I just thought it was revealing that he learned of the reporter's illness by reading FR.
Posted on 03/02/2005 1:38:37 PM PST by dr_pat
Following receipt of a letter from Tim Stoen, a former aide to Jim Jones, in which he apologizes for his behavior years ago when Jones' cult was based in Ukiah, Les Kinsolving, the San Francisco Chronicle reporter who was targeted by the group, offers forgiveness.
For Stoen, who publicly disassociated himself from the cult a year before Jonestown, the Kinsolving letter is his most public admission yet of wrongdoing on behalf of the Peoples Temple.Kinsolving was "deeply moved and very grateful that he wrote me," and characterized Stoen's apology as an act of courage.
"I have asked God to forgive me for my wrongdoing in being a part of Peoples Temple. He has mercifully given me a second chance," Stoen wrote.
Stoen concluded by writing, "I also pray you can forgive me."
Kinsolving said he has.
"Heavens, I'm a Christian. We have no choice but to forgive," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at 1.pressdemocrat.com ...
I have wanted for a long time to write a letter of apology to you, and reading (on the Free Republic weblog) of the sad event of your recent heart attack, am prompted to do so now.The Photo on the front page of the Press Democrat features an enlarged version of the hand-written note, with Free Republic just above the crop line.
Sheesh. The least he could have done is take out the Scientologists while he was at it.
I just thought it was revealing that he learned of the reporter's illness by reading FR.
Have a link to the FR thread he was referring to?
No, unfortunately, I don't... Give me a minute to dig it up!
Jim Jones was a Freeper?
Not as far as I know - looks like Tim Stoen either became one, or lurks here for news. I cannot find the reference Stoen refers to in his letter of apology. Maybe it happened in FReepmail.
Nah. In addition to being a lunatic, Jim Jones was a left-wing Utopianist...
It seems that Kinsolving is now a WorldNetDaily columnist.
Lunatic kinda closes the sale by itself. There was more there than meets the eye.
The man has repented, opened his heart to God and shows concern for his fellow human beings, especially those he wronged.
God bless him and God bless Les for forgiving him.
Is this the same Les Kinsolving that used to host a local talk show on WCBM radio in Baltimore, MD?
It would seem so. Les is a riot. He has terrorized the wacky liberals of Maryland political circuses for years.
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050302/NEWS/503020302/1033/NEWS01
The stories recounted how Stoen insisted that Jones had brought more than 40 people back from near death during services at the Redwood Valley church. Kinsolving raised questions about the violent nature of the cult after witnessing Temple guards armed with .357 magnum revolvers escorting dozens of Bay Area followers inside the church .
Jones, Stoen and hundreds of Temple members reacted swiftly.
Stoen organized cult followers to picket the Examiner's San Francisco office and tried to silence Kinsolving by filing a libel lawsuit, which later was dropped. He and other temple representatives held news conferences to publicly castigate Kinsolving in front of the nation's media.
Then-San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and future Assembly Speaker Willie Brown rallied to Jones' side, offering their support to a man who had become entrenched in the city's political establishment.
As a result, temple activities received little further public scrutiny until five years later when Jones began to prepare for a mass suicide at Jonestown in the jungle of Guyana. On Nov. 18, 1978, Jones and 908 followers died in an orgy of violence at the cult's heavily armed compound. Bay Area Congressman Leo Ryan, who had traveled to Jonestown to investigate the cult, was killed by Jones' followers hours earlier while preparing to leave Guyana.
Yeah but the question is "How could Jones convince 908 people to move to Guyana?".
Kinsolving's location in Boston is one of the few threads I found on FR that mention him. I scanned the comments in that thread to see if that's where Stoen read of his hospitalization.
That's nothing - John Kerry convinced 59 MILLION people to vote for him... 908 voted for personal suicide, 59 million voted for national suicide.
You are asking the question -- no one, no leaders (past or current) in San Francisco will answer. I still have news clippings from pre and post Guayana; I remember it all snapshot perfectly. Underneath it all was "money" and "votes". The Temple "people" did lots of "walking around" stuff for candidates and incumbents. The Leadership in SF "liked" Jimmie Jones.
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