The Jonestown Massacre, Jim Jones, and the People’s Temple Cult

The cult that led to 909 deaths

The crime scene for the mass suicide in 1978(left) and Rev. Jim Warren Jones in 1977 (right) — images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

On November 18th, 1978, over 900 people committed suicide in the Jonestown settlement in Guyana. They were members of the People’s Temple, a cult religion led by Reverend Jim Jones. Most of the people willingly swallowed a punch mixed with cyanide. Others were injected with the chemical, as confirmed by the injection marks found on their bodies. Those who retaliated were shot dead, and only a very few survived the incident.

Now, the question is, what led all these people to take their own lives willingly?

Rev. Cecil Williams and Rev. Jim Jones at an anti-eviction rally at the I-Hotel, 848 Kearny Street in San Francisco, January 1977 — image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

His full name was Jim Warren Jones and he was the son of Lynetta Jones and James Jones, born on May 13th, 1931. His father was a veteran of World War 1 and lived on disability payments because of being a gas attack victim during the war. His mother was described as a free-spirited woman who didn’t hold any religious beliefs. Jones grew up in Indiana and always lacked attention from his parents. As a teenager, he was very passionate about the Bible and would always carry it with him. Jones would sometimes preach…