Commentary & Opinion

Historical accounts of life in Peoples Temple, and especially of the events in Jonestown, elicit strong opinion and analysis of what the Temple was, why people joined and stayed, where it succeeded and where it failed, and what went wrong at the end. This page gathers together some of the commentary which has been submitted to this site. This forum includes thoughtful discussion from a wide range of perspectives written by people who were not part of Peoples Temple. In effect, this section of the site is our newspaper op-ed page which features shorter, non-academic articles which have a point of view.

Looking Past the Stereotypes, by Anonymous (2009)

Roses in Memoriam – The students of Opportunity High, by Judy Bebelaar (2011)

Jonestown Memorial Coda, by David A. Berdass (2011)

The Other Side Of The Story, by Nicole Bissett (2009)

Message from Jonestown, by Scott Blackwood (2009)

Revealing Peoples Temple through Creative Writing, by Chelsea Blundon (2011)

Commentaries by Niels Colesky

Commentaries by Seriina Covarrubias

A Terrible Solitude on Every Side by Rev. Barbara Crafton (2006)

The Memorial to Jonestown Victims at Evergreen Cemetery, by Natalia Danesi (2011)

Commentaries by Laurie Davis

Commentaries by Annie Dawid

The Deaths of Children, the Death of Childhood, by Jane Devin (2008) 

Murder vs. Suicide: Individuals and the Collective, by Leigh Fondakowski (2006)

Commentaries by Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons

What I learned about Peoples Temple, by Kimberly Gomez (2008)

Commentaries by Susan White Hicks

Leading to the Final Question by Phil LaMonica (2007)

Children of Jonestown and the Children of God, by Don Lattin (2008) 

San Francisco Laid Low by Jungle Fungus, by Bart Lee (2008)

Commentaries by Mike Lieber

Commentaries by Sylvia Marciniak

Commentaries by Bill Neri-Amadeo

Confessions of a Religious Bigot, by Ken Risling (2010)

Joining the Temple Community, by Daniel Russell (2011)

Just Like The Jones’, by Gerard Sarnat (2008)  

November 18, 2008: Notes from an Outsider, by Norm Scott (2009)

Oprah!, by Amanda Veazey (2010)

I’m not drinking it! by James Welborn (2006)

Should Jim Jones’ Name Have Been Included on the Marker? A Catholic’s Perspective, by Theresa Yugar (2011)

Remembering Jonestown: A Homage to the Dead, a Prayer for the Living, by Chuan Zhi (2011)