Jim Jones Childhood and the Beginnings of the People's Temple
Born in Crete, Indiana in 1931, James Jones, better known as Jim Jones, had a rough childhood. His father was a war veteran who was unable to work due to a mustard gas injury and so he spent a lot of time drinking and would often abuse his son. His mother had to work all the time to support the family; neither parent spent much time with the child. Jones later tells his congregation that “I didn’t have love given to me – I didn’t know what the hell love was”.
Childhood acquaintances recall Jones was a “really weird kid” who was obsessed with religion and preaching to others. He was also obsessed with death and would often hold mock funerals for small animals, which many people believed he killed (he reportedly stabbed a cat to death). This desire to harm small animals is our first indication that Jones was going to have problems later in life (research has shown that people/kids who abuse animals are 5 times more likely to abuse humans when they get older). Jones was also an avid reader as a child, and spent time reading and studying Stalin, Marx, Gandhi, and Hitler.
Jim got married to a woman named Marceline at age 18 and the two adopted multiple children of various ethnicities; he called this his “rainbow family”. They were also the first couple in Indiana to adopt a black child.
At about age 20, Jones joined the Communist Party USA, which caused his community to harrass him. This frustrated him and inspired him to one day promote his “Marxism”.
Somewhat of a turning point for Jones was when he saw a faith-healing service at a Baptist Church and saw how it attracted people and more importantly, their money. After seeing this he started his own church, The People’s Temple, preaching to primarily black people, whom he wanted to help most. This actually makes sense, because this was at a time when blacks were outcast and treated badly by society. This caused them to be very vulnerable, meaning Jim wouldn't have a difficult time gaining their trust.
He would perform his own “healing rituals” which were entirely staged. In the video below there is a part where a woman tells about a time when he “healed” a paraplegic woman and she ended up walking and running around the Church. The narrator finds out later that the woman was actually his secretary, who was an able-bodied woman. Since other people did not know Jones lied about this, they ended up believing him to be what he said he was: a “reincarnation of Jesus and Gandhi”. Once he had gained this trust he began to talk about his “Apostolic Socialism” concept.
He had many ways of abusing his followers. One way was when Jones would hold evening meetings, lasting the whole night, which involved “catharsis”. Catharsis, meaning “emotional cleansing”, was a ritual where friends and family would harshly criticize the person “on the floor”.
In the video below, a couple people talk about how the church handled their own discipline. Jones would bring people up in front of the congregation and have them confess to everything he considered to be wrong (mostly trivial things). Jones would then ask the congregation what should be done with the wrongdoer. One man says that punishment could be having to fight (physically) other church members. He says you may have to fight 5 people right there, and if you got knocked out, they’d wake you up so you could keep fighting. Another form of punishment was public beatings with paddles and other blunt objects in front of the congregation. After these punishments, Jones would tell the “sinner” that it was for their own good, and that he (Jones) still loved them, and so did Jesus. Many brainwashed church members found the punishments justifiable.
In the video below, a couple people talk about how the church handled their own discipline. Jones would bring people up in front of the congregation and have them confess to everything he considered to be wrong (mostly trivial things). Jones would then ask the congregation what should be done with the wrongdoer. One man says that punishment could be having to fight (physically) other church members. He says you may have to fight 5 people right there, and if you got knocked out, they’d wake you up so you could keep fighting. Another form of punishment was public beatings with paddles and other blunt objects in front of the congregation. After these punishments, Jones would tell the “sinner” that it was for their own good, and that he (Jones) still loved them, and so did Jesus. Many brainwashed church members found the punishments justifiable.
Jones taught his followers that he was the only true heterosexual in the world, and that everyone else was homosexual. He was arrested one time for soliciting sex from an undercover male cop. This stopped his “sex with strangers” and forced his to find outlets for his sexuality within the church. Jones would tell some male church members that he had to “relate” to their homosexuality in order to reach them on their level. Other times he would say he needed to introduce men to their inner homosexuality. According to one man, he never actually raped anyone, but rather persuaded them to want to have sex with him.
As you can see Jones possessed many characteristics that are common in other psychotic cult leaders: the childhood animal cruelty, absence of parental figures, and the lack of friends. He also displays control issues and sexuality problems when he is older.
As you can see Jones possessed many characteristics that are common in other psychotic cult leaders: the childhood animal cruelty, absence of parental figures, and the lack of friends. He also displays control issues and sexuality problems when he is older.
Video Clips:
1. This is the video that is mentioned a couple times above. This is from a documentary called "Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple” (full documentary can be seen at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/jonestown-the-life-and-death-of-peoples-temple/ ).
1. This is the video that is mentioned a couple times above. This is from a documentary called "Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple” (full documentary can be seen at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/jonestown-the-life-and-death-of-peoples-temple/ ).
7:30 - 8:32 - Jones recalls how he was an outcast as a child. His childhood friends talk about his obsession with death and religion.
8:45 - a couple people talk about how his parents were absent.
2. This is another clip from the same documentary mentined above.
This clip talks about the healing of the paraplegic woman. The lady recounting this story says that it was the most amazing healing that she ever saw. She talks about how she later found out that this healing wasn't all Jones had claimed it to be. The second clip in this same video discusses Jim's beliefs about homosexuality. Some former members discuss how he thought all people were homosexuals except for him.
8:45 - a couple people talk about how his parents were absent.
2. This is another clip from the same documentary mentined above.
2:57 – 4:40 - Shows Jones “healing” the paraplegic woman.
8:15 - – Woman tells about how Jim said all followers were homosexuals except for him.
3. Yet another clip from the same well-done documentary.
00:05 - 1:36 - This clip talks about how the congregation and Jim handle their own discipline. A couple members talk about Jim having "sinners" box/fight in front of the congregation. They discuss the beatings that he would dole out to some members. The "sins" were often times not serious at all. Maybe he thought they weren't paying attention to his sermon.
3. Yet another clip from the same well-done documentary.
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Jones’s Political Deception and the move to Guyana
How did Jones get the money to build Guyana (the place where he would eventually move his followers)?
Not only did he require members to sell their homes and give proceeds to him but he also required members to pay twenty five percent of their earnings. For members who could not make that “commitment” they could do other things like donate jewelry.
Terri Buford was one of Jones’ former mistresses who was fortunate enough to avoid being in Guyana on the day of the mass “suicide”. She was the head of Jones’s “diversions” unit, whose role was to blackmail politicians whose sexual activity was photographed or tape recorded. Allies were rewarded with financial and sexual favors. Millions of dollars were stolen from the government through schemes such as signing up adopted kids for benefits. He would collect social security and welfare from his followers as well. The Temple members would search obituaries and hospital records for deceased people and then apply for credit cards in their name. Buford was sent to other countries with suitcases of money to put in accounts under her name. These deposits came from the schemes listed above an totaled about $26 million.
Jones would bus his followers around the country specifically to vote for a specific candidate, whom he wanted to be in office. In off-year elections when the total vote was around 2,500, Jones could control sixteen percent of the vote with his followers. In one town in California where his Temple could once be found, he controlled workers that served in the Department of Social Services, Juvenile Hall, the Public Health Department, and a few other offices. One person that Jones helped to get into office, even put Jones on the Housing Authority Commission.
In 1977, Jones and several hundred members moved to Guyana (in South America) after they learned of the contents of an article by Michael Kilduff and Phil Tracy called Inside the People’s Temple. This article contained interviews from former Temple members, in which they claimed they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. Jones had started building what he called “Jonestown” in 1970 as a “socialist paradise” and a sanctuary from the media criticism. Unfortunately, it was anything but a paradise, but rather more like a concentration camp.
Members in Jonestown were subjected to hard labor, semi-starvation, and physical and sexual abuse. The average member received about a $5 per week allowance. They were made to feel guilty and/or receive punishment for getting too much sleep. Jones would keep members busy and would often drive them to a state of exhaustion which made the mind weak and making them easier to manipulate.
Members in Jonestown were subjected to hard labor, semi-starvation, and physical and sexual abuse. The average member received about a $5 per week allowance. They were made to feel guilty and/or receive punishment for getting too much sleep. Jones would keep members busy and would often drive them to a state of exhaustion which made the mind weak and making them easier to manipulate.
One woman named Edith Roller kept a journal during her time in Jonestown that has been very valuable to researchers over the years. According to her, daily life consisted of 12 hours of work, with a small breakfast and lunch. They would have dinner and then have to go to services every night, which could last anywhere from 3 – 7 hours meaning that sometimes people didn’t get to sleep until 3 a.m (and would have to wake up 4 hours later). On some of these late nights Jim would tell them that even though it was a financial sacrifice, they could sleep in an hour and a half late. But on those days where they “slept in” no lunch was served.
Edith Roller said that Friday nights were when they were all required to go to socialism class. Edith also mentioned how most nights Jones would bring up people who had done wrong and sentence them to the “Learning Crew”, which was a disciplinary unit that was expected to work faster, longer, with less rest, less food, and in silence. A member of this crew would be released back to the normal community when they demonstrated discipline. People could be sentenced to the Learning Crew for things like being unfriendly, complaining, ruining equipment, and many other trivial things. Sometimes Jones would punish them by submitting them to a “test by pain” (Edith does not further explain what this means). Jones would allow no one to leave Jonestown and would make them feel guilty if they wrote home to family members.
Edith Roller said that Friday nights were when they were all required to go to socialism class. Edith also mentioned how most nights Jones would bring up people who had done wrong and sentence them to the “Learning Crew”, which was a disciplinary unit that was expected to work faster, longer, with less rest, less food, and in silence. A member of this crew would be released back to the normal community when they demonstrated discipline. People could be sentenced to the Learning Crew for things like being unfriendly, complaining, ruining equipment, and many other trivial things. Sometimes Jones would punish them by submitting them to a “test by pain” (Edith does not further explain what this means). Jones would allow no one to leave Jonestown and would make them feel guilty if they wrote home to family members.
Jones would occasionally have “White Nights” which were a rehearsal of mass “suicide”. He would have followers drink something saying it was poison and they had to commit suicide. Then after they’d all drank he would tell them they didn’t take anything, that it was just a test.
Video Clips:
1. This is a clip from the documentary “Jonestown: the Life and Death of the Peoples Temple”. This particular part of the film discusses Jonestown and daily life while living there.
4:50 a woman talks about how there was a speaker system in Jonestown that played only Jim’s voice all day every day. Some of what was broadcast over the system was recordings of Jim. He would discuss the news of the world but it was obviously from his perspective.
4:50 a woman talks about how there was a speaker system in Jonestown that played only Jim’s voice all day every day. Some of what was broadcast over the system was recordings of Jim. He would discuss the news of the world but it was obviously from his perspective.
Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple. Dir. Stanley Nelson. Perf. Rebecca Moore, Janet Shular, Tim Carter. Firelight Media Inc., 2006.
Entire documentary can be found at http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/jonestown-the-life-and-death-of-peoples-temple/
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The Deaths on November 18, 1978
Some may remember, and others have probably heard about the deaths at Jonestown on this fateful day. But what were the events leading up to these deaths? What role did Jones play on this day? And what were people thinking on that day?
Congressman Leo Ryan had received letters and phone calls from Temple members about the real Jim Jones and what really occurred at Jonestown. Everyone Ryan knew had always told him they thought Jones was a great man and so Ryan didn’t become too concerned until two significant events occurred:
1. The death of Bob Houston, a member whose body was found crushed next to train tracks (where he worked some nights). The Temple claimed he had been hit by a train and it was an accident. Many people believed instead that the Temple had killed him. Two reasons for this suspicion: Houston’s work gloves were found folded some distance from his body. The previous night he had talked to his wife on a tapped phone line about Houston leaving the Temple. Houston’s father was a good friend of Ryan’s and asked Ryan to further investigate.
1. The death of Bob Houston, a member whose body was found crushed next to train tracks (where he worked some nights). The Temple claimed he had been hit by a train and it was an accident. Many people believed instead that the Temple had killed him. Two reasons for this suspicion: Houston’s work gloves were found folded some distance from his body. The previous night he had talked to his wife on a tapped phone line about Houston leaving the Temple. Houston’s father was a good friend of Ryan’s and asked Ryan to further investigate.
*SIDE NOTE: When Houston’s wife went to the Temple after her husband died to his things, she was told not to try to get custody of her husband’s two girls because Jim Jones planned to use signed documents saying that Houston and his wife had molested the girls. Jones would often force followers to sign these documents.
2. Custody battle between Jim Jones and Tim and Grace Stoen for their son John. It is believed that Jones fathered the child. Jones took the kid to Jonestown with him after Grace defected and later Tim. Once out of the Temple, the couple fought for their son and eventually won him back. During this time a group called the Concerned Relatives formed. It consisted of other relatives of people that had followed Jones to Jonestown. They begged Ryan to investigate Jonestown further and so he did.
Ryan arrived November 17 with an entourage including a reporter and two cameramen. Jones had a reception party for the group and that night everything about Jonestown seemed good to Ryan. He talked to some people that night who thought it was the best place on earth. A little later that night, a couple members passed Ryan notes saying they wanted to leave, and they asked for his help. Ryan and his group knew then that something was very wrong with Jonestown.
The next day, November 18, 1978, Ryan and his entourage talked to and interviewed Temple members asking if they were happy there. A little later Ryan confronted Jones (on camera) about the desire of some of his followers to leave Jonestown. Jones says they are “just playing games”, and he asks Ryan to leave. About 15 or 20 Temple members saw this as their chance to leave and so they boarded the truck waiting to take Ryan to the airstrip.
Ryan and the group of people with him were followed by a couple of Jones’s henchmen. Once they stopped their cars, the men opened fire and killed 5 people, one of whom was Ryan.
As soon as Ryan and his group left, Jones called everyone to the pavilion over the loudspeakers. There is no video of what happened but there is a 45 minute recording of the speech from Jones telling people that it was time for them to go. Some things he tells his followers in this speech:
- Jones claims that they must commit “revolutionary suicide” in protest to the inhumane world.
- He says that the other options (not suicide) which he had promised earlier were not going to work.
-The pilot of one of the planes will be shot down and they’ll come take our kids and “butcher” them. So “we are being kind to our children by giving them the potion.”
- He also claims that since one of their members has shot the congressman, that they are all responsible.
- Jones opens the mic to anyone with a dissenting opinion. One woman comes up trying to offer other options but Jones turns down all of them.
- Jones says it is a simple death (no convulsions).
As this speech is going on, people are lining up to drink the punch and give it to the kids. In the recording, you can hear children crying and screaming. Apparently Jones had guards around the area to force any reluctant members to drink the punch. In the video clips below there are a couple men who escaped and tell what it was like to be there that day. They claim that it was not suicide, but that Jones murdered those people. I think they are right.
You may be unaware that Jones did not drink the punch and die with his people. Some people believed that he had shot himself, but this is unlikely since the gun was found more than 60 feet from his body. Jones was supposed to escape on a helicopter that was waiting for him. According to his former mistress, Terri Buford, Jones was shot by Terri’s former lover. Others believe that one of his mistresses or his wife shot him. But the evidence has not brought a final conclusion as to how Jones died.
Jones believed that deaths, framed as suicides, would never be investigated since no one is tried for suicide. The survivors did not correct this because if they talked they would receive death threats, even though Jones was dead.
Video Clips:
1. This is a video clip from the following documentary:
1. This is a video clip from the following documentary:
Jonestown: The Life and Death of the People’s Temple. PB S. 2006.
This particular clip begins talking about the day that Ryan arrived. They talk about the reception party and how everything looked great to Ryan and his group. Then they move to the next day and eye-witnesses talk about how even the weather was morbid in a way.
Important parts:
3:48 – Ryan goes around asking people if they are happy here. This was the day after he received letters from those who wanted to leave.
*5:30 – Ryan confronts Jones about the Temple members who want to leave Jonestown.
2. This clip is also from the documentary just mentioned. This is the last clip of the documentary that talks about the deaths on November 18. They pick up right at the shooting at the airstrip. They then return to talking about the drinking of the punch while Jones is making his speech. Important parts:
0:00 – Airstrip shooting that killed 5 people, one of which was Congressman Ryan.
3:15 – Jones has opened the mic to anyone who had a “dissenting opinion” to his request for suicide, and this is when Christine Miller stands up and objects.
8:58 – A letter from one of the deceased saying how they did not want to die initially. Talks about how all that happened at Jonestown needed to be remembered.
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