The money quote:
“He could quote scripture and turn around and preach socialism,” she said. “He appealed to anyone on any level at any time.”
That cadence-Were have I heard that recently-thinking.....
Jones’s organization also supported numerous left wing causes and politicians in the San Francisco area.
So, could all the liberals and him drink the ‘real’ Kool-Aid and....well, you know? (Sort of leave the world to us I guess?)
My very limited story about Jones - here goes. . . about 34 or 35 years ago, Jones was passing through Southern towns. Why I do not know. He was posing as an evangelist and holding meetings in local churches. Of course, my mother-in-law wanted to not miss any “charismatic” meeting held by any traveling “preacher”. Jones had secured a local downtown church building to hold his meeting in. I went with my MIL who had seen his ad in the local newspaper. Well, he got in the pulpit and started telling his stories, preacher fashion, only with no Bible reading that I can remember. I vaguely remember something about him telling some story of him trying to drive somewhere, but the devil caused an accident and tried to kill him. (I suppose now, in retrospect, I’d say he was acting rather paranoid and megalomaniacal.) Other than that I remember very little. No socialist rhetoric, just loosely preacher style talk. No usual “churchy” stuff. No singing. Just a sermon (I guess you’d say if you don’t need the scripture to be dominant.). Then him at a table in the vestible selling tapes of his “sermon”. No recruiting. I’m sure he passed the collection plate and made a few bucks on the tapes. My MIL bought a tape. I had very little money back then, so if he got a dollar off me, he did good. Of course, us Southern “hicks” always honor the collection plate.
A year or so after that, the “Jonestown” deal happened; but it didn’t hit me the guy was one in the same that we had seen until much later.
Churches ought to watch who they allow in their pulpits.