{"id":28092,"date":"2013-06-16T00:18:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-16T00:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=28092"},"modified":"2019-02-22T15:12:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T23:12:06","slug":"233-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=28092","title":{"rendered":"Q233 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 Transcript, click here<\/a>.
\nTo listen to MP3, click here<\/a>. To return to the Tape Index, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

FBI Catalogue<\/b>: Jones Speaking<\/p>\n

FBI preliminary tape identification note: <\/strong>None<\/p>\n

Date cues on tape: <\/b>June 1973 (mention of recent Peoples Temple inclusion in Congressional Record remarks)<\/p>\n

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

People in attendance at Peoples Temple service<\/i>
\nMarceline Jones (by reference)
\nMike Prokes (speaks)<\/b><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Public figures\/National and international names:<\/i>
\nReverend Ike, radio evangelist
\nRep. George Brown (D-California) (by reference)<\/div>\n
Carlton Goodlett, physician and publisher of Sun-Reporter<\/i> (by reference)<\/p>\n

Evelle Younger, California Attorney General (by reference)
\nRev. Williams, Baptist minister in Redwood Valley<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Temple adversaries; members of Concerned Relatives: <\/i>
\nSan Francisco Examiner<\/i> columnist Lester Kinsolving<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Temple members not on death or survivors\u2019 lists: <\/i>
\nSister Ferguson
\nSister Morgan
\nSister Tennyson<\/div>\n

 
\nBible verses cited:<\/b> <\/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

    “[E]very time someone touches the modern ark of the covenant\u2013 they touched us, and the very week they touched us, a fire broke out and burned up thousands, hundreds of thousands of their newspapers. That\u2019s what you get when you mess with God” (God strikes Uzzah dead for touching the ark of the covenant in 2 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1 Chronicles 13:9-12.).<\/p>\n

    \u201c[Our God] is anointing our head with the oil<\/i> of salvation and freedom<\/i> and liberation. And our cups are now<\/i> running over. Surely<\/i> goodness and mercy is following us all the days of our life. While we are dwelling in the house of good God almighty.\u201d (Psalm 23:5-6, \u201cThou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.\u201d)<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe don\u2019t hide our light under a bushel. We let our light so shine that men might see our good works.\u201d (Matthew 5:15, \u201cNeither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.\u201d See also Luke 11:33.)<\/p>\n

    \u201c[W]hen you meet Jesus, you\u2019re supposed to have nothing but love in your heart, you\u2019re supposed to have sold all you had and given it to the poor. You\u2019re supposed to share it and share it alike.\u201d (Luke 18:22-26, esp. 22, \u201cNow when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.\u201d)<\/p>\n

    \u201cJust goes to show you, that the truth will set people free.\u201d (John 8:32, \u201cAnd ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.\u201d)<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019m glad that we are first loyal to this house\u2026 We\u2019re going to stand for ourselves and build a society of the just, we\u2019re going to take care of our own, we\u2019re going to maintain the household of the faith first\u2026 [W]e\u2019ll look after ourselves first. First we\u2019re going to look after ourselves, first take care of the household of the faith.\u201d (Galatians 6:10, \u201cAs we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.\u201d)<\/p>\n

    \u201c[W]e\u2019re going to minister to our children and our orphans and widows in their affliction.\u201d (James 1:27, \u201cPure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.\u201d)<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

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

    (Note:<\/strong> This tape was transcribed by Don Beck. The editors gratefully acknowledge his invaluable assistance.)
    \n<\/em>
    \nJim Jones addresses the San Francisco congregation of Peoples Temple in the summer of 1973, and he is elated. Peoples Temple has been singled out for praise in the Congressional Record<\/i> in remarks inserted by a California Congressman, and Jones\u2019 pride swells throughout.<\/p>\n

    Jones speaks of his critics, and says they didn\u2019t get this kind of attention: \u201cThere\u2019s never a church in history that had that,\u201d Jones says at the beginning of the tape. He suggests that this inclusion has made them less vulnerable to criticism. \u201cWhen people attack us, you can always say, well\u2026 at least the Congress praised us\u2026 No matter what they say in the future, they\u2019re gonna have a hard time getting around what\u2019s already in the permanent record, which will always<\/i> be.\u201d He speaks of the church\u2019s newfound friends, the ministers in San Francisco who are calling him and suggesting they have a cocktail together, and sarcastically wonders why they have chosen this moment to make this outreach. He suggests that Congress might have been foolish by giving Peoples Temple this forum \u2013 again, the praise will always be there, since this is now a permanent part of the nation\u2019s record \u2013 because the church has revolutionary goals and may embark on a course that Congress didn\u2019t anticipate.<\/p>\n

    At one point, Jones\u2019 professes a nonchalance about the inclusion \u2013 \u201cNot that we care that our name\u2019s in Congress,\u201d he says early in the address \u2013 but everything else in the address belies that remark, especially since he returns to the subject (sometimes using almost the same words) no fewer than a half dozen times.<\/p>\n

    There is reason for the inclusion in the Congressional Record<\/i>. The extension of remarks headlines the church\u2019s work on defending the First Amendment, but it goes on to mention the other causes and good works that the Temple is involved in. It shows the rewards for loyalty to the church, he says, it shows the strength they have when they work as one, it shows the accomplishments that commitment will bring them.<\/p>\n

    And they are committed. He claims that the members of Peoples Temple deserved to be mentioned in the record, because they are \u201cthe most patriotic people on earth,\u201d and they are willing to see that through to the end. \u201cWe support the Bill of Rights\u2026 we are loyal to the Constitution, we are loyal to the Declaration of Independence,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are going to have a government of the people, for the people, by the people. We don\u2019t think we have one, but we will have or we will die in the process of bringing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    At other points, though, he remarks how the only revolution he cares about is the one within the Temple itself. They already know how disorganized and uncommitted most other organizations are \u2013 \u201call these so-called communists and socialists, I wouldn\u2019t go across the street<\/i> to make a revolution with them, because they haven\u2019t got the spine of a jellyfish<\/i>\u201d \u2013 and their response to the Temple\u2019s new fame shows how ephemeral their alliances would be. He doesn\u2019t trust any of them, he says. He trusts only the revolution of, by and for Peoples Temple:<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe\u2019re going to stand for ourselves and build a society of the just, we\u2019re going to take care of our own, we\u2019re going to maintain the household of the faith first, we\u2019re going to minister to our children and our orphans and widows in their affliction\u2026 We\u2019re going to integrate, unify, harmonize, and lift our people into the highest level of prosperity, and we\u2019ll look after ourselves first<\/i>. First<\/i> we\u2019re going to look after ourselves, first<\/i> take care of the household of the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The joy is heightened by the fact that one of their enemies is in trouble. The San Francisco Examiner<\/i> newspaper \u2013 which ran a series of critical articles some months earlier \u2013 has fallen on hard times, even though the paper responded to Temple protests by firing the reporter who wrote the articles. Circulation is down at the paper, Jones says, and it has had to lay off reporters and editors. \u201cThe very week they touched us,\u201d Jones says in a rising voice, \u201ca fire broke out and burned up thousands, hundreds of thousands of their newspapers. That\u2019s what you get when you mess with God.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Jones takes on the cloak of deity at numerous junctures in the address. Whereas in other addresses, he criticizes, mocks and even blasphemes against the Judeo-Christian God at great length, here he offers only one or two familiar jabs (\u201cWe don\u2019t have a creator that claimed to make a world \u2026 divided between blacks and whites. This God does not claim to make the world where two out of three babies have gone to bed hungry.\u201d). And much of the address is an impassioned recitation of the Temple\u2019s human and physical assets \u2013 the programs and facilities that everyone can see\u00a0 \u2013 as well as of the singular protection that he can offer to the faithful.<\/p>\n

    In ministerial cadence, Jones reminds his followers what they have: \u201c[I]f you want to eat when others are not going to be able<\/i> to eat, if you want refuge when others will not have<\/i> refuge, if you want sanctuary<\/i> and a way through Egypt, Babylon, when others will not know<\/i> the escape route to the river of Jordan, when you want safety<\/i> and you want to be taken care of, you better come on over here.\u201d A moment later, he reinforces the message: \u201c[I]f you want safety,<\/i> if you want strength<\/i>, if you want refuge<\/i> in the time<\/i> of storm, if you want to be saved<\/i> when nobody else can be saved, come<\/i> on over to Father\u2019s house, and Father will take you in.\u201d He uses different words when he returns to the subject, but the message is the same, and the cadence of speech is the same.<\/p>\n

    Indeed, it is this positive message about the church \u2013 rather than dwelling at length upon the negative aspects of other churches \u2013 that characterize this address. He does note that there\u2019s a \u201cjackleg\u201d preacher in the audience, so he offers the litany of criticisms of their Cadillacs and new suits (which he himself does not have), but there is little anger or rage in the words. The pride of the congressional recognition leads him to extol the positive influence they have in places they\u2019ve been, as he points out how much more respect black people have in Redwood Valley, and how much influence they have in California\u2019s power structure. Near the end of the tape, the congregation begins to sing the hymn, \u201cOh, What a Mighty God We Have,\u201d but as Jones concludes, they have more reason to sing about their protector than other churches have to sing about \u201ca spook.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

    Date of transcription: 6\/27\/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 May 29, 1979, Special Agent (name deleted) reviewed the tape numbered 1B70-19. This tape was found to contain the following:
    \nVarious speeches of Reverend JIM JONES to his congregation.<\/p>\n

    Differences with FBI Summary:<\/b>
    \nAside from the fact that the address seems to be a single speech instead of several, the summary is accurate and meets the FBI\u2019s purposes.<\/p>\n

    Tape originally posted January 2006<\/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 Transcript, click here. To listen to MP3, click here. To return to the Tape Index, click here. FBI Catalogue: Jones Speaking FBI preliminary tape identification […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":27996,"menu_order":99,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28092","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28092","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=28092"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86044,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28092\/revisions\/86044"}],"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=28092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}