Jim Jones: The People's Temple

How could a single man lead nearly one thousand men, women, and children to participate in one of the largest mass murders in American history? Born in 1931 to veteran James Thurman Jones and his spirited wife, Lynetta, James Warren “Jim” Jones grew up in small-town Indiana. Ignored by his parents and desperately seeking attention, Jones became known as the terror of the town. He spent his abundant free time roaming the streets. Eventually, Jones found himself darkening the doors of religious institutions. He visited every church in the community, throwing himself into their rituals and becoming a dedicated member before moving on to the next (“Jonestown…” par 2-3). His group, the People’s Temple, focused on drawing people together, no

matter the color of their skin. Seeking a change, Jones uprooted his family and headed for northern California in 1965, along with about 100 of his most loyal followers. There, even more people became enticed by Jones’s preaching and promises. The joining of hundreds of lost souls prompted Jones to set up a headquarters for the People’s Temple in San Francisco (“Making Sense of the Nonsensical:...” par 4). However, as membership in the People’s Temple increased, it also grew more controversial. Jones’s lessons began to focus less on the Bible and more on his own personal beliefs. In addition, reports of abuse from estranged members started to circulate, accusing Jones of cruel and unusual treatment of his brainwashed followers. To escape the ridicule, the People’s Temple relocated again. This time, they set up a secluded civilization in Guyana, a small country in South America (“Jonestown Summary and Facts” par 2). In this environment, Jones’s corruption and hunger for power came fully to light. From being forced to stay up for days at a time to being beaten for hunger cravings, their horrible mistreatment caused various members to break away from the Temple. Jones became paranoid that someone would come to investigate, and the drugs he took only exacerbated his paranoia (Rothenberg Gritz par 6-9). Unable to communicate with their loved ones in Guyana, family members of people within the People’s Temple turned to the United States government for help, fearing that some of the claims of escaped members could hold some truth (“Jim Jones screened letters…”) Finally, on November 17th, the government caved and sent United States representative Leo Ryan to check things out in the South American community.

When several members discussed leaving the Temple with Ryan and his body guards, it pushed Jones over the edge. He announced that the People’s Temple no longer remained safe from outside forces, and the time had come to commit a “revolutionary act”. With the help of his aides, Jones laced a fruit-flavored drink with cyanide. Hundreds of eager parents injected it into their children before downing the mixture themselves. Couples laced arms and leapt into the next world, proud to be a part of their leader’s great mission. Armed guards stood nearby for anyone who hesitated, shooting any heretics on sight. Within a few minutes, over 900 corpses littered the damp earth, senseless victims of a fake prophet’s lies. How could such a tragedy occur? Drawn in by his relatability, charisma, and promises of a utopia, hundreds of people fell into the conformity of the People’s Temple, and eventually died for their cause (Rothenberg Gritz par

6-9).
           First and foremost, people easily related to Jones’s origins. Just like many of the offspring of World War II veterans, Jim Jones arrived into a mixed-up life. His mother, a wild child, married a disabled war hero named James Thurman Jones. The unlikely pair soon expanded their miniscule family in the form of a son, who they named James, though they frequently called him by his nickname, Jim. Lynetta spent very little time with her son, occupying  her days with odd jobs and various forms of work to help provide for the family. James Jones Senior, though present physically, rarely turned his attention to young Jim; the war, along with his increasing age, had left him worn-out and unsympathetic. In later years, Jim Jones claimed, “I didn’t have any love given to me-I didn’t know what the hell love was” (qtd in “Jonestown: The Life and Death of the People’s Temple par 2). Lacking any guidance, Jim took to the streets of his Indiana hometown, bringing home everything from beggars to stray dogs, poking his nose into the disputes of his peers, and roaming the town looking for other “good deeds” to accomplish. He explored not only the physical but also the spiritual aspects of the town, attending every church he could reach by foot. Jim threw himself into the particular rituals and beliefs of each denomination, familiarized himself with the church body, and became a devoted member of every sanctuary he visited. He never hesitated before moving on to the next group and repeating his routine all over again: falling in love with the church and its people before finding some fault in their systems. The racism and segregation within the religious community particularly disgusted Jones, and he left many a church because of it. He never found the perfect community, so he decided to create one himself (“Jonestown: The Life and Death of the People’s Temple” par 3). Jones’s personal struggles with acceptance led the underdogs of society to grow curious about his church, relating his struggles and outsider status to their own.
           For some, being able to relate to Jones did not necessarily mean they would leave everything to follow him. In these situations, Jones relied on his charisma to convince the wary. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 left hundreds of thousands of activists yearning to continue King’s dream to make a difference. Jones, an eager idealist, lured some of these skeptics with vows to assemble a “rainbow family” where colorblindness ran in their blood (Ruthenberg Gritz par 4). Tomas Chamarro-Premuzic, a Professor of business psychology and faculty member at Colombia University, claims that “people are charmed by others only when they share their core values and principles” (par 6). In his article “The Dark Side of Charisma”, he explains that people do not chase after someone who does not think the same way as they think. Just as a Republican probably will not find a Democratic politician extremely captivating, neither did those who did not find their passion in racial equality come to love Jim Jones. By supporting Jim Jones, they supported their own beliefs and self-assurance. Furthermore, Jones’s charisma easily disguised his instability. Many naïve individuals, such as Teri O’Shea, joined the People’s Temple on a whim. Promises of a utopian society intrigued those struggling with finding life’s purpose, as well as those living on the street with no better options for shelter. O’Shea had been homeless when a man approached her and told her about his problem-free community; she joined without a second thought (Rothenberg Gritz par 5). No one really had a reason to distrust Jones; if they did, his smooth-talking quickly changed their minds. Even though his arguments and claims rarely classified as rational, Chamarro-Premuzic writes, “charm is based on emotional manipulation and, as such, it has the ability to trump any rational assessment and bias our views” (par 2). Jones’s charisma allowed him to work his way into the minds and hearts of the masses. As O’Shea said:
If you wanted religion, Jim Jones could give it to you. If you wanted socialism, he could give it to you. If you were looking for a father figure, he’d be your father. He always honed in on what you needed and managed to bring you in emotionally…He said he was Gandhi, Buddha, Lenin-he said he was the coming back of anybody you’d ever want to come back. And we believed him. (qtd in Rothenberg Gritz par 11-12)
           Once he’d torn at their heartstrings with his tear-jerking past and seduced them with smooth words, the leader of the Peoples Temple used his final lethal tactic to lock in the members:conformity. Jones claimed to be creating a safe haven, an utopia, from the cruel judgment of the outside world. Even before their move to Guyana, the People’s Temple worked toward desegregation in every public place, from the theater to public offices. He supported equality, as well as the “rainbow family” ideal, in every aspect of his life. He and his wife, Marceline, not only had two white children (only one of which was biological); they also adopted a child with Native American heritage named Agnes, as well as a trilogy of Korean kids that they called Stephanie, Lew, and Suzanne (“Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple” par 7-8). Naturally, the spectrum of color in his familial relationships bled into his congregation. Though the Jonestown victims certainly included a number of caucasians, the vast majority were actually African-American, with numbers of Asian, Hispanic, and people of other ethnic groups (Rothenberg Gritz par 4). In addition to promoting racial equality, Jones gathered a variety of followers with different environmental backgrounds. Like many cults, Jones focused his attention on attracting society’s misfits, who had nothing but the clothes on their backs and loneliness in their hearts. However, his promises also appealed to the businessman who felt unfulfilled by all his material things, and the occasional family who had turned against religion because of a manipulative pastor. He comforted the high school dropout and intrigued the scholar. Whether in the lowest valley or the top of the food chain, they became equal in Jones’s eyes. Among his followers everything from skin color to economical stance varied diversely, but Jones refused to change one thing: the love he fostered. He saw his people as his children, even going so far as to encourage them to call him “father” (Osherow par 5). After a childhood of neglect, rejection, and general discouragement, Jim Jones wanted to create a utopia free of the harshness of society. However, as  power corrupted his conscious, the dream of a utopia twisted into a nightmarish dystopia (“Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple” par 4).
The tragedy at Jonestown dumbfounded the world, the average person failing to comprehend how an average shepherd could lead hundreds of lambs to the slaughter, but Jim Jones, no average shepherd, found a way. He persuaded the masses to leave the comfort of their homes, give up all their belongings, and inhabit a wild jungle where no man had tread. A thousand promising individuals threw away everything to chase after Jim Jones. Why? Entranced by his uncanny relatability, oozing charisma, and the conforming atmosphere, nearly a thousand people willingly gave their lives to a madman’s cause. The story of Jonestown forever remains a cautionary tale for the masses, one that should not be taken lightly. In the words of Teri Buford O’Shea, “it could have been you. It was me” (qtd in Rothenberg Gritz par 8).