Word: jonesism
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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It seems hypocritical and condescending, then, to speak of them as zombie-like believers, with no feeling or thought of their own; it is their suffering which led them to Jones. And them majority of Jones' followers never seem to have repented of the decision--he seemed to be the...
Jones was obviously a man of extraordinary charisma. He did not "program" people; he dominated and captivated them, which is something very different from brainwashing. There is no question that he used spying and blackmail to tyrannize his followers with guilt. But these methods would have been ineffective without the...
But the letters of Jones's followers show their awe and affection for him, even when they were uncomfortable with his actions. He looms over them not as an autocrat, but as a beneficent master. We may call him sick and ruthless, yet we must admit he held some uncanny...
There is one partial explanation, and experience which the members of the People's Temple apparently shared: they had all suffered. Poor blacks, veterans, drug addicts, convicts-Jones built his church on that rock.
And so it is the dementia of absolute belief which should be felt as the deepest horror in the Jonestown affair. For out of absolute belief comes the desire to test that belief absolutely; and only when faced with death can the believer know he truly believes. And so, in...