"Response
to Jim Hougan" by Rebecca Moore Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple http://jonestown.sdsu.edu
Rebecca Moore is the author
and co-editor of numerous books and articles about Peoples Temple and
Jonestown. An associate professor in Religious Studies at San Diego
State University, she also serves as co-general editor of Nova Religio:
The Journal of New and Emergent Religions, along with Catherine
Wessinger. She can be reached at remoore@mail.sdsu.edu.
It is true that Jim Hougan is a well-established investigative reporter,
and also a good friend. He has a wealth of experience researching the
world of spooks and spies, having written Secret Agenda: Watergate,
Deep Throat, and the CIA; Spooks: The Haunting of America: The
Private Use of Secret Agents; and Kingdom Come, a novel about
a CIA bureaucrat. He also wrote and produced a documentary on Jonestown
for the Arts and Entertainment Channel on the twentieth anniversary
of Jonestown. No wonder he takes umbrage at being lumped together with
“professional conspiracists.” That’s a legitimate
complaint.
In my article, “Reconstructing Reality: Conspiracy Theories About
Jonestown” in Journal of Popular Culture 36, no. 2 (Fall
2002) – available online at http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Articles/conspiracy.htm
– I described Mr. Hougan’s article in Lobster as
falling within the genre of conspiracy literature. I stand by that statement,
and I believe other readers of the article would agree. Indeed, given
Lobster’s self-description as “the Journal of Parapolitics
that includes International Intelligence, Conspiracy Theories and Government
Abuse,” I believe the editors published Mr. Hougan’s piece
because of its conspiracy themes.
However, there is a difference between an article written by a professional
conspiracist, and an article with a conspiracy theme written by an investigative
reporter. I recognize the importance of making that distinction, and
I am happy to do so.