What religion was Jim Jones?

Jim Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple cult who initiated a mass murder-suicide at the Jonestown compound in Guyana. He opened his first church in Indianapolis in the 1950s before relocating to California in the mid-1960s.

What did Jim Jones believe in?

Having grown up an outsider, Jones empathized with the downtrodden, the poor, the non-whites in society. He preached integration and racial equality, and his own family reflected these beliefs.

How did Odell Rhodes survive?

Odell survived by making the conscious decision not to participate in the dying going on around him, one of the very few people to make that decision. His decision likely was the first step on a long and lonely road that so many other survivors have taken, but his circumstances made his path that much more difficult.

What was it like living in Jonestown?

Daily life in Jonestown was not idyllic; the compound struggled to feed and house the exodus of church followers. Brutal beatings, disturbing “suicide rehearsals,” and Jones’s increasing paranoia compelled people to defect from the cult.

Does the Peoples Temple still exist?

Decades after more than 900 cult members died in Jonestown, the jungle village is completely abandoned. In November 1978, Jonestown was the site where 909 members of a cult, the Peoples Temple, died from cyanide poisoning at the direction of leader Jim Jones. Today, the abandoned village is an overgrown jungle.

Can you visit Jonestown?

Details: Jonestown is basically a non-site and sees practically zero tourism. It is most certainly not promoted by the country’s tourism industry or government.

What did Jonestown drink?

From a vat, his people drank the cyanide-laced punch, which birthed the phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid,” referring to those who blindly and foolishly follow something. But it wasn’t actual Kool-Aid that was used in the suicides but rather a similar brand called Flavor-Aid.

What happened to Christine from Jonestown?

Christine eventually moved to San Francisco and joined a Temple commune. On January 3, 1978 she moved to Jonestown. Unlike many in Jonestown, Christine did not leave a slum or ghetto to live in the jungle community. And when she felt it was necessary, she would remind people of her sacrifices for the cause.

What did they eat in Jonestown?

The thing with Jonestown is it was not supposed to hold 900 people. It was for about 500 people. So most of the time, they ate rice with little specks of meat in it. They drank Flavor Aid, which was a knockoff Kool-Aid.

Where did the term drink the Kool Aid come from?

The phrase “drinking the Kool-Aid” refers to followership at its worse. It was coined after a delusional, pseudo-guru named Jim Jones led his cult, the Peoples Temple, to mass suicide. Over 900 people, including 304 children, killed themselves by drinking from a vat of grape-flavored drink laced with cyanide.

What happened Larry Layton?

After over twenty years in prison, Larry Layton was released on parole in 2002, largely due to the testimony of Vernon Gosney, one of the few survivors of the massacre, and the Federal Chief Judge, Robert F. Peckham. The book is published in Italy, France, Australia, Germany, Thailand and United Kingdom.

Does Flavor Aid still exist?

Flavors. Flavor Aid currently comes in cherry, raspberry, grape, berry punch, tropical punch, orange, pineapple-orange, lemonade, pink lemonade, lemon-lime, strawberry, mango, and kiwi-watermelon flavors.

What happened to Tim Carter at Jonestown?

Tim Carter was in a state of absolute shock. He had been told to go on an errand in the midst of a big, hastily-called church meeting at the pavilion inside the Jonestown compound in the Guyanese jungle where he had been living for several months.

What happened to Lew Jones at Jonestown?

Tim Carter’s brother-in-law Lew Jones, who was the adopted son of Peoples Temple leader Jim Jones, is pictured with his son Chaeoke Jones at Jonestown in 1977. Lew Jones and his son died at Jonestown. After the shooting, Carter said there was an announcement over the loudspeaker at the compound that everyone had to report to the pavilion.

Did anyone survive the Jonestown Massacre?

Vern Gosney survived the Jonestown massacre. But his son Mark, 5, was fed cyanide. Jim Jones’ ‘throne’ in the Jonestown pavilion surrounded by bodies in the massacre aftermath. Jim Jones in trademark sunglasses as land is cleared in Guyana for his so-called utopian commune.

What happened to Tim Carter’s sister Terry?

Tim Carter’s sister Terry Carter Jones and her son Chaeoke Jones, who both died at Jonestown, are pictured in Jonestown in this undated photo. Things came to a head when Rep. Leo Ryan, D-Calif., led an investigative delegation to Jonestown in November 1978 to look into former members’ allegations.