Jim Jones and The Jonestown-The Height OF Human Deception

It's a peculiar story, and for many, the strangeness overshadows the sorrow. It defies belief: over 1,000 people were so enthralled by a cult leader's conspiracy ideas that they relocated to Guyana, locked themselves on a complex, synchronized their watches, and drank a poisoned child's drink.

How could so many individuals have been detached from reality? And how could they have been so easily deceived?

They trusted Jim Jones because he possessed power, influence, and connections to mainstream figures who had openly supported him for years.

On November 19, 1978, they drank a cyanide-laced grape soft drink. 

Early Life Of Jim Jones

Jim Jones was a well-liked and respected figure in the progressive community thirty years before he stood in front of a vat of poisoned punch and begged his followers to end it all.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he was well-known for his charitable efforts and for organizing one of the Midwest's first mixed-race churches. His work contributed to Indiana's desegregation and won him a devoted following among civil rights advocates.

He went from Indianapolis to California, where he and his congregation continued to spread a message of kindness. They placed a premium on assisting the destitute and uplifting the oppressed, those who were marginalized and excluded from society's wealth.

They adopted socialism behind closed doors, hoping that the country would eventually be ready to accept the much-stigmatized idea.

Then Jim Jones began to investigate faith healing. To attract larger crowds and raise more funds for his cause, he began promising miracles, claiming he could really pull cancer from patients.

But it wasn't cancer that he mysteriously removed from people's bodies; it was rotten chicken parts that he manufactured with a magician's flair.

It was a deceit for a good purpose, he and his colleagues justified, but it was the first step down a long, dark road that ended in death and the loss of 900 people on November 20, 1978.

They Became a Cult

It wasn't long before things started to turn weird. Jones's paranoia about the world around him was growing. His statements began to allude to an impending doomsday, the result of a nuclear cataclysm caused by government mismanagement.

Despite his ongoing public popularity and solid relationships with the day's major leaders, such as First Lady Rosalynn Carter and California Governor Jerry Brown, the media was beginning to turn against him.

Some high-profile Peoples Temple members defected, and the fight was both bitter and public, as the "traitors" slandered the religion and the church slandered them in return.

The organizational structure of the church became ossified. The temple was controlled by a group of mostly wealthy white women, whereas the majority of the congregants were poor and black.

Upper-echelon meetings became more covert as they devised increasingly intricate fundraising methods, including staged healings, trinket marketing, and solicitous mailings.

At the same time, it was evident to everyone that Jones was uninterested in the religious parts of his church; Christianity was the bait, not the aim. He was interested in the social change he could make with a fervently loyal following behind him.

His social ambitions became more openly extreme, and he attracted the attention of both Marxist leaders and violent leftist groups. The shift, along with a rash of defections — defections for which Jones dispatched search parties and a private plane to collect the deserters — drew the media down on what was now widely perceived as a cult.

As allegations of scandal and abuse spread in the news, Jones fled, taking his church with him.

Before The Jonestown Massacre

They settled in Guyana, which Jones chose because of its non-extradition status and communist administration.

Guyana's authorities allowed the cult to begin construction on their utopian facility with caution, and the Peoples Temple arrived in 1977 to take up residence.

Things did not go as planned. Jones, now isolated, was free to carry out his vision of a pure Marxist society — and it was far grimmer than many had predicted.

The daylight hours were consumed by 10-hour workdays, while the nights were filled with lectures in which Jones expressed his anxieties about society and excoriated defectors.

During movie nights, entertaining movies were replaced with Soviet-style documentaries exposing the outside world's perils, excesses, and vices.

Then there were the punishments. Reports spread in Guyana that cult members were violently disciplined, beaten, and kept in coffin-sized jails, or were sent to sleep in dry wells.

Jones was thought to be losing touch with reality. His health was failing, so he began using a nearly fatal cocktail of amphetamines and pentobarbital as a medication.

When he declared that America had plunged into disorder, his remarks, which were broadcast over the complex speakers at practically all hours of the day, were growing dark and confused.

Jones had began to discuss "revolutionary suicide," a last alternative that he and his flock would do if the enemy arrived at their doors.

He even had his disciples simulate their own deaths, gathering them in the central courtyard and instructing them to drink from a big vat he had prepared for the occasion.

It's unclear whether his audience realized those were drills; survivors later claimed they thought they were about to die. When they didn't, they were told it was a test.

This was what prompted U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan to investigate Jonestown.

The Investigation That Led To Disaster

Rep. Leo Ryan wasn't to blame for what followed. Jonestown was a community on the verge of collapse, and given his paranoia, it wasn't long before he would have found the cause.

The arrival of Leo Ryan at Jonestown, however, caused havoc.

Ryan, along with a number of other U.S. congressmen, had a close friendship with a member of the Peoples Temple whose dismembered body had been discovered two years prior.

Ryan made the decision to visit Jonestown after hearing rumors that the community was far from the idyllic community devoid of bigotry and poverty that Jones had promised his followers.

Ryan traveled to Guyana five days ahead of the Jonestown Massacre with a party of 18 persons, including numerous media representatives, to meet with Jones and his followers.

The settlement turned out better than Ryan had anticipated. Despite the difficult circumstances, Ryan thought that most of the cult members appeared to be there because they wanted to. 

But Jim Jones was heartbroken. Jones was certain that the Peoples Temple had failed the inspection and that Ryan would contact the authorities, despite Ryan's assurances that his report would be positive.

Jones sent his security team after Ryan and his crew, who had just landed at the neighboring Port Kaituma airfield. Four members of the delegation and one defector were killed by the Peoples Temple army, who also injured numerous others.

Leo Ryan died after being shot more than 20 times.

The Mass Suicide

With Ryan dead, Jones became extremely afraid.

Jones warned his audience that the authorities might "parachut in" at any minute, but he didn't expect to be arrested; instead, he painted a hazy picture of a dreadful fate at the hands of a crazy, dishonest administration. He exhorted his followers to commit suicide immediately rather than endure their suffering.

… death is a million times preferable to 10 more days of this life. If you knew what was ahead of you — if you knew what was ahead of you, you’d be glad to be stepping over tonight.”

The following day, when the Guyanan authorities arrived, they anticipated resistance: armed guards, firearms, and a furious Jim Jones at the gates. But when they got there, it was strangely quiet.

Nonetheless, it was evident that Jim Jones had not consumed the poison when they discovered his body. He decided to shoot himself in the head.

The deceased were a gloomy group. There were about 300 kids who had been given the cyanide-laced Flavor Aid by their parents and other family members. Another 300 were senior citizens who relied on other cult members their age for financial support.