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(organ music, cheers, applause)
Jones: Bless you.
(organ music playing, cheers, applause)
Jones: Bless you.
Congregation: Applause, cheers, music playing
Jones: Thank you, dear ones. It is written of old that there’s anything lovely or anything of good report, to think on that, and I can’t think of anything more lovely than you, so I can think on that. As I look at these beautiful young people, I wonder where on Friday night could you find, even we’re not up to staff– uh, we’re not even up to par, many of our people involved in other activities, but where could we find a group of young people so vivacious and so outgoing and so beautiful as our young people are?
Congregation: Applause, music playing
Jones: And up there in the balcony of little fellas that uh, (Stumbles over words) very mixed service, they need to be down where they can sing to us here, because they always sing so faithfully up there in the balcony. A whole balcony of little fellas, not really too little, they’re pretty big fellas, they’re getting up there. And we’re so grateful for them too. The wonderful, wonderful young.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Well, we would like to receive our offering at this time, knowing that we are–
(Tape edit)
Jones: –clear bill of health as of this last weekend. Peace.
Congregation: Scattered applause.
Jones: I’d like to announce something so that you’ll have general understanding of policy. Last week, or some weeks ago, I instructed our Temple to help the man, [Rodger] McAfee, who had befriended Angela Davis. I had instructed them to help him, because it seemed that he was weltering a storm– weathering a storm alone in Fresno after he’d come forward to the Communist Party of America with a hundred thousand dollars and bailed Miss– Miss Davis out. Well, I felt that we should see that this man was not left in the lurch. And it appeared from the news that he was, so we tested it out ourselves and indeed he’s in terrible condition. They took his money. Another heister came through of these so-called radical elements and uh– (muffled sounds of hammering) The hammering in there, they’re working, our– some of our people are in maintenance below in the dining room, so don’t let that distract you. They– another uh, came through and took thirty-five thousand dollars of his– of his money. All the money he had for harvest. Have left the man– this precious white man that had no color consciousness, and he’d said he’d found indeed that Angela Davis and her group were prejudiced, and this is a terrible sort of thing to have to find out. You know, I won’t spare it, no matter where it is, uh– truth is truth.
Ijames: Amen.
Male 2: Yes, it is.
Congregation: Scattered response.
Jones: I won’t spare anything. If– If it means our own house had to be divided, then I wouldn’t– I wouldn’t spare it. This man has lost everything. His children can’t go to school, he’s lost thirteen jobs. He asked us if– if– if– uh, his first approach was, could he do even humble tilling work. And he was a man that had a dairy farm. Now he can’t even uh, produce the ground, he’s about to lose all those acreage, all that acreage, and Angela Davis has not once looked in to see how he was, nor any of those people have ever offered him a help nor sent him a thank you. Not a word. Not one word. Now I’m gonna tell you, the communist monkey’s off of our backs now. I want nothing to do with that bunch of– that white bigoted outfit, nor do I want anything to do with Angela Davis that could forget her best friend in the time of need. I want nothing to do with her.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: I went through it with the one that go into the– the gambling, and I don’t like to go into it here, but you know, you members of family who are related to one of the nationalist groups who, uh, since he got out of prison, he’s gone to gambling and living high up on the hog and taking the people’s money and called himself a revolutionary. I went through that, and I saw that they weren’t consistent. Now the last straw. (Pause) Miss Davis, as I said, has not even– nor any of the group, they took his money, but they never even looked in to see whether the man could eat, and he’s having difficulty keeping body and soul together. And the only thing that’s ever kept us down is because I’ve been willing to be a friend of everyone, even communists if their rights are involved.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: I would defend communists or whoever when their rights are being involved.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: But I now know that there’s none purer in this land as far as the equalitarian spirit– there’s no pure utopianists left but us.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: That’s where it’s at. I’ve tested our sensitivities.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: So in a sense, everybody else– for years we’ve been trying to get them to meet with us, we sent out appeals to say for them to come, we took risks to have them to come to our ranks, they wouldn’t even show up, these so-called liberationist groups. They didn’t even have the time of day to come and meet with us. We, for years, have been making overtures. We made overtures to people all around this place, and they wouldn’t even keep their time schedule. I don’t want to go into any more names because we’ve got a rat fink that’s due to die in early spring because of their car– caring gossip and maliciousness, anyway– But you know where I’m– what I’m talking about. You know who I’m talking about. Word has not been kept, principles not been honored, appointments have not been kept. We’ve gone the extra mile time and time again to fellowship with people, and they want no fellowship.
Now we believe in a nonviolent equalitarian society. We believe that the only way you’re gonna get out of this plane is to overcome the lust for power and the lust for property. You’ve got to do it. Lust of power includes a lot of things, sex, a whole lot of things that’re figuring into that area. The lust for property is a grave evil. And you’ll never graduate to the next dimension or the higher plane, the first heaven, you’ll never graduate to it until– till you come to a total economic equality in your soul. You’ve got to be equalitarian, racially, socially and economically. But we are– we have been hamstrung, and we’da never got the persecution we got from the newspaper, if it hadn’t been for this undertone that we were communists, which we were not. We don’t approach matters by violence, we do not believe in offensive violence. We believe in defending ourselves, but we do not believe a cause– uh, causing anyone violence or perpetrating violence upon anyone. We believe in the nonviolent teachings of Jesus Christ. We’ve turned our other cheek so many times, that we’ve had to turn the cheeks of the posterior too. We’ve turned all the cheeks you could possibly turn, and certainly fulfilled that scriptural promise and that scriptural admonition. But I want it to be known now that if you have– if you are a champion of Angela Davis, I am sickened with this woman, the treatment she has given. It wasn’t a bad enough– it wasn’t bad enough that when she was in trial, there was no church in America gave her any help, not one, except Peoples Temple.
Congregation: Scattered agreement
Jones: Peoples Temple gave her the help. We came up with two thousand hard-earned smackaroos. We struggled in the parking light– lot to raise the money that night because of desperation of her circumstances. Miss Davis’ mother [Sallye Davis] told me, said well, Angela will make a personal uh, contact with you, and several other sisters said, uh, they met her sister and said uh, she’ll contact you personally, I don’t remember who it was now that said– who was it she’d said she’d uh– the sister said– oh, Sister Cobb. Said uh, she’ll personally thank you. Well, I didn’t want a personal thank you, nor did I expect one, but I would’ve liked to know they got the money.
Scattered voices in Congregation: That’s right.
Jones: Nobody ever said a word, not a mumbling word, not even a note, not a telephone call, nothing. That I took, but this down here that’s happening in Fresno, when a man was well-to-do on his own dairy farm, and put up a hundred thousand dollars against his property, and now he’s losing that property. We’re meeting with him this weekend, we’re going to see if we can get him some help, if we can find– if he’ll denounce communism.
Voice in Congregation: That’s right.
Jones: If he’ll denounce the Communist Party in writing – ‘cause I’ve had it with that bunch – if he’ll denounce it in writing, then we will proceed to help him and proceed with him. We will not risk the whole family anymore for some of these uh, people who want to maintain ideas. His first comment was uh, well, that’s the way revolutionaries are. Our comment was, if revolutionaries behave in such fashion, we want no part of them.
Congregation: Calls of agreement.
Jones: If revolutionaries forget their friends, the best friends they have, if they forget the people that help them when they’re in the worst condition, I want no part of it.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: If I didn’t take care of my people– Well, how do you know my promises are worth anything? How do you know all of my rhetoric about a new world, a new society’s worth anything, if I let some of my older people go hungry or homeless? Somebody bailed me out of jail, and I didn’t even go by to say thank you, and they’re starving, their children been shot at. They have to have– He has to sit up with shotguns to protect his property. His property’s had fires started on it, they’ve been uh– the children have been– had rocks thrown at them. They’ve had every kind of harassment done. Life threats, so many they can’t count them and Angela Davis is nowhere to be found. Oh, yes, over in Madrid, I guess, a while ago, uh, she was even over in fascist Spain. I wonder what she was doing over there. Then she’s been around, all over the world, tripping about, socializing. I have no interest in this. Want to know the reason I’m coming down on her hard? I want to protect this family. I have no interest in any other alliances. We sought you out, now you’ll have to seek us out, and you’ll have to be mighty sincere before we’ll have a thing to do with you. We are our movement within ourselves, and we are not allied with anybody, and we don’t want to be.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: We– we begged for fellowship, we begged to help people, we begged for liberation efforts to unite with us. Not a one. Cowards. They been cowards to come around here. I noticed this week, we got news in the Chronicle. A beautiful paper, a beautiful article in the Chronicle about us, said we were highly regarded and uh, uh, widely known for our social uh, service work, for medically handicapped and the children and so forth, children that were handicapped. Very beautiful article on the last page, right at the top of the last page. How many saw it? How many saw the article? Very beautiful. And it’s worth uh– it– it has ten times more circulation than the Examiner, so don’t worry about it if uh– So we got a beautiful article there and uh, my phone started ringing the next morning and the lat– that night. People that’d been away from here for– since September sixteenth, said oh, Father, I want you to know I haven’t forgotten you.
Congregation: Moans.
Jones: I want you to know that I’m going to see you. You don’t impress me. Where were you from September sixteenth until now?
Ijames: Exactly. Exactly.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: I want to tell some of you– you– you– you– you lovely blokes. We got along from September the sixteenth until now, now you go paddle your canoe someplace else.
Congregation: Loud applause, cheers.
Jones: I’m going to remember quite well the ones that stuck with me through September sixteenth when it looked like all the roof was falling out. And I’m going to stick– I’m going to regard everyone that was here until last Sunday much more highly than I am you that just floating in here tonight and haven’t seen us since September sixteenth.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: I’m not talking about a new person or a guest or someone who been here for the first time, but I am talking about some who stayed away purposely when it looked like all hell had broke loose around us, when it didn’t seem that we had a friend, and they lied on us faster than horses could trot in the newspaper. Nowhere were you to be found until things look good again, ‘til the Chronicle says we’re highly respected. San Francisco Chronicle says we’re highly respected, so it’s safe for you to come back now. Well, you came back in my mind too late unless you get up here and repent.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: The difference between this apostolic Christ non-violent revolution is that we never forget our friends. And something else, we never forget our enemies.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: We won’t hurt you. We just don’t want to be around you, until you repent. I think that’s only scriptural, I think that’s perfectly ethical.
Ijames: Amen.
Jones: You shouldn’t be– you shouldn’t be expected to walk in here and– as if nothing happened while we fought hard to keep this thing going. When that lie– those lies that were told by that Reverend so-called Devil [Lester] Kinsolving. When he told all those lies, it hurt our finances, cut into them 25– 30% of our weekly income because of his filthy lies. And we fought it alone and we fought back up. And we’re here to stay. Now we’re going to expand, because the only thing that ever kept me from expanding was the fear that someone would lie on us and say we were communists. They won’t be saying it now unless they’re big liars, because I have no use for any of that ilk. None of them. Anybody that would leave people in that condition– As I say we’re going to meet with them in Los Angeles, if he signs a statement that what he said over the telephone and in person to the young man, Mike Prokes, who came from the CBS station who is a broadcaster, if he will sign in writing what he said about Angela Davis– not that we’re going to publicize it, we have no desire to go around kicking Angela Davis. But we also want to defend and protect ourselves. We have no desire pushing her down, but we do not want to affiliate with anybody that would forget their friends and leave them down there to starve to death and lose their– If we don’t do something quick, he’s going to lose eleven hundred acres. Eleven hundred acres and nobody’s even lifted– In the first place, not only is it insensitive and cruel, it’s darn poor business. And I wonder some of these would-be revolutionaries are not planted by reactionaries.
Ijames: Yes.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: These people saying around here, hate all white people. Nothing more, nothing more than the fascist and the communist totalitarians, nothing more would they want, than the blacks to start hatin’ all white people. They have got exactly what they want. Whip up hate, few black people are so hurt as we’ve been hurt and oppressed, now and then somebody’s going to break loose and kill someone, as we have this one in San Francisco loose with some feeling he has to beat up white women between six and twelve o’clock. Don’t you know that dictators would hire such a man as this?
Voices in Congregation: Yeah!
Jones: He’s playing into the hands of the kind of thing that will start a dictatorship here like the Union of South Africa, where a black man and woman cannot walk out of their city block, and they’ve got tattooed on their chest their own serial number. Don’t you listen to these people telling you to hate. Don’t you listen to them. There’s no difference between the hate of the Ku Klux Klan and the hate of a black against a white. It’s all hate, it’s no good!
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: And we’re not going to tolerate it. We will defend all those people who feel that they– they must stand by that kind of isolationism. They get in trouble in the courts, we will defend anybody’s right, we believe in the First Amendment, we believe in freedom of assembly, we believe in freedom of speech, but we do not support anyone that teaches hate, be it a nationalist, be it a Mohammedan, be it a Christian, we do not support it. Whether it’s in the sign of a Ku Klux Klan cross or whether it’s under the sign of the crescent half moon, it makes no difference to me. Hate will not be tolerated in here against somebody because of their race.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: And I well know the one that slipped down the block and told the lies to the Muslims last week. I know you lie.
Congregation: (laughing)
Jones: And I know who you are, and you are going to be finished before spring. The prophecy was given in Wednesday, and you know my word never fails. Heaven and earth may pass away, but my word won’t fail.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: (Calls out) All things may change, but Father every day the same. He never has changed, and he never will change. He always will be the same. He’ll be a friend to his friends first, and he’ll be a friend to the friendless, and he’ll never forget you nor forsake you. You won’t help him, he won’t leave you homeless, he won’t leave you down there without any food to eat, he’ll never do that to you. And I want no part with anybody, whether it’s Angela Davis, a communist, or whether it’s some col– so-called Christian group, I want no part with any group that would forsake their friends in time of need.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: (Calm) These people are whipping up the kinds of hate that will encourage a takeover in this country. A military takeover. So you play down that hate. We’ve got to learn to love. Our only way is to survive is to love. Now we don’t– we’re not going to stay here if they develop a dictatorship, and they very well may. We’re– we’re making plans for Operation Hope. That’s why you should support every time an offering goes. We’ll take you out. At least now we can narrow down who we are responsible for. I used to worry about this group and that organization, I’m not worried about anybody but the ones that are in here, right now. That’s who I’m worried about.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: They had their chance, they had their time. If dictatorship would be established here, we’re not going to stay here. But we want it stopped, and if people will stop this hating and try to live peacefully together, we can stop at least an uh– uh, over harsh dictatorship, and we can hold it back until that sixteenth at three o-nine. You know what I’m talking about. If we can hold it back until then, then we’ll be able to work out our own karma, as we have to work it out. We’ve done everything we can to stop war. We’ve used preventative measures. We’ve put our money where our mouth was. We’ve supported every peace effort, and Man still goes on willy nilly. Say, we’ve got peace in Vietnam. You wait, you wait. You wait. I don’t care how many months it seems calm. You wait. Still hasn’t changed anything. For all the vain reasons for man to destroy over a little place known as Hanoi. It’s not going to change anymore than it did before that war was even conceived, even before man ever thought what kind of war we’d have over there, before there was any (Unintelligible word, sounds like “rusk”) or any deaths of all those great leaders that were prophesied, it’s still the same. Man’s going to bring an end to himself, the way he’s going. But we don’t have to bring about a dictatorship and concentration camps. We can avoid that, if we’ll get out of that group, and we want nothing to do with any group that talks violence. We want nothing with any group that talks racism. We’ll have no part of it. We’ll defend their rights to exist, but we’re not going to fellowship. For months and months, I’ve sought fellowship with people, and they won’t even return my telephone call. Now if they want fellowship, they’re going to have to call me.
Congregation: Applause.
(Pause)
Jones: I haven’t eaten today. Will you forgive me?
Ijames: Yes, of course.
Jones: I work so much I don’t get a chance to eat. (Pause) What is this?
Ijames: (Unintelligible word)
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: It’s what keeps me going. Wouldn’t you like to know?
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: I’m just teasing you. (Pause) Haven’t you taken that offering yet? (Pause) Everybody should’ve taken that offering now. Please put down your envelope and pass the plates. Everyone put something in it. If you don’t– if I don’t see you in these envelopes and I don’t see you supporting this work, I’m going to forget your number when trouble comes. And believe me, that’s bad.
(tape edit)
Jones: – have dirtied the names of commune, communalism, communism, socialism. They’ve dirtied the names. (Pause)
(tape edit)
Jones: –cloths, and they’re for a special protective reason and everyone should have one. (Pause) You get them downstairs at the uh, counter, and the Mertles [Deanna and Elmer Mertle] are supervising. Don’t think I don’t know– just like this sister here said, here in the audience, I know little details. Sister Watson here said, “Just a note to thank you. I joined church last Sunday. You were right, I lost three dollars Monday, PM, with a friend. You were also right about the German Shepard of the death– ” on and on and on. Some– Sister Watson here just sent it up from the con– congregation so it– it– evidently you ought to know, I know details and I’ve got reason for every little thing I do. If I know down to the l– the loss of a dog and the three dollars within a few hours, then there’s a– there’s a reason behind it, and there’s a purpose behind it, so this extrasensory parapsychological aspect has a purpose of protection. Utilize it. (pause)
(tape edit)
Jones: –poster will be in very bad state with me.
Male: –Someone standing at the mike, please.
Jones: Yes, dear?
Woman: (voice inaudible)
Jones: First why– why wring the necks of all these people, why crucify people here for something that’s not worthwhile. That’s what I want to know. Why do you want to crucify people for something that isn’t worthwhile?
Woman: S– Say, I say with love, Jim, how is it that you didn’t sense that D– that Angela Davis would give this treatment?
Jones: How is it I didn’t sense? I claim to be the person that has more revelation than anybody else. I claim that I’ve got more direction than anyone else, and I said from the beginning that I had concerns about Angela Davis – you weren’t around – I said that uh, I had some concerns months and months ago with who was her mouthpiece. I said it bothers me very much.
Voices in Congregation: (unintelligible)
Jones: So I said that.
Woman: (unintelligible) Yeah, uh.
Jones: But I do not claim to be uh, infallible. I claim to be more aware, more astutely aware in the realm of extrasensory parapsychological impressions than anyone else. Now Angela Davis uh, has no– nothing to do with it. I would’ve still defended Angela Davis’ right to be what she is. That has nothing to do with it.
Woman: Yes. I understood that.
Jones: See, the right of free speech to me is a sacred, sacred, and invaluable gift that uh– it may be held uh, by someone who’s totally different from my point of view, but I will support them, and indeed I have an idealistic streak. I tend to trust people very much. I look for the– look for the best, or at least I have formerly done so, and I’m cultivating that kind of aspiration to continue to do so. To look for the best in people. Nonetheless, with Angela Davis, I have to make this public pronouncement, as I said, that when McAfees’, that white family, risked their life and limb, their children had to be pulled out of school and he’s lost thirteen jobs, and he’s now under siege and he’s about to lose his home, we’re preparing to send some workers there to help him, save him– uh, save it so he can survive. When Angela Davis gets a hundred thousand dollars from such a family and does not even pick up a telephone to ask how they’re– how they’re managing to live– and she can read the papers just like I read the papers. I didn’t have any discernment about this, I just read the papers that the man was having a terrible time. So it caused me– I thought he had courage enough to implement his ideas. Then what’s ironic, the man wanted to join the Communist Party. And he tried to join the Communist Party of America after Angela Davis– after he’d befriended her, and the Communist Party of America refused him. They said he was too idealistic, too visionary. And I suspect that’s true. I suspect some of those old co– uh, communists – many of them are probably double agents anyway, uh – they– they’re crass and insensitive, and I imagine he was just too idealistic and too sensitive for them. But uh– as far as impressions, my impression wouldna had a thing to do with it. If I had had to face the issue again, I would want to see with certainty that she had a fair trial. To tell you absolute truth to a very kindly forthright question on your part, I did not have the total awareness of where she stood, because I wasn’t looking for that kind of rot. I wasn’t thinking that a woman– I didn’t let my uh, perceptions– uh, my– my– uh, impressions go in that range. I wouldn’t think that a woman who would talk about all these beautiful social consciousness– concepts– I wouldn’t think about her being so insensitive that she would forget the man that befriended her when none others would help. We were the only church that put up two thousand dollars, not another church in the whole– we didn’t put it up as a church– us privately did it, we didn’t take it from church money. We privately– private individuals put up two thousand dollars to get that woman a fair trial, and not another church gave her a dime. And no one else came to her aid, except that man with a hundred thousand dollars–
Man in congregation: That’s right!
Jones: And then she never even bothered to see how he exists.
Ijames: So true.
Jones: And I mean his situation is horrible. Two of our workers went down there, one of the ladies that’s in charge of the children’s home and another one of our brothers who– over here from CBS, he setting right over there, on my right and he can tell you – uh, Mike, stand up so they can see – he can tell you, it’s a bad thing he’s– that she– that they’ve gone through. A terribly bad thing. So, in– in a– in a way you were right, although here you see how I manifest is this way. I am a (Pause) kind of a distinct different personality in the– in the sense of the metaphysical or the psychic. I’ll get an impression like I said when the Reverend [likely Kathryn Kuhlman] was doing all of her speaking, I said it’s something righ– wrong. When she was being interviewed over TV, I said she would not have this man do it, if she were right. Well, that was right back there over a year ago, but it had nothing to do with it, you see. It had nothing to do with this situation. She still needed a fair trial. Free speech is no more safe than it is safe for anyone, no matter how much you disagree. But I did have that impression, but I wouldn’t think of a woman who’s talking about prison reform, integration, peace, you wouldn’t think automatically – as a natural person, you know – you wouldn’t think about that person being so insensitive as she showed to be. You– you look what– as scripture says, you’d would look for the best, wouldn’t you? You’d look for the good. You’d look for– and I– I uh, say that you uh, make a point. We’re going to have to tend to look for the good, but also look as wise as serpents uh– and we will from now on, but it wouldn’t’ve changed anything. I still would’ve defended her right to say what she said, to believe what she said.
There only one fact that now worries me: was she guilty of what she’s– was charged of? But that still has nothing to do with it. A fair trial is necessary. And she could not get a fair trial in a climate of race hate. She could not get a fair tr– trial in a climate of where she was being persecuted on every score, even her own life threatened and harassed. And indeed, maybe some of her own insensitivity has come from the fact that she was threatened so many times. Perhaps that’s it. Perhaps the whole society can take a responsibility for what’s happened to Angela Davis, but whatever– then she should get out of the business. If she has pretended to be a leader, a revolutionary, someone who’s going to bring change, and she can forget her friends so easily. If sixteen months in jail did that for her, then she’s no longer worthy of– to be called a leader. If her own disappointments caused her to betray her best friend– and indeed I call that a betrayal.
Now if someone else has got something to say, I’m a busy man. I sleep no more than one hour a day. I haven’t eaten all day until I took a little bit of this pudding, or whatever here. You saw me take a few spoons of it, because I’ve been going to the children’s homes, senior citizens homes, counseling, up all night for two nights straight. I laid down just briefly on the davenport uh, to just rest myself for about forty minutes, but did not sleep. I did then read– I read letters and uh, participated with things I had to do. Now I don’t forget my best friends. I don’t even forget people who’ve been my enemies that call on me. They’ll call on me, and invariably I’ll help them. People who put a knife right square in my back. I’ll never forget to be kind, at least, as humanism goes, I think that you’ll not find anyone any more sensitive– I know you won’t. I hate to be presumptuous, but I know you won’t.
And as I said I formerly, I wanted to seek out liberationist groups who talk the same rhetoric that I did, although the violent tinge I did not support, and I do not support. I do not believe in violence and– in first place, I don’t think it works. I know one thing, you better not listen to these fools who are teaching us to hate. Twenty-two million or 24 million blacks cannot whip 180 million whites. No matter how Herculean they may be, how m– how much stron– strength and indomitable will they– indomitable will they may have, you cannot overcome such odds as that. And I think that some of these people that are teaching us hate, are paid provocateurs. I think they’re paid agents. I think there’s reactionary elements in this country that want to take over. They want a de jure fascism. They’ve got a de facto fascism. They want an actual tyrannical military state, and they’ve got groups acting like they’re liberationists, whipping up hate, doing it in the name of revolution – right on – waving a red flag, talking socialism, communism, but they’re being paid by rich, hidden rulers.
Scattered voices in Congregation: Yeah.
Jones: The hidden interests, the wealth interest that want to tighten the grip, and I’m telling you, if we don’t have less of this violence, if we don’t have less stories than we’ve read in the last week– one black man made sick ‘til he shoots how many police? Four died, didn’t they? Seven, all told, citizens or eight died. And this week in San Francisco, the black man who’s attacked now how many women? He beats them up, not only rapes them, but beats them up. Is he indeed, I wonder indeed, he is maybe paid? Or if he uh, is not paid, who should be responsible? Churches that teach him to hate all white people? Some of the best support I’ve had here when I went to jail for a black woman, the frontlines were whites. Certainly blacks too, but the first ones to hit the jail were whites. First one to get the call under arrest, and the first issue we’ve ever had, and the people that’ve risked their lives down through for this mission have been white. And I don’t think that we’re going to– we are not going to tolerate any division along those lines. And as we’ve said on this street– Now we’ve had some bad treatment given to our whites. Now in the future, we want blacks to go with our whites. And if any white person gets pushed around here, there’s going to be trouble.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Now we offered, we offered our strength, I didn’t– we even got a good news article before this week, the San Francisco Chronicle as I said wrote a very nice article about our social work this week, very sizeable article. But we would’ve gotten good news some time ago, but I said, the Muslims down there, we’re going to be friends with them. Well, they looked funny at me when I said that. And we didn’t get our article. They stopped just like that. Now we have made overture after overture. I wanted to even go to Chicago to meet with their leader [Elijah Muhammad]. Never even got the call. Not the courtesy of a call to me, about when the meeting was to be, when I had been invited by them. And so, word has not been kept. That’s their business. I always keep my word. There’s not one of you here that can ever say I made a promise to you that I didn’t keep it. You can’t do it, you– you may– you may say it, but you’d be a liar, because I have never once failed my word. My word’s very important to me. I don’t believe you’re any better than your word. So, to our brothers we’re told, that if they went down to the temple, the mosque last week, they’d be able to find the two that’d done this lying and trouble-making. They were told to come at a certain time, then they were denied entrance. And they weren’t white, they were black brothers. Two of our black brothers were denied entrance. All right. That’s going to get on. We’ve been told that they’re going to run us off the street. We’ve been told that one of the Muslims are going to get me. And we’ve taken this very, very kindly. We’ve taken it very kindly. But– That’s why we have our little togetherness, and walking up and down these streets. It may be that somebody will start a ruckus, but whoever starts it better be prepared to finish it.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Now we’ve– we’ve– we’ve been– we’ve been through this– we’ve been through this. Our black brothers have been chastised for their white wives and treated like uh, dogs and vermin, and that’s their business. But don’t bother us any more. Don’t you stop any of us on the street, any black married to white, or bl– where a black uh, woman’s married to a white man. Don’t you stop ‘em, ‘cause if you deal with one of us, you’d better damn well know you’re going to have to deal with all of us.
Congregation: Applause, cheers.
Jones: All right, peace. (Pause) I don’t like this stuff. But as I’ve said again, and I offer my– I offer the– the peace pipe. We will do anything to d– uh, to defend the rights of those who work for black liberation. And we will do it if they work for it peacefully. But I don’t like this violence. I don’t like what I saw in Washington DC this week. How many Muslims were killed there in that situation? Seven Muslims.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: I don’t like what’s going on. And some Muslim told me that uh, some internal struggles go on. Well, internal struggles that kill each other does not have my respect. And we’ve seen Muslims lie dead in this town, and someone who has been forthright in the movement told me that there’s internal struggles here. Well, I’m going to tell you, if one of our people find– one of us are found dead, the first place we’re going to look for is you know where.
Congregation: (loud applause)
Jones: I don’t like to be intimidating with the realm of the parapsychological, but I gave you the date, the one of you that went down there and told those two brothers. I gave you the date. Now you go down and tell them any gossip tonight. You just name any kind of gossip we did, and you see if you make it through the sixteenth of March.
Congregation: Tentative applause.
Jones: That good enough? We’ve had enough of you liars and trouble makers. We didn’t start this. We certainly never lifted up our phone, never threatened anyone. We never threatened to run anybody off the street. And we won’t. We’ll protect their right to be on this street, and they better protect our right to be on this street. But if they don’t, we’re still going to be on this street.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Just let that be known, ‘cause all of us aren’t here. We can bring up two thousand from Los Angeles, we can bring up our security people from Redwood Valley.
Scattered voices in Congregation: (unintelligible, shouting)
Jones: We can bring them all from our– our extensions, our senior citizen homes and our– those that are guarding our children’s home and all the workers that’re still there. We’ll bring ‘em all, if you want– if you– if people want to push us around, we have been pushed enough out of shape.
Congregation: Right. (Applause)
Jones: Little intimidating things. Little messages. I want ’em to know also, you can tell ‘em, we are monitoring all these little ole walkie-talkies that’re being run up in front of our face. We hear your walkie-talkie, so you better get on a band that you don’t want us to hear, ‘cause we’re listening. We met– we’re met tonight with walkie-talkies up and down on the street. Do they think that impresses us? We wouldn’t be impressed if they had a submachine gun.
Congregation: Applause, cheers
Jones: Listen, children. We have gone through– we have gone through burnings, we’ve gone through our little animals kicked, and we’ve had to bring them back through our own self healing. We’ve seen all kinds of things. Persecutions against children because we were trying so hard to be a friend to everyone. We’ve been shot down. I’ve been shot. Others have been shot. Others have had knives pulled on them. We’ve had car vandalism. We’ve had it all, so you that think– It’s just too late for January 1973 for anyone to come along and think that they’re going to threaten us by just walking up and down with a walkie-talkie.
Congregation: (light applause, yields to more applause)
Jones: See, that little bit of Indian’s still left in me. They’ve chased me all the way to the West. There nothing left of the Indian great culture and it’s– (Stumbles over words) and their lands and their heritage, practically wiped out. But I’m in the West, and I intend anybody that wants to remove me from the West, I might take them with me.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: (talking to someone off microphone) Yeah, put him down, just put him down. (back to mike) Now, you– if you’ve finished, your– your question well taken, don’t think I was offended by it. It’s a good point. Yes?
Voice in Congregation: – I just realized (unintelligible) – something that has been– (microphone placed by woman)– really con– bothering me that nobody would take a stand that you did for her, and I thank God and I think everyone here, if not outside, should thank God that somebody saw the point that she had a right to be defended. A right to a fair trial and stood up for it.
Jones: Right. Right. Racism shouldn’t have be inv– be involved, and– and she shouldn’t’ve been uh, persecuted because of her ideas. She shouldn’t’ve been threatened in the middle of the night because she happened to be a communist, and she was. And whatever she’s done does not justify what was done against her. I don’t like threats. That’s why I’m being a little bit strong tonight. I’m tired of it. In the former days, we wouldn’t say a thing about threats, but we’re getting tired of it.
Voices in Congregation: Responds.
Jones: Now if you ring our phone many more times threatening us or going to bomb us out or going to run us off the block, we are getting up to our neck. We don’t claim to be perfect, we just claim to be nicer people than you’ll find anywhere else, and you can push us too damn far.
Congregation: Loud applause, cheers.
Jones: We– we show a lot of restraint. We’re not fools. Some people uh– some people have encouraged us to defend ourselves. We’re not fools, we’re not going to be sucked into a bloodbath. I mean, people high up have uh– uh– uh, encouraged us to defend ourselves, personally defend ourselves. Do what you will. We won’t be sucked into that sort of thing. We have no desire to be violent. Not in us. Every little animal in our animal shelter, you can see how we never even use euthanasia. We take and nurse them and bring them back to health. We do use strong contraceptions, but we do not – and birth control – we do not in any way believe in violence. It’s– When you start using violence, something happens to your spirit and your soul. I don’t even like the tone. But you know I’ve found something, that all my sweet talk didn’t get those people off our back. All of our sweet sayings, how we would defend those people, did not get any response. All of our overtures didn’t even get a telephone call. But when we marched down the street last week, some of those cocky ones got off and let us march down the street.
Congregation: Loud applause, cheers.
Jones: (Calms) Who likes– Who likes surveillance? Who likes to have to have inquiries at a door? Who likes to have to have security patrols? Not us. But we’re just gonna show you that we think enough of us that we want to stay alive as long as we can. I personally have the necessity of staying alive because a great deal orientates around me as a focal point. I’m not in love with this world that much, of this earth plane and its incongruities. I’m not that much in love with it, but I will stay alive and fight to stay alive because of you. I feel I owe that to you. People talk about dying on the cross. That’s a great, great heroic sacrifice. I say living is much more of a sacrifice than dying on a cross, because if I could die on a cross and save all of you people from some real or imaginary sin, I would say, get me the cross and put it down in the ground quick and nail my hands as fast as you can, because I’d be glad to save you by one act. So living for you takes a lot more guts and a lot more grace than dying for you.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: So I’m going to stay alive for you the best I can to protect you.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Dear hearts– And may it never be known (Unintelligible word)– I’m glad that our sister posed a question, because some didn’t understand when a Doctor Richardson was in trial the other day, of the John Birch Society, we came to his rescue. Now there’s a move now in the country against people of the right. (Pause) I don’t mean right in the terms of rightness, we have this right wing speaking of conservatism and left wing speaking of so-called socialist incline. Now some of those people onto the right uh, label are coming under a great deal of persecution. And strangely enough, some of the right– rightists are worried about the same things you are. Up in Redwood Valley, when we were going through this harrowing experience, when they were threatening us night and day and carrying out their threats by breaking our windows, the only person that came to our rescue up there was not a liberal, not an intellectual do-gooder, not– none of that intel– intellectual set that is supposed to be sensitive to people, none of the sensitivity groups, none of the uh, free schools, not a soul came. None of the peace groups. Everybody left us alone, cold. Except the sectional leader of the John Birch Society.
Scattered voices in Congregation: (unintelligible)
Jones: Strange world you run into. You say all John Birchers are racist. Oh, no, not him. He’s not a racist. Black stay in his house and live with him all the time. Not a racist. He’s had blacks stay with him for days and weeks at a time. And he’s a sectional leader of the John Birch Society, and he was the only person that came forward with support, then– Well, I mean vocal support. Then [Marge Boynton] the head of the Republican Party, strange enough and I’d been against everything Republicans stood for. So she came forward. So you just don’t know who your friends are going to be in a time of need. You’ll be surprised. Well, now of late, the John Birch Society’s been speaking about increased federal centralization. Bureaucracy. The omnibus crime bill. The uh, taxation without representation, proper representation. The in– increased uh, centralization is their primary theme, and they’re against many of the same creeping laws that you are. We find a lot in common with this man. Fact, next Wednesday’ll be your opportunity to meet this John Birch man, because he’s going to be in our Wednesday night service for just about a half an hour to show a film about controlled press, controlled news, censorship of the press. So I think we need to not fall in– in the bags nor let people put people in bags. Let’s not judge all people because somebody’s been bad. If there’d been one bad John Bircher, that doesn’t mean all Birchers are bad. And we know well we are not going to judge all white people because some white people’ve been bad. We don’t like to be judged– we know what whites have done to us, we don’t want them to do that to us, and we’re not going to repeat that sin by judging that the entire race or an entire movement because of the antics or the activities of one or two – or, even fifty or sixty percent – because in this house, we’ve got some fearless white people.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: We’ve got some fearless white people.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: My own white companion [Marceline Jones] was spit on with our black son [Jim Jones Jr.], and she’s been attempted to be driven off the road, and I suppose she’s a typical prototype of blondeness. She’s a blonde, and certainly she has a black heart.
Congregation: Applause, cheers
Jones: Peace. Peace. See, a black heart’s good here. We’re changing some of that. That’s why someone the other day heard us singing this song: “What can make us black– our black to glow? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” They said, well, I never heard it that way. Well, we’re changing it because black isn’t bad, darling. Black is beautiful!
Congregation: Applause, cheers
Jones: You see the ol’– the old uh, racist church– the old racist church, they want to talk about white as snow. Well, we want our black to glow. It’s all right to be white as snow if you want to be. We want our black to glow. So we change the little words like that because we’ve got to reeducate. There’s been a lot of this uh, fear of darkness, back to primitive man that has caused black bad. Dark. Evil, uh– he’s– is– is– is this– this type of imagery of black being bad and white being good, we’ve got to change that around. Because we’ve found black to be very, very good and very, very beautiful. And we have found, as I say, one after another of our white people who have stood the test, who have been threatened, who have been harmed, and they have not backed off. The backbone of this Temple through the– the stormy years before some of you knew of us, before some of you in the Bay knew of our Temple – you didn’t know, you’da been there, many black people woulda been there if they’d known – but some of the backbone were whites through those stormy years. We woulda never been a Peoples Temple if white people hadn’t agreed with this Indian sitting here, and backed him up in his ideals. And as you know, I’ve never watered it down for anyone. I’ve preached integration and intermarriage back when the law was against it. I married couples when the law was against it, back in the East and the South. I performed weddings when the law said you could not do so. So don’t talk to me about you being on the front lines of revolution, you don’t– some of you people don’t know what a revolution is. You don’t know what it is to stand when the trials are on. We– we took those tans– we took those stands 25 years ago. Twenty-five years ago. I said, I married people that far back, across racial lines, and you– they coulda throwed me in jail for it, and tried, and they didn’t get it done. And they tried to throw me in jail last week because of brotherhood, and I’ll always be on the side of the right question. When I’m not in jail now and uh, I’m be– having an interview this week, going to Los Angeles, the comen– commander of the police has asked to have a special interview with me. I was in– in his jail two weeks ago, now he wants an interview with me. Beautiful.
Congregation: Applause, cheers
Jones: Peace. (Pause) We were in that jail for one good reason. One lady had to– she went down and told the assistant mayor didn’t tell all the story. He got the story straight. We went down and said, “Reverend Jones was in jail.” So– so good to be gossips like that.
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: The Baptist lady had– she just couldn’t run down there fast enough to say Reverend Jones was in jail. She didn’t tell why Reverend Jones was in jail. She didn’t tell that our black sister there was kicked into an ambulance, against her will, by two white racist ambulance attendants, and when we talked to them, she called us– told us– they– they– they told us to get our dirty – whatever they said – MF nigger hands off of the ambulance. We hadn’t even raised a finger of violence. And so we kept insisting that she had a right to get off that ambulance, and she had had a stroke, and they made her sit up. And so we would rather go to jail than see someone treated like that.
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: And indeed they came and throwed us in jail, but we got the lady off the ambulance anyway.
Congregation: Applause, laughing
Jones: And this was not here. In this city, we’ve had very, very good cooperation with law enforcement. Very beautiful cooperation. But we’re going to get it down there, or at least I think they want it, because they let us go, they didn’t even arrest me formally when they found out I wouldn’t leave. I said uh– they put me in the jail cell, and I said uh– said well, you’ve not been in jail for, have you? I said no, never been arrested, never had an altercation with a cop before. Not a verbal exchange. They said, well, you can get out for six hundred and seventy five dollars or whatever it was. I said, I don’t want out.
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: And they said uh– the man said – one of ‘em said – well, (short laugh) I’ve had a lot of people trying to get out of here, but I’ve had no one who ever wanted to stay in. And I said, well, I have to stay here, because I don’t believe in people being able to buy their selves out with a bail. I don’t believe that people should be able to buy freedom with money. I think that everyone should be given a right to go out on their recognizance or stay in the jail. It shouldn’t have anything to do with how much money you have. So I said I’m staying, so tell my church people, and they did, they went and told you that I was staying. Well, I guess they decided they didn’t want me, because three minutes later, they decided to let me go, and they never picked me up again later.
Congregation: Applause, laughter
Jones: I know I shook ‘em up, ‘cause it wasn’t the nicest little room in the world, cement floor and a lot of– there was some blood laying on the– on the floor. Somebody’d come to some difficulty there on the floor. I just wrapped up my old coat under my head and laid down. And he said that– that– one of them said that– that fool’s in there sleeping.
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: (short laugh) I heard him. He didn’t know I was listening to him, but I heard him, that fool’s in there sleeping. And I would’ve too, I’da had a good long rest, ‘cause it’s hard work out here fighting for freedom.
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: So if I get to set in jail and do– let you do some of the work for a while, it’d be all right.
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: But I wouldn’t stay there unless I– it’s meant to be, and it wasn’t meant to be, because I didn’t do anything to get out. I didn’t try to get out, they just let me out. So, I’m out until somebody else kicks a black woman, and I’ll be back in again.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: You know– You know what I– what I don’t understand is that I’m looking at some of you people and you– you never clap, you never smile. What’re you here for? I’d like to know what in the hell you’re here for tonight.
Congregation: Cheers, applause.
Jones: You know, you– you’ve got uh– you– you’ve got a right to be where you want to be and we’ve got a right to be where we want to be. You’ve got a right to evaluate us, analyze us and make any kind of conclusion. It ought’na take more than five or ten minutes to do that. Then after that, you ought to either get friendly or leave us. Uh, I’ve had the best analyze me, and I’ve had the worst, and I’m not interested in any kind of ap– appraisal. I’m not interested in any critical judgment. Uh– Someone came in and said they wanted to do a nice story. I said I didn’t want a nice story, thank you. So uh, when we want a story, we’ll let you know. Or when we want an evaluation, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, we like each other. If you don’t like us, don’t bother us. If you do like us, we’ll fight for you, we’ll make you the best friendship you’d ever had. We’ll stand by you thick and thin. We take care of our people when they’re out of work, we take care of them through the golden years in the most beautiful senior citizen homes you ever saw in your life. We educate our own, 109 under scholarship right now, by this church. What’ve we done when our brothers got into difficulty over civil rights? We bailed ‘em out. I was the only one that wouldn’t take bail. They wouldn’t’ve either, if I’d have asked them, but uh, they had to get back to jobs so we took over that civil rights case, or we put up the bail. Now there’s no place you gonna find friends like this on earth, but one thing we– we– There’s one little rule we have. And I think we ought to put it on the wall: if you stay in our service, at least smile or get on the road.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: We find that usually people who sit off critically anyway are just trying to find a m– a means to cop out from group responsibility. They make all these uh, you know– they look for little things. The fact that I’ve adopted eight children of all races, that doesn’t mean anything. The fact that we’ve built an orphanage that uh, fed two hundred starving babies that were literally starving to death, that doesn’t mean anything. But they’ll find one little thing. The kind of clothes I wear, or some style I have or aggression that comes out in my speech. You’re darn lucky that my aggression doesn’t come– come oth– other place than my speech.
Congregation: (laughter, applause)
Jones: You see, when you get– when you get people– When people have been as nasty to your friends as uh, they have been to mine– I’ve seen the most horrible kinds of things. Two weeks ago, it took a lot of love to forget that. I don’t pretend to uh, look easily on violence. Some people say they never feel any violence. I think they’re a liar. I don’t think there’s ever been a soul on earth that didn’t feel violence. I think it’s a matter whether you control that violence or not. But as far as feeling it– I know Doctor Martin Luther King told me how he felt. ‘Cause when I was the government commissioner, he sit right on the platform with me and we were speakers in a great rally. He told me how he felt deep in his soul. He felt like whipping, he said, so many honky asses that he wouldn’t be able to count them. But he didn’t. He acted peacefully because he knew that that was the best way you could serve it– the cause. But you do feel it. Well, I think that there’re no group that’s been able to control it as much as in– two weeks we’ve been able to put down that– that horrible hate, and it was awful. Our nurse sitting here– she’s uh, she’s back now. She had a ruptured spleen. Doctor that blood– show– her heart’s just failed on her. We had her on a bus in different hospital, just sent her out. We had– I had to keep her alive by my own power, because she– her blood pressure failed, her hear– pulse failed, and they were going to operate [on] her then they said something miraculously happened. Well, we’re not uh, credible kind of– we’re– we’re not the incredible types, we believe uh, after it’s proven to us, and it’s been proven to us so many times that there’s some kind of energy that works in this house. You name it whatever you will that does these kinds of miracles but here, no one was sacred. She uh, gets injured. My son [Stephan Jones] tries to protect Sister [Marceline] Jones, and she was taken away in handcuffs, first time in her life, ‘cause she just said why you treating these people this way? That’s all she said. Why are you treating – boom, off to jail she went. And then they hit my child – twelve-year-old child – for saying don’t take my mother. It’s hard to forget some of that stuff. Now, you know it is, it– it sticks with you, and we’ve had it, all of us have had it so many times over and over and over and over again. And I’ve never yet used any violence to anyone, nor will I, only to protect my children. If you come to hurt any of my children, then you’ll have to kill me. That’s my– that’s– that is a covenant I made. Don’t try to hurt my children.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: I know that there are some who say if they come to hurt your children, you’re supposed to let them. They call them– themselves the school of nonviolence in the absolute degree. They say even if they come to rape your wife, let them. Or to harm your children, let them. Well, I’m not going to try to judge people who talk that way, but I think it could be an easily [easy] way to escape from responsibility. No, if you’ve come to hurt my children – and that doesn’t mean just the one– eight that I’ve adopted, that means any of them – If you try to hurt one of them, you’ll have to kill me. Now I’m not saying what I’ll do, but that’s pretty graphically plain, I would say. If you have to kill me, that means I’m not going to stand there and pray for you.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: But before we would have a bloodbath with anyone, we don’t want wars. If we see dictatorship creeping up, a racist society, we see apartheid – racist separation – and it’s quite evidently in the wind, according to sociologist [Kenneth] Clark and many others. We already have two societies. One free, one enslaved. We’ve made our plans for sanctuary. We’re not just talking, we’ve made our plans. You saw this building before we took on it, it was a hog pen. We’ve made it into a beautiful living place, every facility is livable, rooms here, apartments, it’s all nice. And you see that every place we’ve gone, we take care of our– our facilities, we provide for our people, and we’re also providing in Operation Hope, a way of escape if trial comes. We don’t want to stay here in a bloodbath, because there nothing but cowards running roo– loose in this country. Cowards. They’ve shown it on too many cases. When Miss Davis had her trial, 2,000 dollars and all of America from Peoples Temple and a hundred thousand dollars from the man in Fresno, and he’s practically to lose– about to lose body and soul. His wife has been at the point of– even do– so despaired over– considering her life– taking her life. Well, we wouldn’t let her down, though we never knew them. We never knew them, but we felt a responsibility to get in there, to look after people who care for others, and we did. And we’re going to look after people who care for others. But we’ve seen too many showdowns, and nobody cared. We, a gentle, kindly people that’ve never hurt a fly and taken in every person that’s ever been brought to us, every older person, every younger person, every little animal even. And on September sixteenth, when the paper uh, told all those lies, people forgot us, except the John Birch Society head – white man – and the white lady Republican. Liberals and socialists and all of ‘em forgot us. (Pause) Looking after their own hide. (Pause) Well, I’m glad we went through it. It taught us some lessons. I’m glad we learned the lessons we’ve learned, aren’t you?
Scattered voices in Congregation: Yeah!
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Don’t talk to me about marching off to any go– any revolution, no. Hmm-umm. Nobody interested in any revolution. I look– I look down here and I watch this professor at uh, Stanford, wasn’t it? [Howard] Bruce Franklin. And I told what he was headed for and his misguided approach to life. And he had a visionary idealism, he gonna change the world with his gun. They got somebody out, didn’t they? Somebody out uh, that was uh– that uh– they defended someone that was an escapee from brutality, who escaped from the prison system? You remember that, just a while ago?
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: They protected him, didn’t they? All the way across to Arizona. Now what’d he do? Turned ‘em all in. Turned every blessed one of ‘em in. (Pause) That nice? Well, in a way, I wouldn’t mind being in the– their shoes. I don’t– I’m like [Henry David] Thoreau uh, with [Ralph Waldo] Emerson. I see so many good people in jail, I feel my conscience is pained by being on the outside. But I don’t want you inside, unless it’s for a good cause. And I don’t want you in there if it’s not going to do any good. So I am as of this date forward an anti-communist. No clapping. That’s my posture. Don’t want any communist here. I asked you people to come if you wanted to build a better world, and you didn’t even have time to talk to us. Now I want nothing to do with you for my people’s sake. I am disassociating with any and all communist. The person that turned in this church and met with evil woman who’s a racist, fascist in the worst sense, Mrs. Johnson in Indianapolis. She’s a fascist, evil, Ku Klux Klan. Who met with her? John Bacharach, that’s over in the YMCA who is a trade union, an old time communist. An avowed communist. And he said he’d do anything to get us– get us down, to destroy us because his girlfriend wanted to stay here and build brotherhood instead of going to do what he wanted to do. That communist. I’ve had a bad trip with communists lately. No more than I have with fascist certainly, but I want nothing to do with any of you ism-atics. You go out and do your own revolution. I see some of your cocktail revolutions. I see you driving down your Rolls Royces and your revolutions. I see the one in the town here, one of the ministers that’s always talking revolution, I see how well-heeled he is. When we came to want to use his facility, he says, I’m doing my own thing. He’s old enough to act like he’s got some sense and he had two miniskirted girls, one of ‘em on his knee. He was going to– he said, you do your thing, we’ll do your [our] thing. We said we wa– we want to save money, we don’t want to build another church. We wouldn’t’ve done this if we hadna been able to put apartments and uh, housing in it. Said we could take that money and use it at the time for Indians on Alcatraz, or blacks to give them supplies and food and things they needed in the ghetto. (mimics voice) He says you do your thing. We do our thing.
Congregation: (laughing)
Jones: Well, he can do– That’s just about the way he said it, Jack said, he was there. So we’re letting him do his thing, and we are going to do our thing, and we don’t want nothing to do with his thing.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: (Off mike) Fifteen? (Back to mike) I’m spending a lot of time with this tonight, but I want it quite clear, no more gung ho for Angela. I mean no more posters. I want ‘em down everywhere. I want nothing more to do with this situation. As I say, to me, it’s grievous. And if anyone else wants to challenge me, as the sister did kindly on the floor, you do it now. Otherwise, I don’t want to see a picture of her anywhere, because when you forget your friend, a friend like that, and their little children even suffered for you, and you don’t even look to see how they’re doing, forget it, honey. Just forget it. Just forget it, as far as I’m concerned. Now if you can think of some excuse, you– you do it because I’d like to– I’d like to hear your point of view, but otherwise, I don’t want to hear the name of her– her personality challenged here as a great leader anymore. I want no more to do with it. If she’s being hurt, I’ll– I’ll help her just as I would help any human being that’s being hurt.
All right. In the meantime, we’ve got the report of the finances. He’s just dropped the slip here, and it’s very, very sad. Numbers of things we have to do. For our older people, we do have to have an elevator because for housing and otherwise, we’ve got to have an elevator down there, and it’s got to be put in and it’s fifteen thousand dollars, and we want it done. A ten-capacity elevator. We’ve got to get this roofing, and we’ve got to uh, continue with Operation Hope. You know what Operation Hope is? You do. Well, if you don’t, ask your neighbor. (Pause) You don’t see me in any Rolls Royce. You see me in an old used choir robe. I think this is probably a baptismal robe. People give me their choir robes. By the way, I need some more of them. If you got out of that churchified state that you were in, and you want to share your choir robe, will you bring it? Anybody got a good choir robe? You want to save it for a day when you want to go back there, huh?
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: (Short laugh) Anybody got a choir robe they’ll let old man Jones have while he helps to build a great society? (Claps hands once) Thank you. Well, we got a good one going here. It may be internalized a little bit, it may be isolated a little bit. Some minister was saying to one of our young people, he’s one of our children’s father’s a bishop of a large denomination. We’ll say that. That’s his title. Big denomination. He said, well, some of us have choo– chosen to live inside the society and work and others have chosen, like Peoples Temple, to get outside of it. Now isn’t that nice? He never gave a dollar to Angela. He never gave a dollar to any political prisoner, but we’re supposed to be living outside the society, and he’s inside it. Like he’s doing a good thing driving around in his fancy clothes and he’s 55 years of age or whatever, and he’s got hair– It looks– It sounds like he’s wanting to wear long hair like the twenty-year-olds. He’s a swinging bishop, but he’s inside the society, suffering, he’s suffering inside the society.
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: Suffering bad inside the society. I looked up at the choir because one of the members is– his father’s uh– he’s a father of one of our members in the choir. She coulda had that kind of a life. White society, elite. But she chose to be down here with us. So don’t talk to me about white people. Two of our white women could’ve been society-minded if they wanted to, with a father that had this big office in the largest denomination in America. But they chose to be here at Peoples Temple. But he was writing them a letter, you know, about how he suffering inside the society. Now it may be that we don’t choose to fellowship in– outside. We don’t like all those lodges and clubs that you patronize. And we do have a close knit fellowship, we have a bang of a time at Christmas and New Year’s Day. And we do have nice homes where we take care of our people. But we’re not driving around in Rolls Royces. We’d rather have nice– nice homes and some food back in our pantry, and we got some. We can put– We can put– We can put some meat on your ribs, honey, when the time comes.
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: We’d rather– we know you can’t eat a Rolls Royce.
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: No way in the world you gonna eat a Rolls Royce, nor can you eat diamonds. That’s why we don’t like diamonds. And neither do we like diamonds because the ra– racist state of Africa. Union of South Africa’s kept in power by the diamond market. So our preacher just wears clothes that don’t look as good as your preacher, but your preacher never done as much for you as this church has done for its people (unintelligible). (tape edit) – came to us today at the children’s home while I was there, on forty acres where we have our children’s home, and said, the state bureau wants you to form two special homes. I’m not going to tell you which bureau, ‘cause I know some of you devils. I’m going to get the homes afore I tell you, ‘cause I know you devils.
Congregation: Laughs.
Jones: You’d be surprised how wicked some people are. It shows God good, truth has to be with us, or we wouldn’t’ve lasted, because the moment we tell anything we going to do (whisking sound) they go– uh, they– they start stirring up trouble. Gossips. They just sit in here and bend their ear. That’s why until– until formerly I’d never let anybody die. (Pause) But you saw the last two weeks what happened.
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: Haven’t you?
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: You saw what smart alecks got. Before your eyes. And I mean, don’t– don’t come in here with this smart alecks attitude and think you’re gonna do cruel things to people. Because this man’s a good man. But you start messing with his children, he’s got a few secret whammies.
Congregation: Murmurs.
Jones: (Claps lightly. Short laugh) Everyone gets quiet. Say– Say people should come to the truth through goodness. They should, but if they don’t, I’ve got two secret whammies.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Talk about goodness and appeal and sweetness, as I said. Nothing in the world reach some people except a little fear. What is it that’s said, the old gospel said? Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. We’ve got our interpretation of that.
Ijames: Laughs.
Jones: We got two whammies. Well, that’s fear, and it’s a low plane. But we mean for you to quit trying to hurt these people. If you do it– You can see the white brother that was here that died before our face. You saw what happened to him. His racism– what he was trying to do to our black associate, what he was trying to do in the meeting. You saw his smart aleckness and you saw what happened to him.
Ijames: Yeah.
Jones: Starting to belch blood. You saw how quick he repented. All my sweet talk never got through to him. I’ve sweet talked him for ten years, and it didn’t get through to him. Say, well, it’s not right to do that. Uh– If you’ve got somebody in there that’s risking the life of twenty people, it’s your duty to keep them under control. That’s a moral duty, to keep them under control.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: So I want to tell you, that we’ve been approached by a agency asking us for two homes – two licensed homes – and the agency will guarantee when the beds are filled. They’re so impressed with our care that they’ll guarantee that the beds will be paid for by this agency, whether they’re filled or not. So any of you that’re interested in running a kind of a uh, custodial home, let us know. The church will– Some of us would put our money, I’m sure, to advance you to get us– That’s how we look after each other. We believe the Jewish people have done something with their state of Israel. They’ve done something, they’ve looked after each other, we’re going to look after us. We’re building the Peoples Temple Israel. (short laugh)
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: You’ve heard of white Jews, well, we got mongrel Jews.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: And I tell you, when you look at that children’s home, I was so thrilled with our custodial people, that precious couple that came from Los Angeles, what they have done. He wasn’t no more equipped to run a farm than I am to uh, breed flies. But he uh– he uh– not that it’d take much genius to breed flies, but anyway, that– the– the– everything beautified, curtains and all the little things that make children living so gracious. Warmth, paints, the kind of colors that would be nice in their rooms, it was a drab old place before. And the– the– the gates and the fencing and the landscapes. And places for the animals. Everything– It just made my heart feel good to look at that children’s home today. You can be proud, they’re working hard on it. You ought to take a tour through it. But that takes money, child. Those payments come every month. They don’t go– They don’t grow on a tree. Nobod– (short laugh) I made a notation the other day, a scribble about uh, something about damn money not growing on trees. And Brother [J.R.] Purifoy thought it was meant for him. It never was meant for him, but he– he smiled at me today so that musta been– that took a lot of grace. He’s in one of our contractors who’s moved into the family, but money sure don’t grow on trees. It does not. So who’ll help us with a special pledge tonight? Hundred dollars or above, before we get in the healing service. Hundred dollars. (Pause) Anyone that’ll give us a hundred dollars or above.
(tape edit)
Jones: Some churches advertise in newspapers. We feel we’d like to put our money for some good cause, and as I’ve said, I said we’d get some newspaper coverage, and we did. And if you’da bought it, it’da cost you six thousand dollars. And what you advertise about yourself’s not nearly so much good as what somebody else tells about you. And we didn’t do it for advertisement, we do it because we believe in the First Amendment, that’s why we did it, and that’s why we shall continue to champion such purposes. But it takes money to be spent out to build in– in uh– to have money. You know what’s next on the agenda? Come on, folk, going to have to shell loose. We’ve bought the building right across from the supermarket in Redwood Valley. Three apartments and we’re going to– there– there– there– there’s a newspaper going to be uh, in there that’s going to uh, rent our spaces. And they’re going to print the news objectively. And we’re going to have a warehouse for our buses. And we’ve already bought it, uh, money’s not there but we’ll pay for it. People wanting us to go under, we not going to go under. Umm-mm [No]. Only thing ever woulda put us under was the fact that Father had such grace that he even associate with communist, if they were in trouble, now I’m not associating with them. Quiet. I said I’m not. I love you too much. I don’t want nothing to do with them. Want nothing to do with anybody that doesn’t do any better than uh, what I’ve seen out of this communist bunch. So, I don’t mind associating with anybody. Said the quickest way to get me into confrontation sometimes would be the best route for me, but uh, I’m not going to associate with anything that will cause you difficulty. So wake up now. We’ve got to purchase that place. You know that what will help us– a newspaper that will print the truth.
Congregation: Scattered response.
Jones: Not a newspaper that’ll be biased towards us, but one that will print the truth. ‘Cause if they preach the truth, we’re always going to come out all right.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: If you’re interested in doing some of these things, in this federal credit union – Peoples Temple Federal Credit Union – it could give opportunities I say to increase people who could work in apostolic living styles. We hope you’ll let us know. We’ve got good typists. What else do– what do we need, uh, attorney [Gene] Chaikin? We need any special kind of helpers? We need people who can write too, if you want to do s– articles for the newspaper, they’ll be glad to uh, listen to your contributions. (Pause) We need a bookkeeper. Anybody a bookkeeper in the house? It’s a low assembly tonight. Anybody a bookkeeper? There’s one over there, go– right across there. Sh– She’s right across from you, Gene. On the end of the aisle. You can talk to her, see what we can– see if her qualifications meet our needs and vice versa. Here, sister down here is a bookkeeper. She’s been a good faith–
Voice in Congregation: (unintelligible)
Jones: You manage a credit union? Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha! Aha!
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: He wants to see you right now. The attorney just run out of his seat when you said that.
Congregation: (laughing)
Ijames: That’s great. It’s good. It’s good.
Jones: Oh yeah, you folk thought we going to get dirtied by the communist name, now we– we– See, we never throw off anything until we can conscientiously do it. Now we can conscientiously do it. Nothing going to bother us now on. That’s the only problem we had, was that monkey on our back. Even though we weren’t one, we had that to deal with every time we turned around. So, we’ve got to pay for that building and we got to keep moving on. That’s half of Redwood Valley. That’s half of the uh, shopping center we’ve got. First thing you know, Redwood Valley will be “us”.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: In it there’s a laundry mat, a beauty salon, been a restaurant there formerly, they’re going to be turning it into a uh– the newspaper facilities. And we have three apartments. They uh– We didn’t uh, need to get them for our people, (laughs) they’re already rented to our people.
Congregation: Scattered laughter.
Jones: So we’ll be the– they’ll be paying their rent to the Peoples Temple now. They’re lovely apartments, beautiful apartments.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: And uh, they already were all rented by black people, all– all three apartments are rented by black people, as I recall, aren’t they? I don’t ever pay any attention to race. Aren’t all three of those apartments rented by black families? Right in the heart of what– one time blacks were not supposed to stay overnight. And we– all the people that live in Redwood Valley downtown area now are black. It’s wonderful.
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: Now, dollars for the claps. Who’ll give us some hundred dollars pledges or gifts tonight? (tape edit) They’re not interested in– in that, but he might– they might still be– we– we might do one. The Temple might put out a little sheet on him ourselves. We might even get– (tape edit)
Part 2:
Jones: Two more lives! Spirit! God!
(Organ plays)
Congregation: Applause.
Jones: I love you, I love you. It’s always my custom every Friday night, Saturday night to shake your hand, but tonight I shan’t. When you catch the bus, I shake every han– everyone’s hand at the bottom of the stairs. Tonight you make important at the bottom of the stairs to get your anointed cloth, the blue. It represents a very specific protection. Peace. Kiss your neighbor, hug them, ‘cause I’d like to hug each of you.
(End of tape)
Tape originally posted January 2011