We remember the victims of the People's Temple today, when back in 1978, 918 people either killed themselves or were deliberately murdered in one day.
Long considered to be the largest mass suicide, we now know from survivor statements that the vast majority of the 909 people at Jonestown didn't actually kill themselves willingly. Parents took the kool aid themselves after seeing their children poisoned and others were forcefully injected or made to swallow the poison.
At least one elderly lady hid under her bed for a day, coming out to view the worst site anyone can imagine.
Several people were lost in the jungle for days trying to escape.
This was not a suicide pact, embraced wholeheartedly by naive masses of delusional people. The People's Temple was a rainbow coalition of all races, filled with people with genuine love for humanity in their hearts. Once lured to Guyana under false pretenses, they were enslaved in a very real way by Reverend Jones and made to suffer and die horrifically.
The expression "to drink the kool aid", meaning to naively believe what's offered, is a sin. Forced to drink the poison at gunpoint is not what we consider being naive. This is a fallacy perpetrated by ignorance. It's just easier to think of them as crazy occultists from L.A., deluded into thinking they can make a difference whilst living in the jungles of South America, instead of hard working, idealistic people wanting to live freely without prejudice.
It's a shame what happened to Jim Jones. When you watch the documentaries you can see he wanted real change. Ostracized for being the first family in Indiana to adopt a black child, he DID make a difference for the better, at least in the very very beginning. It all spiraled out of control and you wonder, was he always mentally ill? Was it a plan from the beginning to deceive everyone? Or was it a slow slide down a progressive mountain of mental illness? There is no doubt, he wasn't purely evil - he was beyond fucking mental.
We were also struck by his eldest biological son, Stephen. He is spellbinding, eloquent and handsome. If he is anything like his father, we can SEE and HEAR why people were attracted to Jones and his message. However, unlike his father, who clearly spiraled into mental illness, he is trying to be normal and just raise his family.
There is so much to this story. We haven't even mentioned Congressman Ryan or the poor people gunned down in cold blood trying to flee the area by airplane. The events leading up to the 11/18 massacre are to say the least...disturbing.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
http://www.rickross.com/groups/jonestown.html
Long considered to be the largest mass suicide, we now know from survivor statements that the vast majority of the 909 people at Jonestown didn't actually kill themselves willingly. Parents took the kool aid themselves after seeing their children poisoned and others were forcefully injected or made to swallow the poison.
At least one elderly lady hid under her bed for a day, coming out to view the worst site anyone can imagine.
Several people were lost in the jungle for days trying to escape.
This was not a suicide pact, embraced wholeheartedly by naive masses of delusional people. The People's Temple was a rainbow coalition of all races, filled with people with genuine love for humanity in their hearts. Once lured to Guyana under false pretenses, they were enslaved in a very real way by Reverend Jones and made to suffer and die horrifically.
The expression "to drink the kool aid", meaning to naively believe what's offered, is a sin. Forced to drink the poison at gunpoint is not what we consider being naive. This is a fallacy perpetrated by ignorance. It's just easier to think of them as crazy occultists from L.A., deluded into thinking they can make a difference whilst living in the jungles of South America, instead of hard working, idealistic people wanting to live freely without prejudice.
It's a shame what happened to Jim Jones. When you watch the documentaries you can see he wanted real change. Ostracized for being the first family in Indiana to adopt a black child, he DID make a difference for the better, at least in the very very beginning. It all spiraled out of control and you wonder, was he always mentally ill? Was it a plan from the beginning to deceive everyone? Or was it a slow slide down a progressive mountain of mental illness? There is no doubt, he wasn't purely evil - he was beyond fucking mental.
We were also struck by his eldest biological son, Stephen. He is spellbinding, eloquent and handsome. If he is anything like his father, we can SEE and HEAR why people were attracted to Jones and his message. However, unlike his father, who clearly spiraled into mental illness, he is trying to be normal and just raise his family.
There is so much to this story. We haven't even mentioned Congressman Ryan or the poor people gunned down in cold blood trying to flee the area by airplane. The events leading up to the 11/18 massacre are to say the least...disturbing.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
http://www.rickross.com/groups/jonestown.html
1 comment:
Jim Jones was a Mad Man who killed innocent trusting people!! Now his soul knows his mistake...........Never forget!!
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