By Rev. Lester Kinsolving
\nExaminer Religion Writer
\n[Last of four parts which were never published]<\/p>\n
UKIAH, CALIFORNIA, September, 1972 — When the Rev. Jim Jones, charismatic pastor-prophet of the nearby People\u2019s Temple Christian (Disciples) Church in Redwood Valley, was teaching classes in the local school district\u2019s night school program, he illustrated his instruction with extensive and numerical accounts of his personal sex habits.<\/p>\n
One of his former students, Mrs. Betty Bailey, distinctly recalls that in his advocating that young boys be taught to masturbate, the Rev. Mr. Jones provided graphic, detailed accounts of his own masturbating. (\u201cI masturbated five times a day until I got married,\u201d Jones reportedly told his pupils.)<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bailey, a stocky, feisty and good-humored lady, recalled that this unusual pedagogy was offered by The Prophet in his teaching of this class \u2013 in U.S. History.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t impressed either by those two bodyguards who always preceded him into the classroom,\u201d commented Mrs. Bailey, \u201cnor did I believe this stuff about his own extrasensory perception. So I said that I\u2019d be impressed if he could tell me my grandmother\u2019s maiden name. Instead of doing so, he shot back: \u2018You\u2019re fighting me!\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n
Mrs. Bailey also recalls the The Prophet became so furious that he screamed at her, and on a separate occasion referred to another student as a \u201cson of a bitch,\u201d while angrily chasing this student to the classroom door.<\/p>\n
\u201cJones comes on TV as something like St. Francis and the angel Gabriel,\u201d commented Mrs. Bailey, \u201cBut as a Catholic, I didn\u2019t really appreciate his telling the class that the Catholic Church opposes birth control in order to try to rule the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why is such conduct tolerated by the local school district?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve written complaints to the school board and even to Dr. Rafferty,\u201d recalled Mrs. Bailey, \u201cbut Max Rafferty simply referred it back to the local board–and they ignored it. After all, so many board members are either members of the People\u2019s Temple or are afraid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another of The Prophet\u2019s former night school students was Pat Rhea, now 21. She recalls that teacher Jim Jones included lengthy discussions of both extrasensory perception and syphilis \u2013 in a Civics class.<\/p>\n
The course (for credit) had neither assigned texts nor examinations \u2013 for teacher Jones informed his pupils that they would be graded entirely on their performances when he engaged them in discussion. Rhea recalls that somehow Jones overlooked her entirely in this regard \u2013 but she received a grade of \u201cB\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Prophet\u2019s recurrent references to sex are vividly recalled by many witnesses.<\/p>\n
Denise Kindopp, who has attended People\u2019s Temple, recalls:<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost every Sunday, there was some reference to sex. More than once I have heard Jones tell the congregation that \u2018I have been propositioned by many women.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to this recurrent emphasis upon his personal sex life, The Prophet is remembered by some witnesses as having almost invariably been critical of the U.S. Government \u2013 in striking contrast to what they recall as no such criticism of such nations as Soviet Russia, Maoist China, or Castro\u2019s Cuba.<\/p>\n
Jones, they recall, has expressed his admiration for Fidel Castro, having told his congregation that he once ministered in Cuba.<\/p>\n
And while no one has contended that the Rev. Mr. Jones is a Communist, there are reports that The People\u2019s temple has distributed a paperback volume entitled \u201cIntroduction to Socialism,\u201d \u2013 which members are ordered to burn when they finish reading.<\/p>\n
While this rumor may be apocryphal, a copy of one other paperback book has been given to The Examiner, with a written affidavit that it was distributed to members of The People\u2019s Temple. (Note: The paperback was turned over to the FBI by the reporter.)<\/p>\n
It is a songbook, entitled: \u201cA Little Boy of Sunshine, Little Grain of Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The affidavit notes that The Prophet Jones has \u201cled the congregation in singing each and every one of these songs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSimple Grains\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are glad for emancipation from the profit motive lie\u2026
\nWe\u2019ll have to work together to survive, to overcome the systems and their lies\u2026
\nIt\u2019ll be a great day when the system\u2019s overcome\u2026
\nWe will shout Hallelujah living in communal beauty\u2026 There\u2019s a highway to Utopia walking in a revolutionary way\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the Rev. Mr. Jones\u2019 alleged extrasensory perception (or divine omniscience, if you will), there are witnesses who are skeptical on the basis of experience.<\/p>\n
One lady traveled to Redwood Valley from the Bay Area, with relatives in the Temple knowing of her impending visit. While she was en route, her 18-year old daughter received a phone call from a purported survey firm.<\/p>\n
The line of questioning soon became so personal that a visiting neighbor asked to be included and proceeded to provide a series of answers which reflected a serious if entirely mythical set of personal problems.<\/p>\n
Within the hour, during the Redwood Valley church service, the lady was asked to come forward by Prophet Jones \u2013 who proceeded to reveal the names of both her daughter and the neighbor. He then solemnly outlined the neighbor\u2019s reported problem.<\/p>\n
Such ethics extend to children of The People\u2019s Temple, especially those in custody of members who have been ordered to divorce or separate from a spouse who is unwilling to follow The Prophet\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n
There are witnesses who have had the bitter experience of listening to their children give prepared speeches (as one 7-year old inadvertently admitted) of resistance to their non-Temple-member parent.<\/p>\n
These have taken the form of youngsters threatening to accuse a father of indecent exposure, or a mother of countenancing rape.<\/p>\n
One divorced father discovered that his visiting daughter, accompanied by the daughter of one of People\u2019s Temple\u2019s assistant ministers, had made copies of his most confidential papers.<\/p>\n
If such methods as practiced by People\u2019s Temple children seem horrifying, it may be due in part to the hardening provided by such rugged experiences as \u201cSurvival Training\u201d \u2013 led by the Prophet Jones himself.<\/p>\n
A 17-year old, who spent a month in People\u2019s Temple residences, recalls that while he was on what is called \u201cSurvival Training,\u201d all teenagers were ordered to walk into a cold river, at midnight.<\/p>\n
The next morning, they were allowed to plunge in their bathing suits, but forbidden to change into dry clothing for the rest of the cold, overcast day.<\/p>\n
For the youngest among them, who were non-swimmers, the experience was even more drastic.<\/p>\n
These small children were strapped into life jackets and dropped into the middle of the river, in depth far above their heads \u2013 no matter how loudly they screamed.<\/p>\n
This horrendous scene hardly fazed The Ukiah Messiah, however.<\/p>\n
He subsequently informed the group that this was mild in comparison to the discipline he had imposed upon one young child of The People\u2019s Temple.<\/p>\n
The little boy threw up at the table, which prompted Jones to force him to eat his own vomit.<\/p>\n
When the child gagged and again threw up, the Prophet again forced him to eat his vomit.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Mr. Jones is an ordained clergyman of the Disciples of Christ (Christian) Church, while attorney Timothy O. Stoen is a member of the Board of Directors of that 1.9 million-member denomination\u2019s Northern California-Nevada Conference.<\/p>\n
President of this conference, headquartered in Oakland, is the Rev. Dr. Karl Irvin.<\/p>\n
When asked about the People\u2019s Temple and the Rev. Mr. Jones, Dr. Irvin mentioned an emphasis upon faith healing, social services, large congregations and \u201ca high feeling for Jim Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey give a sizable financial report, although there isn\u2019t much of a breakdown provided and I don\u2019t know how they keep their records.\u201d explained Dr. Irvin. \u201cThere is a great deal of local autonomy in our denomination.\u201d<\/p>\n
But The Examiner has received a photostatic copy of a 4-page letter of deep concern, sent to this headquarters on Sept. 4, 1970, asking among other things that an M.D. be asked to analyze the exhibited \u201ccancers\u201d which Jones claims to have taken out of people\u2019s bodies.<\/p>\n
The letter was acknowledged in a letter written by the conference\u2019s acting president, Elizabeth Kratz.<\/p>\n
While the Disciples of Christ have thus far announced no investigation of the Rev. Jim Jones, who proclaims himself Jesus Reincarnate, the Indianapolis Star has investigated this new version of Father Divine.<\/p>\n
The Star reported \u201cnumerous property transactions involving real-estate transfers which wound up in his name, or that of a profit-making corporation controlled by the Rev. Mr. Jones, his wife, and his mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
This corporation, titled \u201cJim-Lu-Mar\u201d, reported The Star, \u201clost its corporate charter on June 1, 1970, because, according to the (Indiana) Secretary of State: \u2018No annual reports were filed.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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