*Please be aware that I will be talking about some very disturbing details in this post, especially about murder-suicide, substance abuse, child abuse, neglect and gun violence. As always, I try my best to be as sensitive with the facts without taking away any of the details of the case*
It's hard to believe that it is nearly 47 years since the shocking and disturbing events of that horrific day of the 18th of November 1978, in which over 900 adults and children were forced to take their own lives. The setting in which this nightmare occurred was supposed to have been a place of peace and paradise in amongst the beautiful greenery and land in Guyana.
A beautiful piece of land that well meaning and kind-hearted people sacrificed their lives, money, material possessions and previous lives for, in order to commit themselves to a community that was supposed to be about people from all backgrounds and statuses, joining together and being a family as one. This community that was built was called 'Jonestown'.
Jim Jones was the leader of this community which was basically a cult but in the very beginning it was like the stuff of dreams. Jim Jones was a man who had come up from hard times and had suffered poverty and neglect in his childhood, he had also witnessed a lot of racism and some of the injustices that African-American people had to endure. He was a strange child and there were some red flags in his behaviour but there was also an air of intelligence about him and he payed attention to what went on around him as well as the behaviours of others.
There was an incident in his childhood where he brought a friend home who was an African-American boy and his father behaved in an ignorant and racist manner, not allowing the young boy to enter the house. Jim immediately took the boy's side and refused to go into the house if his friend was not welcomed. The relationship between Jim and his father was never a close one after that, not that they had a wonderful relationship before.
Feeling somewhat alone and isolated during his childhood he began to feel an empathy with anyone considered to be an outsider. He decided that he wanted to help people from all backgrounds and unite as many people as he could. So in the beginning there was a positive message there with Jim Jones, at that point his heart was in the right place, he may not have been a 100% angel in everything he did at that point in his life but he did have this need to help and unite people.
In his personal life he became devoted to his religion and eventually went on to create and build his own family that was nicknamed a 'rainbow family' because of the mixed ethnicities. It was important for Jim Jones to help others to see that everyone could get along and that they had more in common than what divided them. He threw himself into the church more and more and developed his own following he called 'The People's Temple'.
At first Jim had faced a lot of backlash and criticism because in those days there was a a lot of narrow minded people who did not want people from different backgrounds to mix, they wanted a divide. Jim's vision was to unite and through his following he was able to create something positive in the beginning. But like a lot of these types of situations, it wasn't long before all of the admiration, praise and popularity went to Jim's head and he began to believe that he himself was of a higher power. It went from him preaching at his services about everyone joining together and the word of the Bible to him trying to convince his followers that he could cure people of their illnesses and ailments.
As his following grew, so did his ego and the people who followed him hung on his every word. At his healing services he would invite someone up to the stage and perform a 'miracle' on them to which the rest of the congregation would be in tears of joy, cheering, excited and happy at the belief that this was actually happening when the whole thing had actually been a 'performance'. It had been planned out and set up previously.
As well as giving their savings and earnings to the church, people practically devoted their lives to Jim Jones and as time went on, more and more strange and humiliating rituals were becoming all part of the course. If Jim felt that someone had done something wrong or committed a sin, he would humiliate them, he'd call them out, force them to take off all their clothes and stand naked whilst encouraging the congregation to make remarks about the person's private parts. He began having sex with the men as well as some of the women and had developed a dependency on drugs.
At one of his services he threw a bible across the room declaring that there was no heaven above and they should create a heaven on earth.
''We're going to have to get our heads out of the sky and realize that if we want heaven, we'll have to build it here, on earth, for ourselves.'' - Jim Jones.
The madness took an even sinister turn when he played a disturbing trick on his followers, encouraging them to have a drink. As soon as everyone had finished drinking he told them that he had just given them poison to which a panic ensued. He later laughed and said that he was just testing their loyalty to him and that the drinks were fine.
With the humiliation rituals, the blasphemy, the promiscuity and psychological games, you'd think that it would be enough for his followers to come to their senses and decide that maybe being a member of The People's Temple was not such a good idea after all. But, these people were too far gone when it came to Jim, they were too devoted and had spent a long time following him. He told them once:
''If you see me as your father, I will be your father.'' - Jim Jones.
In my opinion, I don't think that it was just all about following Jim for these people to continue to stay with him, I think it was also about the people that they had developed a bond with. In cults it's not just about the attachment to the leader of the group, members often form very strong bonds with each other. This can also be dangerous because you may have an individual who is not feeling comfortable in the cult and wants to leave but they stay because they don't want to leave their friends, it's a very complicated position to be in.
Jim knew that the more he encouraged his followers to bring their nearest and dearest to the church, the more of a hold he would have on the people. This was later demonstrated when some of his followers tried to defect and he would blackmail them by telling them they'd never see a particular relative (who had also joined the cult) again if they chose to leave.
A lot of the members were not happy in their personal lives and that is what drove them to the church in the first place so to Jim and the other followers of The People's Temple it was like a family to them and it made it very difficult to leave. Times were extremely hard and everyone just wanted a place where everyone could get along. Jim Jones came up with a vision to have their own community somewhere away from prying eyes in complete privacy away from the government and everything else. His followers were excited about this and voluntarily went along.
Jim wasn't just about creating a place of heaven on earth for his followers, he was quite devious because he knew that rumours had been going around about him, his services, his fake healings and exploitation of his followers and he knew that time was running out, he had to get his followers away before a planned article was set to be made public. Apparently a bunch of former members had gotten together and went to the media and spilled the beans on everything Jim had been doing. He was going to be shut down and possibly jailed for what he had been doing especially the amount of money that he had been obtaining from these vulnerable people.
As well as a bit of a negative reputation, Jim did have connections in high places due to his 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' routine with some politicians. Jim would use his followers to help make a certain public figure appear to be more popular or get more votes, he could pack out a town hall with his followers to help aid a hopeful candidate. These same people who he'd done favours for and vice versa, had written letters on his behalf to request that the damning article be destroyed and never be viewed by the public. They described Jim as a good man who just wanted to help people. One wonders if they actually believed that or that they were just worried that if the truth got out about Jim, people would start digging and a trail would lead back to them?
The article was released but Jim had already jumped ship as it were, by that point and took his followers with him to Guyana. Jim couldn't wait to get away for various reasons, one of them mainly to try and save his own skin as well as having the ultimate control over his followers. The good intentioned (with almost like a childlike innocence) followers were over the moon to finally be in Jonestown, a place they dreamed about and talked about for so long, a united community at last away from negativity, violence and a cruel world, this was to be their paradise. Jim made it clear form day one who was running the show and Jonestown (exact name: The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project) was just a glorified prison but in the beginning these poor people couldn't see it. In amongst this beautiful part of the world there was an evil brewing and it was all going to come to a devastating end that nobody could have foreseen.
(Jim Jones. Picture credit: yahoo)
Just like at a reception desk in a prison, they handed over what was left of their old lives, passports, private documents, jewelry etc to guards and were searched before being able to explore their new home.
Jim Jones tried to display Jonestown as as place of paradise and although it was beautiful, the living was very hard, it was very hot at times and it was difficult for crops to grow so they had to eat a lot of rice and watery milk. A lot of hard work went into maintaining everything and there was no time for sleep-ins, members would be up at 6 am every day and there was no flushing toilets or proper hot showers so cold showers were the only option. Each member had to do their part in the community and they had very little sleep, it was very exhausting and not very comfortable at times. There was strict rules to follow and as Jim Jones continued to grow more paranoid and more controlling, his followers began to suffer more and more. Punishments for the least disobedience would occur and there was nowhere for anyone to run, you couldn't leave without getting on a little plane which was guarded, they were in the middle of nowhere and that's exactly how Jim wanted it. If anyone was to fall out of line in Jim's eyes, they would be beaten, drugged and sent to an area called 'The Extra Care Unit' where they would be kept until Jim saw it fit for them to return which could take weeks. Whatever went on at this 'Extra Care Unit' members would later return traumatised.
Jim had armed guards and watchers all over the place, he had speakers that would blast out his voice at all hours of the night and he would often mumble nonsense because of all the drugs he was taking. He'd encourage everyone to spy on each other and be vocal if they saw someone committing a sin or trying to leave.
The misery that people were forced to endure at Jonestown was a situation in which they lived under a veil of fear and strict orders, it was almost as if people had just accepted the fact that this was how it had to be and tried to convince themselves that they were happy. As doped up as he was for the majority of the time, Jim was an intelligent man and could clearly see that his followers were not happy with the situation. Even though he knew there was nowhere for them to escape to, he did still crave their admiration and ultimate devotion so he would try to convince them that the outside world where they originally came from was falling to pieces and that it would be very unsafe for them to return. He would tell them horror stories in an attempt for them to be more grateful that they were there with him, that he was their saviour, basically if it wasn't for him they'd been in danger sort of thing.
As his drug taking became out of control he wasn't just mumbling his words, at times he was barely able to walk and had to be cared for back at his hut. He had a secret stash of various types of drugs which were discovered later when investigators searched Jonestown after the murders.
With the drug use and his own narcissism spiralling out of control, his paranoia grew and further misery was forced upon his followers with his regular 'white night' drills. Similar to the cruel 'test' that he had conducted previously with his congregation (instructing them to drink some liquid as a test of loyalty), this time he would tell his followers that the drinks were indeed poison and that they would have to drink or risk being killed. He claimed that Jonestown was being watched by people who wanted to kill them. After 30 minutes of people freaking out thinking they were going to die, he'd then declare that it was a false alarm and just a test.
Outside of Jonestown, the relatives and friends who had stayed behind had been following the news reports and read the article about Jim Jones and what had been going on in his church. They had been very concerned for quite some time about their family members in Jonestown and the pressure was on the authorities to bring their relatives back and find out what was really going on. Concerns were raised to the congressman Leo Ryan and he was determined to get to the bottom of it all.
So Leo Ryan together with a small crew of people which included his legislative counsel Jackie Spierer (who wasn't 100% comfortable about going, she had a strange feeling that something bad might happen), Bob Brown, Don Harris and Greg Robinson (who were there to record footage and interview the Jonestown members as well as Jim Jones) all eventually arrived on the 17th of November, 1978 with other members of the press and some concerned relatives.
When the group arrived they were given a very friendly welcome despite the fact that Jim Jones wasn't exactly happy that they were there, he did have an arrogant confidence about him as if he believed that his followers were completely under his control. He possibly believed that there would be no danger of Leo and the others having any sort of impact on them at that point. Jim's plan to get out of this dilemma of these 'outsiders' encroaching on the little twisted world he helped create was to basically wine and dine Leo and his colleagues, show them around, give them some food and drinks, entertain them with musical performances and most importantly of all, tell them how incredible Jonestown was and that they would never want to leave etc, etc.
Jim's plan appeared to be working especially towards the evening when Leo and his colleagues were invited to join the members and Jim for a gathering of singing and fun at the Pavilion. As Leo and his colleagues watched on, they saw a sea of smiling, happy faces as everyone appeared to be clapping and singing along to one of the performances. A lady was on the stage singing a rendition of a popular song 'That's the Way of The World' by the group Earth, Wind & Fire. Jonestown looked like a place of real community, heart and joy. Jim Jones was sitting as stern faced as ever, no doubt high but paranoid and concerned at the same time. It was clear that he was feeling under threat and desperate for Leo and his crew to leave.
Although the truth was already known in the outside world about Jim Jones, it's a wonder what he must have been thinking about how Leo was perceiving everything. On the face of it, it looked like Jim had almost got away with it because at that moment, everyone was acting happy and telling Leo and the others how much Jonestown had changed their lives for the better, it all seemed too good to be true. Leo was on the verge of soon leaving Jonestown and reporting back to the concerned relatives, authorities and public with all of these positive interviews and cheery footage. It all looked like these people were completely happy and built a happy, loving world for themselves and not a worry to be had. It appeared on film as if these people were living in peace and just happy to be left alone. Jim almost got away with it.
Leo was handed the microphone and chose to say a few words that night which was recorded on camera. He thanked everyone for their kind hospitality towards himself and his colleagues and said that he could clearly see for himself how happy everyone was to be there. When Leo said that people had told him that being at Jonestown was the happiest they had ever been in their lives, the crowd went crazy with applause and cheering. Leo would later say that this over the top reaction was somewhat uncomfortable but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was underneath the surface.
Despite the situation looking like it was going Jim's way and the majority of Jonestown members putting on their best performances of acting like all was amazing, cracks soon appeared and some couldn't keep the act up for much longer. The truth was coming out quick and fast. The very next day, November 18th, people started to tell the truth to Leo and his crew. It's unclear why the members felt comfortable to now reveal the truth of their lives at Jonestown but maybe it was because they could see that Leo, Jackie and their colleagues were very nice people and not out to harm them in the slightest, no matter what story Jim may have told them about outsiders.
One of the things that also disturbed and upset me about this story was the fact that Jim had actually used his followers fears against them to control them. At that time, there was still a lot of negative tension between white people and African-Amercians and he played on that. He would tell them that outsiders wanted to hunt them down and kill them. Having faced a lot of struggles and racism throughout their lives until they joined the temple, the fear of having to go back to that and the possibility of being murdered just because of the colour of their skin, terrified these poor people greatly and it's heartbreaking that they were manipulated and lied to in such a cold-hearted manner.
It's unbelievable when you think about it, in the beginning Jim Jones used his church to bring everyone from different backgrounds and ethnicities together, to have everyone standing shoulder to shoulder and had created a diverse family for himself, only to turn it all around and actually destroy whatever last piece of trust the African-American had in the white man at that time. He took what was supposed to be a wonderful idea in an ideal world where everyone was all together and he ended up exploiting, manipulating, blackmailing, sexually assaulting and murdering his followers. Make no mistake about it, these people were murdered, forced to drink poison (in many cases a gun was pointed at them) because he told them they were about to be killed. Even after drinking the poison, the people who appeared to still be breathing, were shot. This wasn't a peaceful, agreed mass suicide, this was forced and people were screaming, crying and begging for their lives and the lives of their children.
So back to what I was saying about some of the members now feeling comfortable to open up to Leo and his colleagues. Leo was told that various members wanted to escape Jonestown and wanted to leave with them. Leo and his crew did not come to Jonestown with any security with them so it was a huge risk. It was a huge risk to go there in the first place and trying to get away would have been very difficult as we now know how horrific the events were to dramatically unfold as the day went on, on the 18th of November 1978.
Jim Jones always had bodyguards around him before Jonestown and whilst at Jonestown, as well as a mountain of drugs, there was also quite a number of guns. One wonders if Jim had planned to kill Leo and his colleagues all along or was it the moment that Leo confronted him with the knowledge that various members were now wishing to leave? Whatever the case, Jim knew there was no going back from this. Leo would have returned home to the authorities with the Jonestown defectors and the mountain of evidence both on paper and recorded. Jim knew that they would have the right to come back, rescue the members and throw him in prison for the rest of his life possibly. At that moment he had lost control of everything and he knew it.
If he couldn't have it his way he chose the most evil, cowardly way out and that was to not only take his own life but to selfishly force others to lose theirs. As disturbing as it sounds, he could have gone somewhere and took his own life and left these innocent people alone to return to their lives and hopefully professional help to undo the years of brainwashing and abuse. But he decided he would destroy everything because he couldn't have it his way.
The 18th of November 1978 will forever be a dark day in history and when Leo confronted Jim and told him that he would be taking some of the members with him and they would be back to rescue more, the whole situation just went from really bad and disturbing to catastrophic. Jim Jones was not about to let Leo and his colleagues leave and so he ordered his watchmen to kill them. In the middle of arguments and chaos about who was leaving, a man by the name of Don Sly lunged at Leo with a knife but luckily Leo wasn't critically harmed. It was decided then and there that there was no time to waste, Leo, the defectors and his colleagues had to get out of Jonestown asap.
Once Leo and his group arrived at Port Kaituma airstrip, because they had quite a number of defectors with them now, a second private plane was required so they had to wait for both planes to arrive. When the larger of the two planes arrived, some of the group (which included Larry Layton - a so-called defector but one who raised suspicions) boarded and once everyone was on the plane and almost at the end of the airstrip, Larry Layton produced a gun out of nowhere and began shooting but was disarmed, luckily the other passengers were not killed but had minor injuries. Whilst Leo and others were waiting to board their plane, they suddenly saw a large dump truck pull up at the side of them and realised that it was some of Jim's guards, all armed with shotguns. They were on orders from Jim Jones to kill everyone who tried to leave.
Before anyone knew what was happening, they began firing. Leo Ryan was shot more than 20 times and sadly died, Bob Brown (NBC Camerman) was shot and killed instantly, Don Harris (NBC Reporter) also died instantly along with Jonestown defector, a woman by the name of Patricia Parks.
Jackie Spierer along with the other reporters and camera crew as well as concerned relatives were injured and Jackie was lying on the tarmac (as she later said) 'Playing dead', someone walked up to her and shot her at close blank range, it's a miracle that she was able to survive. As Jackie and the others lay there seriously injured, pretending to be dead (they were reportedly left there for 22 hours before help arrived) some of the guys who had been piloting the planes were able to make a get-away in the Cessna plane to Georgetown.
Surprisingly it was later reported that just before Leo and his colleagues left Jonestown, he spoke to a Temple member about what he was going to say when he returned to the states. According to this member, Leo had expressed that he was only going to pass on positive information about Jonestown and had no plans to take the matter further. He reportedly said that out of the hundreds of people they interviewed, only a handful wanted to leave and he believed that to be down to peer pressure. Leo was alleged to have said ''I'd still say you have a beautiful place here.''
Despite the member passing on this information to Jim Jones (whether you believe it to be true or not) he didn't care for it, to Jim, his kingdom of control had come crashing down. His drug addiction had become out of control and he felt he no longer had control over Jonestown, he was probably paranoid also about who was going to show up next.
He still ordered the murder of Leo Ryan and his colleagues and over the speakerphone he ordered all members of the Jonestown community to gather at the pavilion immediately. Once everyone was there he told them that they were basically under attack and that at any moment, American authorities would be coming to Jonestown to kill everyone. When it was discovered that Congressman Leo Ryan was dead, the panic and fear was paramount amongst the crowd. Jim told the crowd that the Americans would be coming and they would torture and kill everyone and they had no other choice but to take their own lives.
The crowd objected to this and many people cried, some were in shock and others shouted out questions like ''Is it too late for Russia?'' (At one point Jim was talking about the People's Temple going to Russia to settle if they ever had to move on). Someone else mentioned that the babies deserved to live to which Jim Jones responded that they did deserve to live but they deserved to live in peace. Some members began to turn on each other with devoted followers hanging on Jim's every word and others protesting.
In a another heartless move, Jim ordered certain members to get some cyanide laced punch (commonly known as Flavor-Aid) and started to fill up syringes and cups. He then ordered them to start with the babies. In my opinion he did this because he knew that if the babies and children were killed first that the parents would definitely go through with the suicide, hopeless at the death of their children. It's horrendous to imagine the sheer hell of all of it. Everything was recorded on audio tape infamously known as ''The death tape'', it makes for a very haunting and harrowing listen. It also further proves the fact that these poor people were murdered, forced to their deaths by an absolute evil madman. It was later discovered that many people had been injected by other people, puncture marks were found on the backs of necks and arms, places that were not reachable to that individual person. Some people were actually held down and had the liquid poured down their throats. As all of this was happening, Jim Jones sat and watched as innocent babies, children, crying mothers, fathers, elderly members, devoted followers of his, began foaming at the mouth, convulsing, dying in extreme pain
As the screaming, crying and suffering endured, Jim Jones sat there on the stage shouting demands and telling people:
''Die with respect, die with a degree of dignity.'' - Jim Jones
Designated members who's role it was to protect Jim Jones, were walking back and forth with guns, pointing guns at members forcing them to drink the cyanide. Some members were able to run off and were able to survive but a very small number compared to over 900 people who died that day. The number of actual victims jumps around depending on the source, every book I have read it will say 908 or 907, to be as accurate as possible, I will take a leaf out of the news channels reports and say 'over 900', I think that the confusion with the exact number of deceased victims is because hundreds of people went unidentified and remain unidentified to this day, especially a large number of the children. There was also a number of remains that were not discovered until later on.
Today we are quite censored in our news reports on TV but the back then, the horrendous sight of the deceased bodies of the Jonestown victims were all around that area of land for all to see, so much so that the helicopters filming the scene had to back away in order to get a full picture of the grotesque scene.
Another reason for the helicopters and planes keeping their distance was the horrendous smell of the decomposition. The smell was so powerful because the bodies had been left out in the open in high temperatures for days, some people were stacked on top of each other and close together so it was very horrific, the stench reached almost 300 feet in the air.
Jim Jones was one of the last people at Jonestown to die and as to be expected, his death was as much a cowardly way out as he had lived his life towards the end. Drugged up to numb the pain and having one of his aid's to take his life by a bullet to his head, he ended his life on the stage of the pavilion near to the chair he always sat on, whilst his devoted followers, who he deeply betrayed in the worst ways imaginable, spent their last moments in agony until they collapsed on the dirt.
A small number of Jonestown members were able to escape but the majority of Jonetown's inhabitants as well as the animals (cats, dogs and a chimpanzee, said to be the mascot of Jonestown with the nickname 'Mr Muggs') were all shot to death
The horrific way in which the Jonestown members had died was devastating enough but what happened after their deaths was just as equally heartbreaking and disturbing. As well as the deceased members lying out in the open, decomposing with news helicopters flying around all over the place and body stacked on top of body, the way in which they were removed and how the case was dealt with by the wider public was also too difficult to take.
Only 7 autopsies were performed due to the vast number of victims and rate of decomposition. Jim Jones had an autopsy and it revealed a lot of what everyone already knew, he was a chronic drug addict amongst other things. It also revealed that he did not take the cyanide laced drink that he forced about his innocent followers, he made it as easy for himself as he could, like he always did.
(The horrific scene at Jonestown. Picture credit: theguardian)
The autopsies done on the others proved that cyanide was administered one way or another and that was the cause of death.
When all of the bodies were finally removed from Jonestown more heartbreak was to follow because sadly a lot of the public had mixed views about the victims. There was a terrible assumption that this was a mass suicide and that these people voluntarily went to their deaths. Jokes and disrespect was everywhere, from some people making jokes about drinking Kool-Aid, to the victims accused of being dumb for trusting a crazy white man and the probably the worst of all was many funeral service companies refused to deal with the victims remains and even cemeteries were refusing burials. The reason for not allowing the victims to be buried in certain cemeteries was this closed-minded belief that the graves would attract the wrong kinds of people who would be trying to hold strange ceremonies or attract other cult followers, this was the excuse they were all giving.
So these poor people who followed Jim Jones to Jonestown after having to deal with hardship and racism for so long, now in death, as in life, they were disrespected. The survivors didn't fair better either, they were mocked and ridiculed. For some reason there was a real lack of proper sympathy for the deceased and the survivors.
Eventually the Jonestown victims were found a place of burial thanks to a kind citizen and sadly a lot of the victims were unidentified, especially the children, so everyone was placed in a grave which was unmarked for a long time. Over the years there was some memorial stones but issues with who's name was and wasn't included. Surviving relatives fought for their loved ones names to be included. Eventually a correct memorial was put in place with all of the correct names included.
Jim Jones was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
The survivors who were a small number of people, had struggled to return to normal every day life after Jonestown. They still struggle to come to terms with what happened to this day which is completely understandable, I had read about one man who had lost 16 family members at Jonestown. Not only have the survivors had to try and live their lives knowing how close they were to meeting their own demise. They also had to deal with the knowledge of the deaths and suffering of their friends and loved ones whilst trying to come to terms with all the abuse they had suffered before the 18th of November 1978. Jim Jones was like a tornado who came into these people's lives and turned it completely upside down only to leave utter destruction, heartache and anger behind.
The Jonestown Massacre may have happened before my time and maybe before yours but I don't think there is a person on this planet who hasn't heard about this horrifying story or possibly seen the haunting footage that was captured in Guyana. It is both disturbing and fascinating that due to the fact that Leo Ryan had a small band of news reporters and cameramen with him, we have this chilling document both recorded on audio and captured on film, of this horrific part in America's history.
I had viewed the chilling footage, heard the disturbing audio before and it's unforgettable when you do view or hear the recordings, As you watch, you cannot quite believe that these well-meaning, individuals who were full of love, hope and joy, were just literally hours away from death. When I think of those people now, the children, the elderly, no matter the age, I think about how these people just wanted the same things that we all want, to live in peace and for everyone to get along in an ideal world.
Some people can't understand how so many people could follow Jim Jones and be taken in by him but they have to remember what it was like back then. There was a lot of tough times especially for certain communities where poverty and racism was rife. It was very much a reality for someone just to be attacked at random or denied their basic human rights because of narrow minded thinking, it was a very difficult and unfair time. To have to struggle for so long and then someone comes around who gives you all of this hope and appears to bring out the best in people, Jim Jones had actually helped people recover from alcohol and drug issues (which is ironic considering that he himself developed such a huge addiction) and had done a lot for people in the beginning. He was a very smart and charismatic man who was an incredible public speaker, it's just a shame that he had this demon within him that just continued to grow.
I feel so sad for everyone except for Jim Jones in this case, all those people died for nothing, all those lives just gone. These people were good people and they deserved to live and so did the children. The fact that Jim Jones chose to die by the bullet on the stage away from his followers says it all about what he thought of himself in relation to them. He lied when he said that he was one of them because even at the point of death he had to have the upper hand, he had to have the quickest, less painful way to go. He ruled by fear and he knew that his followers originally respected him but were turning against him, he was losing his grip and as he did so he ruled by fear, forcing people to stay, abusing people to control them, having them trapped there.
When Leo Ryan arrived at Jonestown Jim knew that it was the beginning of the end for him but for his followers, Leo must have appeared like a beacon of light, a way to escape. One wonders how it would have all went down if Leo had come to Jonestown with numerous armed individuals, would it have made a difference? or would it have resulted in a mass shoot-out with still innocent lives lost? It's not for me to go back and think about the should haves, could haves of history, Jonestown happened and it can never be changed, those lives are gone and those horrible moments happened and as much as we'd like to change it, we can't but what we can do, is continue to tell the story of these wonderful people, who they were and what they were trying to achieve in a cold, often cruel world. They, for a short time, created a world in which everybody was equal and got along.
I know this was quite a long post to get through and quite a harrowing and disturbing read, if you have made it this far, I really appreciate it. What are your thoughts about Jonestown and Jim Jones? I would love to hear/read what you have to say about it. You can share your thoughts either below in the comments section or in private by email to jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com
RIP to all those innocent people who lost their lives on the 18th of November 1978 and thinking of all the survivors and the people who lost loved ones.
I just wanted to add in here that it has recently been revealed (much to the distaste of the survivors and relatives of victims) that the site where Jonestown one stood is being turned into a tourist attraction. Members of the public will be able to go on a tour of the whole site and see for themselves where the murders took place. The organizers say that it's important that this be available to the public because it's important not to erase history, some people think it's macabre and disrespectful to the victims, what are your thoughts?
Further Reading & Sources:
Once again, I have to give a shout out to Newspapers.com for being invaluable as always when it comes to researching true crime cases from decades ago. I highly recommend checking them out as they have an incredible library of newspaper articles from all the way back in the day up until present worldwide.
Thank you, as always for checking out my latest post and I hope that you will join me again for the next one. Until next time, please take care and I hope to see you elsewhere on my socials x
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