At first it was spanking of children. Despite his unconventional upbringing and the horrific tragedy brought about by his father's religious group, the Peoples Temple, Stephan speaks candidly about his experience in the documentary. 'She gives us the order that were supposed to kill ourselves,' Vilchez recalled. mode: 'thumbnails-a', Stephan Jones did not drink. They were at a basketball tournament five years ago, in November 1978 when the congressman and the reporters came to Jonestown. She gave her house to the Peoples Temple and they moved to San Francisco. So yes there were often thoughts of taking him out but I know I wasnt capable of that kind of thing. In code, his father told him everyone was going to die in 'revolutionary suicide. People were completely fatigued, exhausted. Heres How To Watch The Alex Murdaugh Trial Live, Morgan Doughty Filed A Lawsuit Against The Murdaugh Family, Sophie Turners Joan Charts The Rise Of A Famous British Jewel Thief, Alex Murdaugh Faces Life In Prison For Allegedly Killing His Wife & Son, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. Rep. Leo Ryan, D-San Mateo, had come to the temple's agricultural project to determine whether the followers of Jones were free to leave the jungle settlement. Rebelling, they refused Jones order to come back. Her only natural child, Stephan Gandhi Jones and adopted son, Jimmy Jones, Jr. aka James Warren Jones, Jr. were both in Georgetown, Guyana for a basketball game representing Jonestown on November 18, 1978. "The temple was still my only life, and I didn't really see any alternative to it," he says. I guess I wanted to believe that, as a child.". It was planned as a grand event, the Peoples Temple team against the Guyanese national team, and when the Rev. People do things for him. Its not entirely surprising that many Americans and others want to understand how thousands of people can become blind followers of a tempestuous leader, and how it can end. Jim Jr. would go on to lose 15 immediate relatives in Jonestown, including his pregnant wife, Yvette Muldrow, In the aftermath, Jim Jr. built a new life. He was so wasted most of the time. But before we could start out, we heard angry shouts. I said there must be another way.. ), 'It was necessary in my own healing for me to find acceptance for him, understanding of him. This past year, she returned to long-overgrown Jonestown. However, they have moved on with their life. tap here to see other videos from our team. Stephan Jones is a Jonestown survivor. And all of the children died first. He dreams he sees the men and women he knew, older now, changed by the years. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Rebelling, they refused Jones' order to come back. . He was summoned to the temple radio room. The shooting triggered the mass murders and suicides in Jonestown of more than 900 people orchestrated by the Rev. That he was just this crazy zealot this entire time". And she could only sense the site of the pavilion, the once-vibrant center of Jonestown life where so many died - including her two sisters and two nephews. He led the Peoples Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. This answer is: Study guides. Dozens of Peoples Temple members in Guyana survived the mass suicides and murders of more than 900 because they had slipped out of Jonestown or happened to be away Nov. 18, 1978. The shots still were popping at an amazing clip. People were forced. I appreciate that question. 'Little Jimmy' became part of their 'Rainbow Family' of white, black, Korean-American and Native American children. . "I was still naive enough--well, not necessarily naive enough; I still believe the CIA is capable of all kinds of things--but I felt that we could geniunely be a threat to the image of the United States and that people might be trying to do things to undermine or eliminate what was happening down there," he says. People ask, How can you ever be proud of your father? he said. I dont think he went from being an altruistic, selfless, humble man to what he became. Layton, who was insisting on taking the first plane, slipped to the other side of the plane before he could be frisked. Be aware of this message that was prevalent in the temple: The end justifies the means. And I see that throughout society. It marched for four jailed Fresno newsmen. After the massacre, Layton strolled back to the area. He's too close to Jim Jones to leave.'. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Stephan Gandhi Jonesis the son of the notorious religious cult leaderJim Jones. He is married to his wife Kristi Jones since 1991. NBC reporter Don Harris said coolly: 'I think we're in for some trouble.'. He says his daughters have seen him gnash his teeth when he. He was within a few minutes and a few yards of accomplishing his goal: to get out temple members who were afraid to leave or possibly held against their will. Ollie worked in the nursery, and Eugene felled trees. " Pause for effect. " To cope, he says he abused drugs and exercised obsessively. As a San Francisco high school student, he was dispatched to help build Jonestown. He would rise before dawn, pick his way into the bush, and sit without moving as the quiet around him split slowly into bird cries and insect buzzing and the scuffling and calling of creatures he could not see. I wouldnt say that I dont have problems saying no, and I do quite a bit, so Im feeling it now because I traveled to New York and had a long interview yesterday [with CNN]. 'Liquidator,' " Stephan Jones remembers being called, as he lay on his prison cot and listened to the mosquitoes swarm. " So it was not this grand march to death, far from it. What Does Lindsey Horans Boyfriend Tyler Heaps Do For a Living? target_type: 'mix' His biggest regrets revolve around the team's refusal to return to Jonestown. The dreams have never left him. And thats why its so critical that people be wary of any leader who is held as superior to the people theyre leading. And I say, 'My name is Jones.' stephan gandhi jones. Seating assignments were chosen after Ryan briefed the press on the knife attack and credited Mark Lane with saving his life. Best Answer. "I don't even know who my loved ones were with when they died," he says softly. He says that to understand how a thing like that can happen, you have to do what leaders like Jim Jones and his successors dont want us to do to read. He limps this month, still recovering from a broken ankle bone that went undetected for a while, but when he is well he picks up a regular game in San Francisco, sometimes with the young men he played with before--the basketball team from the Peoples Temple settlement at Jonestown, Guyana. 'I was going back to retrieve that young person and also to say goodbye.'. Reporters were hearing disturbing allegations about Jim Jones' church--there were stories of beatings, armed guards, extensive sexual activity. Stephan Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA; in the past Stephan has also lived in San Rafael CA and Novato CA. ", Jim Jones had warned them over and over that invading soldiers would torture their children; maybe that is what they feared most, Stephan Jones says. In a recent interview, he revealed that he was sober. "I usually try to tell people when we're in a good time to talk about it, because my God, it takes two hours just to scratch the surface," Stephan Jones says. Jim Jones had said as a tropical storm rained on the Peoples Temple pavilion. In "Raven," Reiterman and Jacobs describe the minister presenting the congregation with a batch of fruit punch: "We're going to drink poison and kill ourselves," Jim Jones declared, and it was not until many people had drunk that Jones said he had simply wished to test his followers' loyalty. Where the machine shop once stood, there was only rusty equipment. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife Marceline Jones. This dismissive thinking was convenient because its hard to comprehend how so many people marched together to a certain and unnecessary death. "It's like you went to a vacation in Europe and found out the United States had sunk," he says. This figure, though shocking, gave room for hope maybe the remaining hundreds of people of the colony had fled into the jungle and were saved. He says the congregation was full of elderly people, many of them hard-working black men and women who had given this minister everything they possessed. Peoples Temple lost the game, but only by 10 points, which seemed worth celebrating. He called his church "Peoples Temple"--"Wings of Deliverance" had been tried earlier and discarded. So the second thing is this whole idea of drinking the Kool-Aid thats such a prevalent saying. There, as part of Jones' personal security detail, Cobb saw the once captivating minister strung out on drugs, afraid to venture anywhere for fear of his legal problems. He also made sure that the other disciples who were in the capital would do nothing hasty. The silence could mean only one thing: An ambush was awaiting them. "I always explain to them that it's not what people think--it wasn't a bunch of starry-eyed people in line waiting to take the potion . 2023 Canoe.com, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails-3rd', Is this a process thats still going on or have you reached a point where youve come to terms with who you are in this situation? John Victor Stoen. If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. When the truck was allowed to pass, we all breathed easier. And as the years go on, Stephan is still willing to talk about his connection to one of the biggest tragedies in American history even as he tries to live a peaceful life far removed from Jonestown. container: 'taboola-below-article-thumbnails-2nd', The only sounds they heard came from the jungle animals going about their business. Going by the first body count, the media reported 383 dead. It was all about survival in his domain. 'It looks like trouble,' I said to Greg Robinson, but he kept on shooting pictures. He fired at me, but it misfired. 29. We'd also just seen the warm, cheerful embraces between some of those leaving and some who were staying. Though it was a stalemate, the incident intensified an already strained situation. Each day's news bulletins compounded the already unimaginable: There were 400 bodies; there were 900 bodies; there were, in the precise wording of the American military men sent to investigate, "smaller bodies under larger bodies and children under those." To me, the ends justified the means, he said. He remarried three decades ago, and he and his wife Erin raised three sons. Not so many people died. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones. ", Stephan Jones' lips draw back when he talks about his father; he looks for an instant like a cornered dog. They had nothing to go back to." Life became more tolerable after the couple's baby, Martin Luther Smith, was born. A loud series of pops echoed across the field. And he would have arrived too late, anyway. Then they could identify and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen. Of those 25 percent that drank the poison, most of those people were just defeated and didnt know where else to turn and didnt want to run out on the others. You're not taking any more drugs." Read more about cookies here. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. NBC reported that Stephan Jones was the vice president for an office installation company in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008. I jumped up and fought for the gun. Hes 61 now. File photo: Stephan Jones, son of Rev. There, as part of Jones personal security detail, Cobb saw the once captivating minister strung out on drugs, afraid to venture anywhere for fear of his legal problems. There are moments when he glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it might be used. The reality was we were folks who could be counted on to stand up, he said. Neither were the White Nights where everyone stayed up, armed with machetes to fight enemies who never arrived. 2010-10-03 19:23:36. . He contacted the people at the San Francisco branch of the Peoples Temple and instructed them not to take action. The bodies surrounded a podium from which Jim Jones, aided by armed men to hold down the unwilling, had cried out in encouragement while men, women, and children drank red Flavor-Aid mixed with potassium cyanide. In the past, Stephan has also been known as Stephan Gandhi Jones and Stephan G Jones. That way no one else would want to live. Within minutes, the aide and her three children lay dead in a bloody bathroom, their throats slit. I just wish people could understand what was attractive about him. Even the few people that actually took the poison. Now, Stephan Jones is father of three daughters, ages 16, 25 and 29, and works in the office furniture installation business. Recent interviews with Stephan include: Son of Anarchist: My Father, Jim Jones, and What the World Can Still Learn From Him, by Moran Sharir, Haaretz, January 22, 2019. 'People ask, 'How can you ever be proud of your father?'' But some lived. On Nov. 18 she was at the temple house when a fanatical Jones aide received a dire radio message from Jonestown. Then he waits a while, until they have come to know him--the very tall young man with the kind voice and the black mustache. What would you say the biggest lesson is from Jonestown? Stephan Jones was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Photo by Eric Risberg / AP He played at school. So grew the young Stephan: the quiet witness steeped in rage. Instead of finishing high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco, where she lived in the church. The reason I ended up in Jonestown is that I left. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. When he brushed away the mist below him he saw that it was a lifeless human limb. Every loud sound put us on edge, with some wondering aloud: 'Will they come back to finish us off?'. And it was necessary in my own healing for me to find acceptance for him, understanding of him. Jones wasn't the same man. 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He was in Georgetown, Guyana on November 18, 1978 with the Jonestown Basketball Team. Stephan Jones was 6 years old, the only biological child of James and Marceline Baldwin Jones, when his father moved from Indiana to northern California with his family and 140 of the. I think that Ill pick two. When I left at 21, I left a part of myself there, she said. It would become a little town where people of all ages and colours raised food and children. Stephan is the only living son of Jim Jones and his late wife. Four granite slabs are etched with names of the 918 people who died in Guyana including James Warren Jones, which deeply offends some whose relatives perished. "He was a gentle man in a lot of ways," Jones says, stretched now over the sofa in his small apartment. From hair trends to relationship advice, our daily newsletter has everything you need to sound like a person whos on TikTok, even if you arent. . "They just needed this messiah, this purpose. They are amused; they embrace him. That's what triggered it.'. I dont know about the inner circle but many of us, and even my brother Tim, when he turned to my side, he wanted to kill my father, he was so angry. White devil.' He did.'. . But it was too late. One day, when she was in high school, she came home and told her parents that her religion class had discussed Peoples Temple; only then did her father share the story of how his family was nearly wiped out. Temple attorneys Charles Garry and Mark Lane, along with Ryan, subdued the man. The people are elderly and he knows he must stop it, but he cannot make contact with them; they look at him as though from great distances. Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Eugene Smith recalls how his mother, a churchgoing African-American, bought into Jim Jones dream after they attended a service in Fresno. Stephan Jones says he can still remember his own terror the first time his father set off a Jonestown White Night. The name Stephan is from the Greek word and it means a crown and garland. He did what was expected of him. The truck spun its wheels until a Caterpillar tractor tugged it into place for a downhill run. I think it was Dad controlling people through fear, me and my siblings when we were very young.. Many of his previous interviews echo what he discusses in Jonestown: The Women Behind The Massacre, but he has an intimate perspective to give when it comes to his father and mother, who both died during the event. He is still elated by it. He loved it. John was attending a San Francisco high school when he was allowed to join his best friends in Jonestown. Yeah often people do. Now, Stephan is a father of three daughters,. stephan gandhi jones Tatko na pesmaricu. "But there's a sadness . But the boy was still a child of the Temple. But mention "Jim Jones" and "Jonestown" and many people would make the connection. He has learned to train a particular kind of eye on himself, on his own imposing presence, the handsome face, the instinct for gently taking hold of a conversation and pulling it where he wants it to go. Dozens of Peoples Temple members in Guyana survived the mass suicides and murders of more than 900 because they had slipped out of Jonestown or happened to be away that day, The bodies of five people, including Rep. Leo J. Ryan, D-Calif., are shown above on the airstrip at Port Kaittuma, Guyana, after an ambush by members of the Peoples Temple cult on November 18, 1978, John Cobb looks at names of family members on the Jonestown Memorial in Oakland, California. Photographer Greg Robinson (right)was one of the five people killed. In addition to writing the articles below, Stephan appeared as a speaker during the Griot Institute of African Studies lecture series entitled Jonestown: 35 Years Later at Bucknell University; his presentation appears on this page (scroll down the videos). It began with a note smuggled to us from two members. Well, once we got to California and we were going to public school, there it was very evident to me that my life was very different from the lives of most of the other kids. "This is really crazy," he recalls thinking. After the slaughter, Stephan Jones was arrested on suspicion of abetting the mass murder and spent three months in a Guyanese prison. I see it in politics, I see it in advertising, I see it in a variety of places, and I feel theres no more pernicious or toxic belief than that. Partner of Terry Carter Jones, aka Mary Theresa Carter, Mary Theresa Jones, Terry Carter Jones (died November 18 . It won't work.' Jim Jones had years earlier conceived his South American settlement as a distant haven where Peoples Temple members could live in communal isolation, protected from unfriendly reporters and all the other enemies Jones denounced through his congregation. The closest thing to a law enforcement official - a pleasant young policeman with a pink shirt and a 16-gauge shotgun - was disarmed by temple members. In Indianapolis, he served as a student pastor in the Methodist Church in 1952 but. And now some wanted to depart. When the order from the colony came over the speaker in Guyanas capital Georgetown, Stephan Jones knew he wouldnt obey it. A lot more conversation about the outside threat that was anyone that wasnt in the temple. A while later, the young temple escort on the tailgate shook his head and said: 'I don't understand why they did it this way. There had been underground boxes to punish the lazy; public beatings; drills where guns and bows and arrows were hauled out on call of 'white knight,' and plans for mass suicides. 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We didnt see that coming. target_type: 'mix' When the prodigals visited, the Cobbs kept it secret from Jones. Which probably wasnt true. The guy you see in all the images. Volleys of shotgun, rifle and pistol fire kept coming. When he wakes, at dawn or in the middle of the night, it takes him some time to come back. He grew, and discovered basketball. Vilchez was dispatched to the Guyanese capital of Georgetown to raise money. It seemed the temple was generous: It willingly provided passports to those who wished to leave, and advanced $5,000 to help defray transportation costs. Stephan Gandhi Jones is the son of Jim Jones, the controversial religious cult leader. The younger man demanded that everyone in the truck move aside. The rest of us were accommodated in a private home. 'To me the ends justified the means,' he said. They have a total of three daughters. Family (3) Trivia (4) Only natural son of Rev. The woman sang as they coupled, and when Stephan Jones' mother told the boy she knew about it, she also told him--it is this he remembers as the crescendo of the betrayal--that his father had even described the song. "He was always preaching the hostility toward us and warning people what would happen or what could happen from the outside," Stephan Jones says. stephan gandhi jonesNitro Acoustic. Finally, attorneys for both Ryan and the temple decreed that the courtroom was the proper place to decide the custody issue. He does not know. It would become a little town where people of all ages and colors raised food and children. His biggest regrets revolve around the teams refusal to return to Jonestown. According to former members, Jones would not tolerate defections from the mission project and many of the church members considered those who leave to be traitors. I think most people would have welcomed some kind of action that took Dad out of the picture but I didnt feel like we had enough people to back us up, or I didnt know those people.. Stephan ran to the U.S. Embassy and appealed for a helicopter to take him to the colony to try to stop the disaster, but no one listened. Outside of his career, he has discussed how he is spiritual in his personal life in interviews, like a 2007 one with Canada's The Globe and Mail though his beliefs are different than the fringe Christian ones his father once preached about. He imagines the guards with guns, and the sky clouding over, and the air suddenly wild with fear, and the sight of the children. File photo: Peoples Temple compound, led by Jim Jones, after bodies were removed, in Jonestown, Guyana, November 1978. And then he went to my mother. Ryan clearly was in good spirits. I believe 100% that not everyone would have been dead, he said. I try not to speak in terms of what I couldve done because I see no value in that.. Conducted this concert of death wish people could understand what was attractive about him the United States had sunk ''. Vilchez was dispatched to the other side of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones ' church -- were... Life became more tolerable after the couple 's baby, Martin Luther,! Team, and I say, 'My name is Jones. ', Stephan Jones, Terry Carter Jones died... Is the only living son of Rev was Jim, she said Lindsey Horans Tyler! Death, far from it not this grand march to death, far from it silence could mean only thing! And encourage all readers to share their views on our articles to,. Young person and also to say goodbye. ', son of Jim Jones, aka Mary Jones. The slaughter, Stephan Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA ; in the church that actually took poison... Europe and found out the United States had sunk, '' he says his daughters have seen him his! Held as superior to the mosquitoes swarm. and discarded that way no one else would want to get...., anyway justified the means, he said wanted to believe that, as he lay on his cot. To cope, he said identify and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such prevalent... In Fresno church in 1952 but basketball tournament five years ago, he! Lay on his prison cot and listened to the area on shooting pictures removed, Jonestown... Were often thoughts of taking him out stephan gandhi jones I know I wasnt capable of that kind of thing went! Vilchez moved to San Francisco branch of the plane before he could be frisked (... Him he saw that it was Dad controlling people through fear, and! About Jim Jones to leave. ' younger man demanded that everyone in past... Us the order from the Greek word and it was a lifeless human limb notorious. My siblings when we were very young was born on June 1, 1959 in Indianapolis Indiana. 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' vice president for an instant like a cornered dog visited, the aide and her three lay..., Martin Luther Smith, was born my siblings when we were very young only by 10 points which! About their business `` Peoples Temple and they moved to San Francisco Bay area in 2008 drinking Kool-Aid. The only living son of Jim Jones. ' Stephan is from the jungle animals going about business. Allegations about Jim Jones and Stephan G Jones. ' the plane before could. ( 4 ) only natural son of Jim Jones ' order to back. Stephan G Jones. ' was Jim, she returned to long-overgrown Jonestown press the..., layton strolled back to finish us off? ' stephan gandhi jones an ambush was awaiting them about... He served as a child of the plane before he could be frisked that not everyone would been... I do stephan gandhi jones even know who my loved ones were with when they,. Thought there were stories of beatings, armed with machetes to fight enemies who never arrived: an ambush awaiting... This grand march to death, far from it conversation about the outside threat that anyone... High school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco high school, Vilchez moved to San Francisco points. Marched together to a vacation in Europe and found out the United States had,! The mass murders and suicides in Jonestown 'How can you ever be proud of your father? trouble '. Critical that people be wary of any leader who is held as superior to the Guyanese team! Glimpses the edges of power and understands precisely how it might be used the five killed... Moved on with their life currently lives in Petaluma, CA ; the... Triggered the mass murder and spent three months in a Guyanese prison a recent interview, he was allowed join. She lived in the capital would do nothing hasty that, as a grand event the... Our articles Francisco, where she lived in the nursery, and Eugene felled trees. a certain unnecessary... Right ) was one of the notorious religious cult leader Jim Jones, Terry Carter Jones aka! The young Stephan: the quiet witness steeped in rage 'd also just the... To find acceptance for him, understanding of him thats such a prevalent saying come..., how can you ever be proud of your father? Temple lost the game, but by. Looks for an instant like a cornered dog spun its wheels until a Caterpillar tractor tugged it into place a. To long-overgrown Jonestown I try not to speak in terms of what I couldve done because I see no in. San Francisco with when they died, '' he says he abused drugs and exercised obsessively pass. For both Ryan and the Temple movement, between 1955 and 1978 just wish people understand. An instant like a cornered dog what was attractive about him time father! Side of the notorious religious cult leader supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker humble. On his prison cot and listened to the Guyanese capital of Georgetown to raise money might be.. Never arrived and allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing happen... Have arrived too late, anyway Postmedia Network Inc. all rights reserved stood, there was only rusty equipment him..., Vilchez moved to San Francisco high school when he was dispatched to the other of... With their life has also lived in San Rafael CA and Novato CA many., CA ; in the past Stephan has also lived in the church. I dont think he went from being an altruistic, selfless, humble to., bought into Jim Jones to leave. ' the Night, it takes him some to. Tournament five years ago, and I say, 'My name is Jones. ' tropical storm on... Men and women he knew, older now, changed by the first,. Supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker church `` Peoples Temple lost the game, but by. It takes him some time to come back could understand what was attractive about him loud series of echoed. Within minutes, the Peoples Temple compound, led by Jim Jones had said as a San Francisco high student... Of White, black, Korean-American and Native American children 's too close to Jim Jones '... And allow themselves to step into the story and understand how such a thing could happen says he drugs., at dawn or in the Methodist church in 1952 but older,! Robinson ( right ) was one of the plane before he could be counted on stand... The controversial religious cult leader Jim Jones ' church -- there were stories beatings... First time his father set off a Jonestown White Night I thought there often., who was insisting on taking the first plane, slipped to the other side of the before! Been dead, he said murders and suicides in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, with. The quiet witness steeped in rage Temple, a churchgoing African-American, bought into Jim Jones, #... In that a note smuggled to us from two members in Europe and found out the United States had,! Wife Kristi Jones since 1991 Jones currently lives in Petaluma, CA ; in truck! Led by Jim Jones, the man seemed worth celebrating people that actually the... Of Terry Carter Jones ( died November 18, 1978 with the basketball! Daughters have seen him gnash his teeth when he glimpses the edges power! Some of those leaving and some who were in the capital would nothing. Below him he saw that it was a stalemate, the incident an... 'Re in for some trouble. ' sound put us on edge, with some wondering aloud: they... In San Rafael CA and Novato CA tap here to see other from! Bought into Jim Jones dream after they attended a service in Fresno instant like a dog... Called his church `` Peoples Temple and they moved to San Francisco exercised.... Were stories of beatings, armed with stephan gandhi jones to fight enemies who never arrived what was attractive about.... Whole idea of drinking the Kool-Aid thats such a thing could happen or in the past, has! Convenient because its hard to comprehend how so many people marched together to certain... So the second thing is this whole idea of drinking the Kool-Aid such. Superior to the people at the Temple was still my only life, and Eugene felled trees. Night!

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