Chances are you've heard the saying,
don't drink the Kool-Aid.
Super 10.
It refers to Jim Jones, a cult leader
who gave his followers cyanide-laced punch,
resulting in the mass murder-suicide
of more than 900 people.
But why would so many follow him to their deaths?
Started as an effort by a charismatic preacher
to build a new society, but it ended, of course,
with the tragic deaths of more than 900 people.
The Reverend Jim Jones, born 1931,
died November 18, 1978, with 913 of his followers
in the jungle settlement of Jonestown, Guyana.
How did it happen?
What was the basis of Jim Jones' frightening power
over his followers?
If his story is told again, will it serve as a lesson for now?
Jim Jones wasn't a Christian.
He was an atheist.
And Jim used to have people bring the Bibles
into the church.
And he would throw them down.
He would stomp on them.
He would spit on them.
And he would talk about using the pages for toilet paper.
He got behind the pulpit and would cuss and swear
to his followers.
But he would also make statements
like, there is no God.
He literally said that from the pulpit.
He said that there is no God, but socialism, socialism
is God.
There is no God.
I see some that are still not aware of what God is.
God is perfect freedom, justice, equality.
And thus, the only thing that brings perfect justice,
freedom, and equality, perfect love in all of its beauty
and holiness is socialism.
So God is socialism, and socialism is God.
He even said in a recorded interview with the FBI
that my bishop knows that I am an atheist.
He went on to say that there is no heaven up there.
He preached this, that there is no heaven up there.
And so we're going to have to make heaven down here.
He told people that there was no resurrection,
that nobody's ever going to come to save us.
There's no hope up there.
Nobody's going to come out of the sky.
Nobody will ever come to save us.
There's no heaven up there.
We have to make heaven down here.
During one of Jones' sermons, he stated that he came
in the phenomena of religion to get people out of religion.
It's marvelous.
And in the meantime, I come in the phenomena of religion
to get people out of religion.
Even Jim Jones' wife said this, Jones had not been lured
to the ministry by deep religious faith,
but because it served his goal of achieving social change
through Marxism.
Jim used religion to try to get some people
out of the opiate of religion.
She also said that Jim Jones slammed the Bible on his desk
and declared that I've got to destroy this paper idol.
Don't trust these religious assholes wanting to get us put
out of the denomination because we were atheists, which we are.
And we've done all these things in the Bible and spit on it,
pissed on it, I don't recall ever pissing on it, but I will.
I've shit on it now.
I really want you to let this sink in.
Jim Jones had said that, have nothing to do with God.
Have nothing to do with that sky God.
Have nothing to do with this Bible.
That's what he said word for word.
You can look it up, you can see it on FBI recordings.
Have nothing to do with God.
Have nothing to do with that sky God.
Have nothing to do with this Bible.
The worst enemies we've got are preachers.
The worst enemies we've got is religion and it's churches.
That's the worst.
Jones also said that he wished for a moment
that everybody would wake up to what he had said and just
for a moment think that there is no God.
He says then maybe we might do something to help ourselves.
I would rather you call me the devil because he had the sense
to rebel, he had the good sense to rebel.
We're Satanists.
We start off being atheists and then decide
that we are our own gods, the center of the universe.
And so Satan for us is a symbol of freedom, liberty and pride
which we think is a wonderful thing.
The only thing that brings perfect justice,
freedom and equality, perfect love and all of its beauty
and holiness is socialism, socialism as well.
And I suppose that's why Jim Jones said
that socialism is God.
He says there is no God but socialism.
I'm amazed that I have as much power as I do
to people not paying any attention to me.
Otherwise some of you will sit right here.
You say you don't believe in God but you really do.
You substituted your sky god in me.
But don't you ever insult me by calling me your creator sky
god.
I am a savior because I saved everybody that comes to me.
But don't call me your creator sky god.
Just for a moment think that there's no God.
Then maybe we might do something to help ourselves.
I was the lawyer and attorney for the notorious Jim Jones.
They were not Christians.
Jim Jones did not believe in God.
It was a cult. He was a Satanist.
Indeed he believed in anything.
He believed in the communist ideology
which he proclaimed in his last will and testimony
leaving everything to the Soviets.
When looking back I remember the headlines around that time.
And it was just you almost couldn't even get your arms
around the idea of what had happened there.
It's unfathomable and I don't think
there's been anything like that since.
It's just so many minors, over 300 children.
So sad.
Might the lesson of Jonestown help people avoid the danger?
People were tricked.
And I believe that most people can be tricked.