One Thousand Lives

[matt819]

I don't read as much non-fiction as I sometimes think I should, falling back all too readily on my crime fiction.

However, I just finished One Thousand Lives, by Julia Scheeres, about the Jonestown mass murder/suicide in Guyana in 1978. I have to admit that I only vaguely remember reading about Jonestown at the time, pretty much chalking it up to something along the lines of "whadayou expect from crazy cultists." This story brings the tragedy to life with surprising in-depth portrayals of the followers, some survivors, and Jones himself.

For the young 'uns among us, this incident was the origin of the phrase "drinking the kool aid" to represent blindly following a leader or point of view with an inevitable, tragic end. As the writer observes in the closing lines of the book, the phrase does a disservice to those who were lead astray, to those who tried but failed to escape, and to those who overcame tremendous barrier to find their way to break loose.

This is one of those situations where you are tempted to say that it can't happen now, or it can't happen again. But the descriptions of the cult of personality fostered by a madman - Jones - are pretty much the same as what we're reading now about North Korea or what we sometimes conclude about batshit crazy politicians and their blind faith followers. It's really just a matter of degree.

Not light reading, not particularly pleasant reading, but I found it to be something of a page turner.

[ellisonz]

1. I always found the Peoples Temple to have a rather...

...compelling ideology that would and did appeal to many.

After traveling in Brazil, Jones returned to Indiana in 1963.[2] While Jones had always spoken of the social gospel's virtues, before the late 1960s, Jones did not reveal that his gospel was actually communism.[2] By the late 1960s, Jones began openly revealing in Temple sermons his "apostolic Socialism" concept.[2][19] The concept often loosely mixed tenets of atheism and socialism.[note 1] During this period, Jones preached to new members that the Holy Spirit was within them, but that Jones' healing power demonstrated that he was a special manifestation of "Christ the Revolution."[2] He also preached that the United States was the Antichrist and capitalism was "the Antichrist system."[2]

Jones preached of an imminent nuclear holocaust, and that the surviving elect would then create a new socialist Eden on earth.[2] In 1965, he predicted this would occur on July 15, 1967.[2] Accordingly, Jones preached that the Temple must move to Redwood Valley, California.[2] Jones led approximately 140 members, half of whom were black, to Redwood Valley in July 1965 and officially opened church in Ukiah.[6][20] The addition of deputy district attorney Timothy Stoen greatly increased the Temple's credibility in the area, quickly increasing membership.[20]

Jones began deriding traditional Christianity as "fly away religion," and rejected the Bible as being white men’s' justification to dominate women and enslave people of color.[2] Jones authored a booklet he would distribute in the Temple titled "The Letter Killeth,"[21] pointing out what he felt were the contradictions, absurdities, and atrocities in the Bible, but also stating that the Bible contained great truths. Jones preached that the "Divine Principle" equated with "Love," and Love was equated with "Socialism."[2] He stated that the Bible only contained beliefs about a "Sky God" or "Buzzard God," who was no God at all.[2]
[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_Temple

How many here could be sucked into the "Rainbow Family" and then not find their way out?

Ever read anything about the Lyndon LaRouche cult, which is now been basically supplanted by the Ron Paul cult in American life?

[MountainLaurel]

2. I'm hoping to grab that at the library

For reading over New Year's weekend.

[MountainLaurel]

3. This book is blowing my mind

In terms of what it has to say about the dangers of entangling church and state. Would so many public officials have turned their backs on the reports of violence and malfeasance at the People's Temple if the organization weren't so active in the community and politics? (I had never realized the tight link between Moscone and Jones.)