Posted on 05/06/2012 1:34:50 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Jim Jones’ sinister grip on San Francisco
How the Peoples Temple cult leader ensnared Harvey Milk and other progressive icons
“Season of the Witch,” the new book by Salon founder David Talbot, tells the story of the wild and bloody birth of “San Francisco values.” The following excerpt – Part 1 in a three-part series -- recounts one of the darker dramas before the ultimate triumph of those values.
Jim Jones, the strange and charismatic leader of Peoples Temple, proved a master at politically wiring San Francisco in the mid-1970s. The driven preacher had begun his climb up the political pyramid by planting roots in the Fillmore district, the city’s devastated black neighborhood. Jones moved into the Fillmore at its most vulnerable moment. Urban renewal czar Justin Herman – the Robert Moses of San Francisco — had “literally destroyed the neighborhood,” observed community activist Hannibal Williams, “[and] people were desperate for solutions, something to follow. Jim Jones was another solution. He had a charismatic personality that won the hearts and souls of people. And people followed him to hell. That’s where Jim Jones went. That’s where he took the people who followed him.”
Jones’s flock, ignored and scorned by society, was electrified by the preacher’s vision of a new Eden. Everybody was exalted in his services, even the lowliest recovering drunks and addicts. “He made us feel special, like something bigger than ourselves,” said one temple member. “Total equality, no rich or poor, no races,” said another. “We were alive in those services,” testified one more. “They had life, soul power.”
Jones — an oddball and renegade his entire life, someone who never felt at home in his own skin —
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
*Shudder*.That’s really gross.
Curiosity got the better of me and I looked up Jim Jones on Getty Images.
The rotting body of Jim Jones was the worst. Ugh.
I was watching a documentary on it a while back and the people who flew over could actually smell the decaying bodies from the plane.
Did he get an Emmy for that? I hope so. It is truly an incredible production, and Powers Boothe is beyond great in it. It’s also very accurate as to the reality of what went down. No need to dramatize much — it was already pretty dramatic in real-time story. I remember well when it happened, and I’ve gone back and re-researched the articles of the day in library files. The movie Guyana Story pretty much nails it. And it’s pretty clear, if I remember correctly, that Jones’ political connectons were Democrats and liberals.
You have to watch out for charismatic people;they can be evil and manipulative.
He was an atheist, who cynically realized that he could cloak his Marxism under the guise of religion.
Yeah,he got the Emmy Award.
It’s pretty good for a TV movie.
I have it on DVD.
He was so good, that to this day whenever I see him in a movie, I still see him as Jim Jones.
He was also an atheist.
So there goes the theory that religion is responsible for the world’s evils.
So do I,even though I’ve had a crush on him for a while now. :)
I personally believe Obama, Holder and especially Sebelius are as bad or worse than Jones.
Something extremely odd to me about Jonestown is that it was in Guyana. I had a professor who had served with Army intelligence in Guyana when it was just gaining it’s freedom from Britain.
The Blacks in Guyana were led by communists while the less numerous East Indians were more pro British. According to this professor, and I believed him (and had a reason to) there were demons in Guyana which made themselves known to the British Soldiers with which he served.
I believe Guyana was particularly used by Satan. That is why I think Jones went there.
You don’t say. ;)
Oh yeah,and Curly Bill,too.
He was good-looking when he played Jim Jones. (Does that sound sick?)
He was 31 at the time.
He has a two-minute part in ‘The Avengers’.
What kind of s*** is that?
But Bob Gunton (the warden from ‘Shawshank Redemption’)is giving him a run for his money. ;)
But Bob Gunton (the warden from ‘Shawshank Redemption’)is giving him a run for his money. ;)
Thanks for posting this. It’s a very interesting article.
The thing about this is that all the stuff that “progressives,” especially “religious progressives,” claim to stand for was basically what Jim Jones was all about. He was the logical conclusion of their demented views.
I'd really like to know more about the particulars of this.
Spot on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.