Although the Branch Davidians and the Waco massacre are now probably better known than the story of the Peoples Temple, the latter remains one of the most gruesome events relating to new religious movements (NRMs). The Peoples Temple has been described as a Christian destructive, doomsday cult. It was founded and led by James Warren ‘Jim’ Jones (1931–78).
Jim Jones was born in Randolph County. His mother reportedly believed she had given birth to a Messiah. He claimed partial Cherokee ancestry through his mother. As a child, Jones read and studied the works Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler. He also developed a great interest in religion. A confirmed communist, at one point he asked himself: ‘…how can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church. So I consciously made a decision to look into that prospect’ (Wessinger 2000).
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