Page 3 - Defecting Temple News Today

We needed to be totally committed to this cause, period. and you cant be part way. you cant do it part way. >> it was told over and over again that we were going to be -- everybody was going to be killed. >> suicide drills and beatings became as much a part of the temples internal life as social service was to its public face. devotion to jones had to be total. >> one of the very powerful things in the church was that you werent really allowed to express how you really felt. it was like, i would...

"i threatened to kill president nixon." and theyd just want you to sign it. dont date it, just sign it. >> my attorney, when i told him all the papers i signed and all the blank papers i signed, he couldnt believe it. i mean, he screamed at me, "how could you do something so stupid?" i said, "you want to tell me youd be in a room with 120 peers around you, and you were told everybody is going to sign a piece of paper, that youre not going to sign it? would you do that? that you would know you wo...

Deborah leyton blakey, 25-year-old member of the temples innermost circle, had escaped from guyana and she was going public. >> it took me six weeks to plan it. i told nobody, not even the embassy, until the day i knew i was to leave. you cant trust anybody at that point. >> he said shes going to spread lies. the next thing you know, the fbi, cia, all of them will be here on us. and my god, they will treat us worse than they did the jews in the concentration camps. >> jim had a pathological obse...

Magazine grabbed hold of it. the article would shine fierce light into the temples darkest shadows, and jones knew it. the walls would soon come tumbling down, and he wasnt about to wait around for the crash. >> it came out. jim basically called people saying, "pack up your stuff, youre leaving today." people went out with one days notice they were leaving the country forever. >> we knew we werent coming back to the u.s. ever. ♪ >> by summers end, hundreds of members had descended on jonestown...

That. not only becoming members, but also becoming examples in their community, and it spread. >> as the numbers of faithful grew, jones and the temple became a potent and untouchable force in california politics. >> everybody was afraid to come out against him because they felt he had more power and more clout, and he did.

Dont date it, just sign it. >> my attorney, when i told him all the papers i signed and all the blank papers i signed, he couldnt believe it. i mean, he screamed at me, "how could you do something so stupid?" i said, "you want to tell me youd be in a room with 120 peers around you, and you were told everybody is going to sign a piece of paper, that youre not going to sign it? would you do that? that you would know you would not leave that room beaten and/or dead?" >> i would like to kill grace s...

Environment where everybody is equal. >> my older sister carolyn joined because she saw it as a political and social movement, which would effect radical change in the country. my younger sister annie wrote to me and said that peoples temple was the only place that she saw true apostolic christianity being practiced. so she saw it as a christian organization. >> i heard jones talk, and its like, wow, hes saying a lot of what i believe in. spiritually, politically, in every way. this is something...

Thats how i felt. i didnt know anything about the temple. i didnt know anything about jones. i didnt know anything about the politics. i just knew that those people reflected me. they were my brothers and sisters. it was the most alive place that i had ever been in. >> i had $20 to my name, and i was hitchhiking up between ukiah and redwood valley, where the temple was, and somebody picked me up who was a member of the temple and said if youre looking for a place to stay, a place to sleep, get s...

Suicide. we needed to be totally committed to this cause, period. and you cant be part way. you cant do it part way. >> it was told over and over again that we were going to be -- everybody was going to be killed. >> suicide drills and beatings became as much a part of the temples internal life as social service was to its public face. devotion to jones had to be total. >> one of the very powerful things in the church was that you werent really allowed to express how you really felt. it was like...

Latest updates on this topic.