# Jonestown



## he beholds (Mar 30, 2009)

I just watched a documentary on PBS about Jonestown...SCARY stuff. I had no idea that a congressman died, or home many members died (909, I believe!).
I cannot fathom seeing my children or husband drink the Kool-Aid.
Such a sad, sad story


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## Theognome (Mar 30, 2009)

I saw a documentary of Heaven's Gate. My response was similar.

Theognome


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## AThornquist (Mar 30, 2009)

Hey! The People's Temple in Redwood Valley, CA, which was one of their locations before they went to Guyana, is creepy! I grew up right next to it  An employee of my mom's owns the place now. There is a steel cage on the premises that is like it was for gorillas. Who knows what they actually used that for  Plus, my mom's employee has a special needs adult son who has many invisible friends in the ex-living quarters of the Temple. Well, a few haven't been invisible, actually, but certainly weren't human.


From the wikipedia page: 


> After Jones received considerable criticism in Indiana for his integrationist views, the Temple moved to Redwood Valley, California in 1965.



Though I don't live in Redwood Valley anymore, I drive really close to the temple when I go to my dad's every weekend.

-----Added 3/30/2009 at 11:11:08 EST-----

Now that I'm thinking about it, they also had a huge underground pool beneath the "church" building. What happened there is also a mystery...


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## forgivenmuch (Mar 31, 2009)

he beholds said:


> I just watched a documentary on PBS about Jonestown...SCARY stuff. I had no idea that a congressman died, or home many members died (909, I believe!).
> I cannot fathom seeing my children or husband drink the Kool-Aid.
> Such a sad, sad story



Coincidentally, my wife just yelled upstairs to me and told me it was coming on again if anyone is interested in watching.


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## he beholds (Mar 31, 2009)

forgivenmuch said:


> he beholds said:
> 
> 
> > I just watched a documentary on PBS about Jonestown...SCARY stuff. I had no idea that a congressman died, or home many members died (909, I believe!).
> ...



Did you watch it???


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## toddpedlar (Mar 31, 2009)

he beholds said:


> I just watched a documentary on PBS about Jonestown...SCARY stuff. I had no idea that a congressman died, or home many members died (909, I believe!).
> I cannot fathom seeing my children or husband drink the Kool-Aid.
> Such a sad, sad story



Lest anyone be confused and not know the details, the congressman was shot to death in a confrontation before the mass suicide - he wasn't one of the cult members who drank the Kool-Aid.


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## Mushroom (Mar 31, 2009)

I remember it well. I was about 19 at the time. Oddly enough (?) by the time I was 20, I was living in a charismaniac Jesus People commune in Kalifornia. Go figure.


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## Zenas (Mar 31, 2009)

Brad said:


> I remember it well. I was about 19 at the time. Oddly enough (?) by the time I was 20, I was living in a charismaniac Jesus People commune in Kalifornia. Go figure.



Totally understandable. Happens to everyone.


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## Mushroom (Mar 31, 2009)

Zenas said:


> Brad said:
> 
> 
> > I remember it well. I was about 19 at the time. Oddly enough (?) by the time I was 20, I was living in a charismaniac Jesus People commune in Kalifornia. Go figure.
> ...


I sure hope not, Andrew. But hey, in comparison to the abject paganism and bacchanalianism I was raised in, even that was an improvement.


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## PresbyDane (Mar 31, 2009)

Hey I saw that to, and there is also one about the "Davidians" they are creepy to.


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## he beholds (Mar 31, 2009)

Zenas said:


> Brad said:
> 
> 
> > I remember it well. I was about 19 at the time. Oddly enough (?) by the time I was 20, I was living in a charismaniac Jesus People commune in Kalifornia. Go figure.
> ...



Hey, it happened to me! But it was in Vermont and I was 18. And I only lasted about two weeks before my stepmother came and took me away!
It wasn't charismatic or Jesus People, but the Twelve Tribes of Israel! Spooky!!!


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## Parsifal23 (Mar 31, 2009)

the really sad thing is Jonestown could have been prevented if people had listened to The Newspapers in San Fransisco because it was known from investigative reports that exposed physical, psychological, and sexual abuse of members it was also a matter of public record that Jim Jones had been arrested on pandering and solicitation for prostitution charges and The fact that People's Temple curried political favor with such political luminaries as Willie Brown, Harvey Milk, and Governor moon beam himself Jerry Brown this was all years before Jonestown and nobody did anything. Os while Jonestown is a tragedy it was an preventable tragedy which makes it all that more sad. 

For more information see: 

Jonestown Apologists Alert 

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_Temple_in_San_Francisco"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_Temple_in_San_Francisco[/ame]


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## he beholds (Mar 31, 2009)

According to the documentary, the night before a very big expose was coming out against The People's Temple, Jim Jones convinced someone from the paper to read it to him and then he decided to leave immediately for Jonestown, fearing the backlash.


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## Mushroom (Mar 31, 2009)

he beholds said:


> Zenas said:
> 
> 
> > Brad said:
> ...


Well, the group I was with wasn't actually a cult, more like an rehab center run by AOG types, but it had the typical wackiness of a charismaniac Church. 

I met a guy last summer who'd been with Twelve Tribes and some other related group in a commune over in Tenessee. He was pretty interesting, extremely pelagian soteriology. He had left the commune with his family after a falling out, although his eldest son was married to the daughter of the head honcho there, and took off to Fairbanks, AK where he was helping a friend move by driving a van and trailer. He had his wife, 3 daughters and 2 sons with him, and was going up there 'by faith'. His wife has sent me pics along the way and since settling there, seems like it worked out for them. 

I tried to engage in some conversations with him, but don't think I got far. Still praying for them. Sincere guy, but has a lot of screwed up theology stuffed in his head. May the LORD have mercy on him and open his eyes.


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## he beholds (Mar 31, 2009)

Brad said:


> he beholds said:
> 
> 
> > Zenas said:
> ...



WOW! He got out! So is the eldest son still in? 
Friends of mine were trying to do a church plant somewhere in MD and a group moved in to their neighborhood! My friend wrote and asked me what I knew about them. 
I imagine he needs lots of prayers. They tell you that if you are a true sheep, you WILL return. 
In NH, they ran a cafe for the public. In the bathroom the wall paper was Newspaper clippings and quotes, etc. One picture was of Billy Graham and the caption was, "The Devil will appear as an Angel of Light."

They were crazy.


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## LawrenceU (Mar 31, 2009)

Brad said:


> I remember it well. I was about 19 at the time. Oddly enough (?) by the time I was 20, I was living in a charismaniac Jesus People commune in Kalifornia. Go figure.




Was that Teen Challenge?


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