------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Jonestown Was a Warning Rabbi A. James Rudin ("Many American believe the dangers of cults have faded, but nothing coult be further from the truth.") The word "politician" usually invites scorn and cynicism, but U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan of California was in a different class. He cared deeply about people and often put himself in harm's way to aid his constituents. Ryan first endangered himself by teaching in a high school in the Los Angeles Watts ghetto during the 1967 riots. Later he had himself incarcerated in a maximum security California prison to gain firsthand information for his criminal justice reform legislation. Ryan always responded to voters' requests for help, and many members of the People's Temple, a dangerous religious cult, were from his district. In November 1978, he flew to Jonestown, Guyana to investigate disturbing reports. What he discovered cost him his life. Ryan found that Jonestown was ruled by a tyrannical dictator, the Rev. Jim Jones. Jones had gathered nearly a thousand followers in an isolated South American jungle settlement where he systematically raped their minds and ruled their bodies. He controlled all decisions involving power, money, and sex, and he ordered Ryan's death. The legislator was killed while boarding an airplane to return home. Immediately following Ryan's murder, Jones ordered his followers to drink Kool-Aid mixed with deadly cyanide. Those who refused were given the same treatment as Ryan. In all, 914 people, including 276 children, died as a result of their relationship with Jones. At the end, the evil cult leader himself committed suicide. The Jonestown murders stunned America and graphically illustrated the dangers of cults. A Gallup poll disclosed that the People's Temple massacre was the most widely reported news story since the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Even now, on the 14th anniversary of Jonestown, the pain of the victims' families, including Leo Ryan's, is still fresh and intense. But many people have forgotten about Jonestown, and some young people have never heard of it. Many Americans believe the dangers of cults have faded, but nothing could be further from the truth. The People's Temple and today's cults have much in common, including the deliberate breakdown of a person's individual personality in order to enhance the egos and the financial coffers of leaders. And everyone, regardless of religious background, is vulnerable to the sophisticated recruiting techniques involving deception, mind manipulation and emotional seduction. In addition to religious cults, other types abound: political cults, commercial cults, therapy cults. The political cults are fanatically ideological. Some of the commercial groups pose as management training programs that are sold to companies with the promise of increasing employee productivity and corporate profits. Therapy cults claim to help people solve their personal problems and fulfill their human potential. Cult members are no longer just college-aged young people. Middle-aged men and women are being aggressively recruited into cult groups. And in some cases, entire families join. Thousands of children are born into cults or brought in by their parents as new members. Sadly, some children in cults are deprived of proper medical care, adequate nourishment, quality education, and parental love. Reports of children being physically and sex-ually abused in cults are widespread. And bitter custody fights further crowd court dockets as parents and grand-parents seek the legal right to visit children or grandchildren in cults. Even when people leave cults, sometimes after 15 to 20 years, the task of rebuilding lives can be awesomely difficult. Jewish and Christian leaders have responded slowly to these severe dangers. Every synagogue and church needs to educate its members and commit resources to counsel damaged families and assist former members in their recovery process. Such programs would be a fitting memorial to Leo J. Ryan and the other victims of Jonestown. Rabbi Rudin is national interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee and head of the Interreligious Affairs Study Group of the American Family Foundation, publisher of The Cult Observer. The article was first distributed by the Religious News Service to newspapers around the country. ================================================================= If this is a copyrighted work, you are acknowledging by receipt of this document from FACTNet that on the basis of reasonable investigation, you have not been to obtain a copy elsewhere at a fair price, and that you are and will abide by the following copyright warning. WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photo copies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified by law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. FACTNet reserves the right to refuse to accept an order for copying or other duplication, or delivery of copied or duplicated material if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CARD CATALOG ENTRY DOS FILENAME OF TEXT FILE: CO1092AE.TXT DOS FILENAME OF IMAGE FILES: none ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: OK SECURITY CODE: SCO DISTRIBUTION CODE: RO DESCRIPTION FOR BBS FILE LISTING: The Cult Observer March 1993 SORT TO: AFF CONTRIBUTOR: American Family Foundation (AFF) LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: American Family Foundation (AFF) NOTES: Back issues and selected reprints of the Cultic Studies Journal are available from the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959-2265. THE EXPERTS WRITE ON CULTS: | 1 Jonestown Was a Warning, by Rabbi | A. James Rudin For additional verification see the contributor of the document. UPDATED ON: 8/30/94 UPDATED BY: FrJMc =================================================================