I just ordered the DVD edition of this extraordinary documentary about Jonestown and the People's Temple. It's probably one of the most under-written events of our times. We don't know enough to pass judgment or should we on the members of the People's Temple. They all had their reasons for joining and when they got in. It was very difficult to get out. Jim Jones Sr. was a very powerful man both in politics and in the church. He persuaded people to sign over their life savings, their children, their homes, and their lives to him. He sought power, domination, and ultimate control over his members who he feigned to love. He was maniac, madman, religious leader who sent hundreds to their deaths because his reign of terror was finally over after the Congressman's visit. He believed it was all over and in fact he was dying and so was Marcy, his long-suffering wife, who endured humiliation and his infidelities. In the end, Jim Jones was the ultimate coward, afraid of death, so he brought hundreds into his plan. The revolutionary suicide was practiced many times before during the white nights of horror. This time, it was real. It didn't have to be. Our government and the Guyanese should have been more involved. There was a warrant out for his arrest and the custody battle over John Victor Stoen should have been over and he should have been returned to his parents in America who were former members. It should have never happened but it did and we must learn from it or 900 died in vain.
