No Jonestown 1978

[Melvin Loh]

WI the Rev Jim Jones hadn't strayed into becoming a megalomaniacal tyrannical cult leader with the Ppl's Temple, and had continued building on his highly successful and inclusive multiracial Christian community in Indiannapolis and San Francisco ? How much a force of good could he have been into the late 1970s had he not gone off the rails and set up Jonestown ? Wasn't he OTL nominated to take a high-ranking human rights post in Frisco, and could he have used such respect and esteem to continue working effectively for the cause of racial equality in America ?

[Guiman]

The reason Jonestown occured was because Jim Jones was dogged by bad press and legal problems in SF. He was a political force because he could mobilize a voter base due to his control of his flock as well as his monetary contributions. There were allegations of physical violence, sexual improprieties and of people unable to leave the People's Temple due to threats. Had he not left for Guyana, political leaders would have continued distancing themselves from him. The local papers, the SF Chronicles and Examiner had allready begun running exposes on the cult.

[Guiman]

The reason Jonestown occured was because Jim Jones was dogged by bad press and legal problems in SF. He was a political force because he could mobilize a voter base due to his control of his flock as well as his monetary contributions. There were allegations of physical violence, sexual improprieties and of people unable to leave the People's Temple due to threats. Had he not left for Guyana, political leaders would have continued distancing themselves from him. The local papers, the SF Chronicles and Examiner had allready begun running exposes on the cult.

[Random Unicorn]

There is also the alleged matter of Welfare fraud on a massive scale. Jones would probably have found himself under arrest within a few years if he had stayed. This may have resulted in a local suicide on a smaller scale 50-200 people.


Of course the reality is the CIA would have had to find another patsy/agent to continue their horrible biological and mind control experiments.


Random Unicorn

[MerryPrankster]

Didn't Jim Jones go on a power trip and start insisting he was God? I think that part disqualifies him from being a Christian.

Now, assuming that this bit doesn't happen, perhaps Jones strengthens the "Religious Left" (the weaker US politico-religious movement...it mostly protests the School of the Americas) and makes it as strong as the Religious Right? This way, we don't have lots of people alienated from Christianity b/c of the RR's excesses.