{"id":28017,"date":"2013-07-25T04:54:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T04:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=28017"},"modified":"2019-02-22T16:27:04","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T00:27:04","slug":"1027-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=28017","title":{"rendered":"Q1027 Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you.<\/strong><\/i><\/p>\n

To read the Tape Transcript, click here<\/a>. To read the Annotated Tape Transcript, click here<\/a>.
\nListen to MP3 (Pt. 1<\/a>, Pt. 2<\/a>). To return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue<\/strong> Jones Speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note<\/strong>: <\/strong>Labeled in part “6\/4\/72”<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape:<\/strong> January 1973 (Jones specifies)<\/p>\n

People named:<\/strong><\/p>\n

People in attendance at Peoples Temple service<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Archie Ijames (speaks)<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. Jim Jones, Jr. (by reference)<\/li>\n
  3. Marceline Jones (by reference)<\/li>\n
  4. Stephan Jones (by reference)<\/li>\n
  5. Deanna Mertle<\/li>\n
  6. Elmer Mertle<\/li>\n
  7. Mike Prokes<\/li>\n
  8. J.R. Purifoy<\/li>\n
  9. Sister Cobb (several women with last name of Cobb)<\/li>\n
  10. Jack (likely Beam, could be Barrington)<\/li>\n
  11. Sister Watson<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Public figures\/National and international names:<\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Angela Davis, member of Communist Party, black activist<\/li>\n
    2. Rodger McAfee, a dairy farmer who posted bail for Angela Davis<\/li>\n
    3. Sallye Davis, mother of Angela Davis<\/li>\n
    4. Lester Kinsolving, columnist, Peoples Temple antagonist<\/li>\n
    5. Kenneth Clark, educator and sociologist<\/li>\n
    6. Howard Bruce Franklin, American cultural historian, antiwar activist<\/li>\n
    7. Kathryn Kuhlman, Evangelist (by reference)<\/li>\n
    8. Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam (by reference)<\/li>\n
    9. Martin Luther King, civil rights activist<\/li>\n
    10. John Bacharach, American communist<\/li>\n
    11. Henry David Thoreau, American philosopher and essayist<\/li>\n
    12. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American author, poet and philosopher<\/li>\n
    13. Marge Boynton, head of the Mendocino County Republican Party (by reference)<\/li>\n
    14. Dr. Richardson, unknown member of John Birch Society<\/li>\n
    15. \u201cMrs. Johnson in Indianapolis\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Bible verses cited:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      (Editor’s note<\/strong>: The verses below appear in order of biblical reference, not as they appear in Jim Jones\u2019 address. For a complete scriptural index to the sermons of Jim Jones, click here<\/a>.)<\/i><\/p>\n

        \u201cNothing in the world reach some people except a little fear. What is it that\u2019s said, the old gospel said? Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. We\u2019ve got our interpretation of that.\u201d (Proverbs 9:10, \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.\u201d See also Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 1:7.)<\/p>\n

        \u201cPeople talk about dying on the cross. That\u2019s 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\u2019d 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.\u201d (The passion of Jesus in all four gospels)<\/p>\n

        \u201cWe believe in the nonviolent teachings of Jesus Christ. We\u2019ve turned our other cheek so many times, that we\u2019ve had to turn the cheeks of the posterior too. We\u2019ve turned all the cheeks you could possibly turn, and certainly fulfilled that scriptural promise and that scriptural admonition.\u201d (Matthew 5:39, \u201cBut I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.\u201d See also Luke 6:29.)<\/p>\n

        \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to tend to look for the good, but also look as wise as serpents.\u201d (Matthew 10:16, \u201cBehold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.\u201d)<\/p>\n

        \u201cYou know my word never fails. Heaven and earth may pass away, but my word won\u2019t fail. 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.\u201d (Matthew 24:35-36, \u201cHeaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.\u201d)<\/p>\n

        \u201cIf it means own house had to be divided, then I wouldn\u2019t spare it.\u201d (Mark 3:25, \u201cAnd if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.\u201d See also Matthew 12:25 and Luke 11:17)<\/p>\n

        \u201cIt is written of old that there\u2019s anything lovely or anything of good report to think on that, and I can\u2019t think of anything more lovely than you, so I can think on that.\u201d (Philippians 4:8, \u201cFinally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.\u201d)<\/p>\n

        \u201c[Father] will never forget you nor forsake you. You won\u2019t help him, he won\u2019t leave you homeless. He won\u2019t leave you down there without any food to eat, he\u2019ll never do that to you.\u201d (Hebrews 13:5, \u201c\u2026for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.\u201d)<\/ol>\n

        Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        (Editor’s note:<\/strong> This tape was transcribed by Vicki Perry. The editors gratefully acknowledge her invaluable assistance.)<\/em><\/p>\n

        Recorded in January 1973, this address by Jim Jones to his Peoples Temple congregation in San Francisco contains few overt references to God \u2013 either as the traditional Judeo-Christian God whom Jones often disparages, or to himself as being the new Christ or the new God \u2013 few interpretations of the news that characterize many of his sermons from this period, and only a limited number of reminders of what Peoples Temple has done for its followers. Instead, it is a more focused talk, dwelling principally on a couple of subjects: Angela Davis, the Communist Party and radical political groups in the US; recent publicity about the Temple and what that means for the group; and the role of nonviolence in political struggle.<\/p>\n

        The recording includes several familiar characteristics, including tape edits at the times that Jones asks the congregation for money. The sermon also cuts off in mid-sentence at the end. What is relatively rare is that the tape begins with the beginning of the address, rather than picking it up after it has begun.<\/p>\n

        Jones\u2019 main message centers on Angela Davis and her failure to acknowledge a white dairy farmer in Fresno who had put up a sizeable amount of money for her bail. The loss of a hundred thousand dollars has left the man struggling, not only himself in his business, but also his family, which has been harassed and threatened since he put up the cash. There had been no offers of repayment from Davis\u2019 supporters, no word of thanks, nothing. The inconsideration and lack of common human decency infuriates Jones, so that even though the Temple has also helped her out in the past \u2013 which he points out \u2013 he will cut his ties with her, and with the Communist Party of which she is a member. \u201cI want nothing to do with \u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

        The action has repercussions for the church, he says. Critics of the Temple had claimed the Temple was communist, which they were not, but with this decision, they\u2019ve demonstrated that separation: \u201cthe communist monkey\u2019s off of our backs now.\u201d He repeats it numerous times throughout the address, stating near the end, \u201cSo I am as of this date forward an anti-communist.\u2026 That\u2019s my posture. Don\u2019t want any communist here.\u2026 I want nothing to do with you for my people\u2019s sake. I am disassociating with any and all communist.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Jones also cuts the relationships with other radicals who refuse to acknowledge the assistance they\u2019ve received or who decline to help the less fortunate. While he says the Temple will stand up anytime for anyone whose rights have been violated \u2013 including Angela Davis, these same radical groups, and as he adds later in the tape, even the John Birch Society \u2013 the fact is, \u201cIf revolutionaries forget their friends, the best friends they have, if they forget the people that help them when they\u2019re in the worst condition, I want no part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

        His cynicism about liberationist groups and other revolutionaries leads him to declare that they are part of the over-arching scheme to bring dictatorship to America. The groups are \u201cbeing paid by rich, hidden rulers \u2026 the wealth interest that want to tighten the grip\u201d of what he refers to as \u201cde facto<\/em> fascism.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Part of this declaration is that the Temple has again demonstrated \u201cthat there\u2019s none purer in this land as far as the equalitarian spirit. There\u2019s no pure utopianists left but us.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Peoples Temple is also nonviolent, he says, having turned the other cheek \u2013 including the \u201cposterior\u201d ones \u2013 so often that they\u2019ve run out of cheeks. At another point, he talks about the restraint they have shown, that they refuse to be sucked into violence that characterizes those around them, especially those who would destroy Peoples Temple. But the balance of the address shows that that nonviolence has limits, both philosophically and realistically.<\/p>\n

        Everyone has violence within them, he says, and anyone who says differently is a liar. Even Martin Luther King felt violence \u201cdeep in his soul,\u201d but he didn\u2019t act upon it. The key to nonviolence is knowing how to control the impulse to violence.<\/p>\n

        The question is, how far does Jones\u2019 self-control extend? In talking about those who hate them as well as those who have turned from the Temple in its hour of need, he says that the Temple will not forget the wrongs that have been done to it.<\/p>\n

        Part of the discussion about nonviolence \u2013 indeed, the sentiments which seem to underlie the whole sermon \u2013 stems specifically from difficult relationships and confrontations they\u2019ve had with the Black Muslims down the block from the church. Echoing what he has said about Angela Davis and other groups, he says, \u201cWe\u2019ll protect their right to be on this street, and they better protect our right to be on this street. But if they don\u2019t, we\u2019re still going to be on this street.\u201d The warning is even more pointed when he says, \u201cIt may be that somebody will start a ruckus, but whoever starts it better be prepared to finish it.\u201d A moment later, he adds a familiar pledge: \u201cif you deal with one of us, you better damn well know you\u2019re going to have to deal with all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

        There are also a few comments on the subject of race running through the entire address \u2013 specifically, a description of white people as being the backbone of the Temple, a message he reiterates more than once \u2013 which likely extend from the difficulties he has had with the Black Muslims. In the midst of a monologue on hate, and how the use of it by revolutionaries suggest the presence of reactionary forces behind them, he says, \u201cThese 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 hating all white people.\u201d This is likely the point of departure for his defense of white people in the church. \u201cSome of the best support I\u2019ve 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\u2019ve ever had, and the people that\u2019ve risked their lives down through for this mission have been white.\u201d He praises whites again later in the service as the ones \u201cwho have stood the test, who have been threatened, who have been harmed and they\u2019ve not backed off.\u201d They are the backbone of the church, he says twice. It is a position he\u2019ll have to grapple with less than a year later, when the Eight Revolutionaries<\/a> accuse him of excluding blacks in the Temple power structure in deference to whites.<\/p>\n

        The issue of violence vs. nonviolence appears once again late in the service, when he concludes a discourse of the wrongs that have been done to them so often over the years. \u201cI\u2019ve 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\u2019ll have to kill me. That is a covenant I made. Don\u2019t try to hurt my children.\u201d<\/p>\n

        The subject of press coverage which the church has received in recent months arises on a couple of occasions. It has been several months since The San Francisco Examiner<\/em> ran a series of expos\u00e9s by Lester Kinsolving \u2013 a series which was aborted halfway through its run, coincidentally or not, after Temple members marched on the street in protest \u2013 and Jones still feels the sting of the negative publicity. Even though they have been restored in the eyes of the city power structure following a \u201cbeautiful article\u201d in the Chronicle<\/em> that lauded their programs and described the church as \u201chighly respected\u201d and \u201chighly regarded,\u201d Jones has harsh words for his followers who stayed away from the church in the interim. \u201cI want you to know that I\u2019m going to see you. You don\u2019t impress me,\u201d he says. \u201cNowhere were you to be found until things look good again, \u2026 [until] it\u2019s safe for you to come back now. Well, you came back in my mind too late unless you get up here and repent.\u201d<\/p>\n

        \u201cWe never forget our friends,\u201d he proclaims elsewhere in the tape. \u201cAnd something else, we never forget our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

        These comments of Jones\u2019 aside, there are numerous occasions which mark this as a typical Temple service. In decrying the dictatorship that\u2019s coming to the land, he says they\u2019ll resist it, but in the end, they have a plan which he calls Operation Hope, \u201ca way of escape if trial comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

        He speaks briefly about death, and the Temple\u2019s lack of fear about dying \u2013 statements that were reiterated and stretched out for almost six more years until the final day \u2013 but he also says living is a much greater sacrifice than dying. Comparing his actions to the relatively short-lived decision of Jesus to die on the cross, he says, \u201cI will stay alive and fight to stay alive because of you.\u2026 living for you takes a lot more guts and a lot more grace than dying for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Finally, he speaks briefly about his parapsychological powers, but it is in the context of standing up to their enemies. Reminding the congregation that he used to say no one in the church had died, there was an incident a few weeks earlier in which a racist refused to back down from his aggression against a black person in the church. \u201cYou saw what happened to him. You saw his smart aleckness and you saw what happened to him. Starting to belch blood.\u201d He died in plain sight of everyone there, Jones continues, but apparently the preacher brought him back. \u201cYou saw how quick he repented,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

        Amidst the discussions of the strength of the church and the power of its minister, one woman does stand before a microphone to ask, if Jones has these paranormal abilities, why didn\u2019t he sense that Angela Davis was going to betray them. Jones responds at first by saying that he said from the beginning that he had had concerns about Angela, and he does \u201cclaim to be the person that has more revelation than anybody else, \u2026 [with] more direction than anyone else.\u201d But, he adds, \u201cI do not claim to be infallible.\u201d<\/p>\n

        FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        Date of transcription: 6\/21\/79<\/p>\n

        In connection with the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u2019s investigation into the assassination of U.S. Congressman LEO J. RYAN at Port Kaituma, Guyana, South America, on November 18, 1978, a tape recording was obtained. This tape recording was located in Jonestown, Guyana, South America, and was turned over to U.S. Officials in Guyana and subsequently transported to the United States.<\/p>\n

        On 6\/14\/79, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B107-39. This tape was found to contain the following:<\/p>\n

        JIM JONES speaking before a group in January, 1973 re miscellaneous topics to include ANGELA DAVIS and threats against the People\u2019s Temple in Redwood Valley.<\/p>\n

        Differences with FBI Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        The summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n

        Tape originally posted January 2011<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Summary prepared by Fielding M. McGehee III. If you use this material, please credit The Jonestown Institute. Thank you. To read the Tape Transcript, click here. To read the Annotated Tape Transcript, click here. Listen to MP3 (Pt. 1, Pt. 2). To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue Jones Speaking FBI preliminary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":689,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28017","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28017"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86105,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28017\/revisions\/86105"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}