Hundreds Of Followers Of The Peoples Temple Death Sect In Mass Suicide

Members of the Peoples Temple sect in anti-expulsion (Commons Wikimedia)

GUYANA - Today, 41 years ago, hundreds of members of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown died in mass suicides. Some are dying. Only a handful have survived and can relate to one of the darkest tragedies in history. Tim Carter, one of them. And this is the story of the worst day he may never forget.

That day, November 18, 1978, Carter attended an invitation to a large gathering - also known as a church meeting-- in a pavilion in the forest of Guyana, Jonestown. There he met hundreds of fellow members of Peoples Temple, a sect in Christianity known in Indianapolis since the 1950's.

How surprised Carter was when he arrived at the Jonestown Pavilion. In what the entire sect's followers called Heaven's Jonestown, Carter witnessed hundreds of people killing themselves. That day, Carter lost neighbors, friends, to his wife and children.

"What I saw and heard there, people screamed. People were crying. I know exactly what I heard. And it was not a pleasant experience," Carter was quoted as saying abcnews.go.com.

Counted, 909 people died after consuming cyanide poison. Of the hundreds who died, children became the first to die. They were fed with cyanide, sedatives, and fruit juice which were sprayed down their throats with a syringe.

After children, next are adults. They were indoctrinated to drink poison cyanide. Not everyone in the sect ranks was insane enough to obey the death order. However, they had no other choice.

There were armed guards surrounding them when it happened. So, if it's not poison, then the guards' hot lead will kill them. Meanwhile, Carter who was late in arriving and a number of other sect members who were in other areas when the incident occurred, survived.

The origin of the sect's crazy idea of death

Peoples Temple's insane idea of mass suicide didn't just come out of the blue. There were a number of long events that took place throughout the sect's existence.

Peoples Temple was founded by a pastor named Jim Jones. He is known as a charismatic pastor who carries a narrative of racial equality. Jones also played a narrative about resistance to the apharteid movement in the church he founded.

Tim Carter was once a loyal follower of Jones. According to him, the narrative that Jones 'sold' to his followers was very accurate with the actual issue at that time.

"When he (Jones) talks about civil rights and the injustices that exist in American society, that is one of the things you must listen to," said the citizen of Guyana, United States.

Pastor Jim Jones (Commons Wikimedia)

In 1965, Jones moved his group to Northern California. After 1971, they moved to San Francisco. One year earlier, Jones's church was hit by the issue of fraud and persecution. The media at that time said Jones and other leaders in his group committed financial fraud and physical abuse against children in the group.

Jones became increasingly paranoid. He then brought his followers to move to Guyana. In Guyana, Jones promises a land of heaven in what he calls Jonestown to his loyal followers. But, of course, the promised land of heaven never really existed.

Some of Jones's followers became critical. They question Jones's promise about the land of heaven. However, followers who criticized Jones were punished. Their passports were confiscated. Letters relating to their lives were blocked.

Until 1978, several former Peoples Temple members convinced California member of the United States Congress, Leo Ryan to go to Jonestown and investigate the settlement.

Peoples Temple member settlement in Jonestown (Commons Wikimedia)

On November 17, 1978, Ryan and several journalists and observers arrived in Jonestown. Initially, the visit went well. However, when Ryan's group was about to go home, several Jonestwon residents asked them to come home with their entourage.

Knowing that there is betrayal from his followers, Jones feels depressed and orders his subordinates to attack Ryan. Long story short, Ryan was ambushed by Jones's followers on the airstrip as they tried to leave. Ryan and four other people were killed while they were boarding the charter plane.

It was only after this incident that Jones ordered all his followers to gather at the Jonestown Pavilion and take what he called a revolutionary act, namely jointly ending life with cyanide poisoning.