Did Jones have elaborate funerals for the people that died before Nov 18th?
Like he did when he was a child. I can't find it mentioned anywhere
Posted Feb 22, 2023, 7:39 PM UTC
64
The short answer to this is no. The longer answer is still no, but with some explanation.
Throughout the seventies, it wasn’t uncommon for Jones to preach that members of his congregation didn’t die. Obviously that wasn’t true, but the illusion presented was that if a true believer died, Jones could resurrect them. As far as I’m aware, there weren’t any funerals in this period any more elaborate than your typical funeral.
In Guyana, things changed slightly. Jonestown had a large elderly contingent, with many within that group requiring delicate medical care. Natural deaths were unavoidable, and the community so isolated that there could be no illusions of resurrection or such.
We know that 8 people died prior to November 18 in Jonestown, including Jim Jones’ mother, Lynetta. Audiotape Q947-1 was recorded the day after her death, and the way Jones describes his role in her burial arrangements is quite the opposite to elaborate:
“Now the lady’s gone, and I had to stand there and watch all the nails be put in the coffin just right. And I had to stand there as a communist, when some of you fuckers are stealers, thieves, I have to stand there as a communist and take the clothes from her that others had slipped on her – trying to do right, by me – but it’s not communistic because the dead can’t wear clothes … And I know that my son, uh, Stephan, felt the same kind of compunction over there at the grave. Um, did an excellent job, to see that dirt would not go down on the remains, and, um, that she was sheltered that he will do with each of you if that were to happen, if you didn’t believe in healing or didn’t follow medical advice, as my Mom just couldn’t do it – she wouldn’t do it.”
So, no. No elaborate funerals in Jonestown - sentimental, but not elaborate. An elaborate funeral wouldn’t have been a good communist funeral.
5
Thanks for the reply. That's downright heartless towards his mother. Seemed like he didn't care at all about her
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There is another story, I can't remember the book, but part of it is documented on one of the audio tapes...
one of the elderly people was dying in Jonestown. And in his final hours, he could be heard crying out to God....
Jones told his people while reading the news that the man would have lived had he called out to him instead..
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I have learned more about Jonestown than is probably healthy. I agree with you, I do not remember any mention of funerals during his rise to power. I wonder if it was due to the number of members and also his increasing addictions. I feel like if he was doing big funerals, we would know about it since he never stopped talking!