I have had an interest in Jonestown since I was in high school in the late 1980s. I just couldn’t understand how so many people could follow a leader to their death. It didn’t make any sense to me. Now, 40 years later, I have a different understanding about the events in Jonestown on November 18, 1978.
I come from a family that was heavily involved in fundamentalist Christianity. Both of my grandfathers were independent fundamentalist preachers. Many of my relatives met each other at a Bible College: grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins. I understand what it is like to be a part of a religious group that is tight-knit, in which you believe that you are a special people (i.e.., God’s chosen), and that you have a special purpose in life (i.e.., to help others enter Heaven).
I rebelled as a teenager. I went to a public university and majored in sociology, a subject that provided me with the skills and knowledge that it took to critically analyze the religion that my family had been steeped in. Ultimately, I earned a doctorate in Sociology and eventually a master’s degree in theology. Throughout most of my life I have struggled to understand and deal with the religion in which I was raised. This has taken me on a spiritual journey where I have tried many different variations of religion and spirituality. I still consider myself a Christian but different than that of my family. One constant in this journey has been my sensitivity to religious/spiritual abuse.
Since 1994, I have taught college courses in sociology and criminal justice to include the Sociology of Religion, and Victimology. I often discuss Peoples Temple in these classes. This has provided me with a glimpse of what students know and think about Jonestown. One thing that I have noticed, especially in recent years, is that less than 10 percent have ever heard anything about Jonestown, either in high school or anywhere else, and those who have heard of it know little or they have very distorted information. They have, however, heard the phrase “Don’t drink the Koolaid.” When I explain what the history of and events in Jonestown. most of my students are incredulous. Most of them believe that members of Peoples Temple must be mentally “off,” either mentally ill or lacking in intellect.
These students do what most people do when they are confronted with dangerous people and dangerous situations: they believe that, while other people can be manipulated, they themselves could not be. No matter how much I try to explain what happened in Jonestown, my students tend to want to believe that mindless people followed, like sheep, a leader who ordered them to take their own lives and they followed willingly.
It reminds me of what former Temple member Deborah Layton said in the film, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple: “Nobody joins a cult.” Instead, as Layton said, people join a group that provides a social network and is involved in something meaningful.
The students also tend to believe that in 2026 we, as a society, know much more and that the number of cults is much lower now than in the past. Then I tell them that I think that we are living in a time in which cults will thrive. Increasingly, people in the United States are lonely without significant supportive social networks. At the same time many people are looking for meaning. Combine that with the complexity of life now actually creates an atmosphere where cults can flourish.
The danger, of course, is that “cults” are not so much a thing as it is a style of relationship. This is not only with regard to cults but also to abusive people in our own lives. Most people believe that they will see danger when it is present. In other words, cult dynamics mimic those found in an abusive family.
In addition to my students, I have spoken about Jonestown in religious organizations in which I have been a part. I have found that the thinking of fellow religious members is as black and white as that of my students. They tend to believe that if their religious group is not as abusive as Jonestown, then there are no problems at all. I try to explain that religious abuse exists in many organizations in a variety of ways and that abuse needs to be weeded out. I think that one of the most frightening attitudes that church people have had is that they believe if their intentions are good then everything will be okay.
I have also written letters to the editor each year around the anniversary of the tragedy so that I can remind the public what took place in Jonestown. While some do not believe that they could be manipulated religiously others believe that all religion is manipulation and that any religious standard or rule is controlling. I do not want people to give up on religion/spirituality any more than I want people to be in an abusive group. It is my hope that by discussing what is and what is not religious/spiritual abuse that we can help religious seekers find that for which they are looking.
(Daniel Phillips, Ph.D. has been a college instructor for 32 years and has published articles and book chapters about correctional mental health services and suicide. He has served as a guest editor for Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, the Journal of Social Services Research, and the Journal of Rural Social Sciences. He has published 2 edited books: Mental Health Issues in the Criminal Justice System, and Probation and Parole. In his spare time, he competes and referees in strength sports. He lives in rural Kentucky. He may be reached at daniel.phillips@ucumberlands.edu.)