Jonestown | Religious Cults Info ~ Resources, Answers and Hope

Mass Suicide of Peoples Temple Cult at Jonestown Turns 35- The Christian Post

The Christian Post reporter, Michael Gryboski posted this article on November 19, 2013 at 3:17PM. The link to the entire article is found here. There is more insight into Peoples Temple that is worth sharing in this article. He features the reflections and insights of Rebecca Moore. Ms. Moore is a Professor of Religion at San Diego State University and site manager for the Jonestown Institute. She is also a survivor who lost relatives at Jonestown. Ms. Moore has written extensively about Peoples Temple and Jim Jones. I found an article here where she was being honored for her work.

Mr. Gryboski begins with a brief overview of the events and then begins quoting Ms. Moore. I will take a few of her comments and make comparisons to my experience at Word of Faith Fellowship (WOFF). It is not my intent to reprint the entire article. Please, take time and enjoy it in its entirety.

From the article: Moore also told CP that it was “difficult to say what the legacy of Jonestown is,” as many messages could be taken from the tragic events.

“Certainly some people view it as symbolic of the danger of cults and new religions. I think it is evidence of the ability of good people to be led astray by their own aspirations to be good,” said Moore.

“It is painful to say this, but the victims were also the perpetrators in Jonestown. Jim Jones did not administer the physical abuse, the punishments, the tortures: it was the residents themselves who believed the rhetoric that they repeated, and thus perpetrated abuses on each other.”

Continue reading Peoples Temple and Moore →

In the years following the massacre on November 18, 1978, at Jonestown; several survivor books were published. “In My Father’s House” (copyright 1981, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 361 pages) is the first thorough account of a family of survivors who were affected by this tragedy, that I have read. The authors are Min S. Yee and Thomas N. Layton, with contributions from Deborah Layton, Laurence L. Layton and Annalisa Layton Valentine. The Layton family and their generational history were covered extensively in the first part of the book. Though it does provide some foundational background, the details of that history were difficult to follow. The historical information was a hard connection to make at first, when in my thinking; the book was to focus on the events surrounding the Layton’s family involvement in People’s Temple and with Jim Jones. The authors use family records, letters, baby books, taped interviews and other sources to provide the timeline and content for the book.

In the “Author’s Notes”, it is admitted that the Layton family was not happy with the book. After reading it, I could see places where too much detail on subjects not related to main story, could bring some family regrets. Deborah Layton went on to publish her own book, “Seductive Poison” (copyright 1998, Anchor Books) which will be covered in another post.

Once the authors cover the history of each parent in the Layton family, the story moves quickly into family life and the steps taken to join the People’s Temple. Mr. Layton came from an academic background. He was a professor and well respected in many academic circles. Lisa Philip Layton, the wife and mother, was of German origin and had worked as a physical therapist when she met her husband, Laurence. The author details the courtship, marriage and family struggles.

Continue reading In My Father’s House →