizens escort service. Willie Brown and then-Governor Jerry Brown could be seen at his church services, apparently paying homage to their friend.


The Fall of 1976 seems to be the time Jones achieved his peak of power. The Burtons, Willie Brown, Williams, Moscone, radical Angela Davis, lawyer Vincent Hallinan, Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and publisher Carlton Goodlett toasted him at a testimonial dinner. And later Moscone gave him a seat on the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission. "


The video I produced above says it well. Don't be fooled by the signs and wonders of maniacal, charismatic figures.

Know the word of God as if your life depended on it (which, of course, it does).

It's too easy to be duped.

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect"

Matthew 24:24