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#15 - God’s Socialist, pt. 5: The Wounded King

The Martyr Made Podcast

CHAPTER

College Dorms and the Temple

The dorms were governed not only by pure pressure, but also by an external bureaucracy. Jones appointed a college committee of adult temple members who were charged with visiting the students every t Tuesday night to offer advice concerning any problems and to check on their grades. Students had mandatory study groups in marxism and socialism. Certain lefti books were required reading. When jones ordered participation in a demonstration, a bus stopped in santa rosa for the college kids. On week ends, the students were also expected to participate in weapons training. It was the younger follower's obligation to defend senior members during world war or any other life threatening scenario. By being different, she was effectively raising herself above

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They were provided with transportation to and from school in a carpool arrangement using their own cars and temple gas money. They tried to take the same classes so they could tutor one another and study together. In most respects, it was like other college dorms, with the tedious utines broken by cook outs, some socializing, dancing and sports, even wrestling and water fights. Personalities ran the range from extremely serious students to cutups, from popular students to outcasts. The dorms were governed not only by pure pressure, but also by an external bureaucracy. Their often restated fealty to the temple, however, was a source of pride as well as control. At least the temple young people had an outlet for their activest energies more meaningful and more enduring than many of the issue oriented outbursts of the 19 sixties. All in all, the dormitory arrangement was not a bad trade off for those committed to the temple. That's not so bad. Let's see what author jeff wynn has to say about it from his book, road to jonestown. Jones appointed a college committee of adult temple members who were charged with visiting the students every tuesday night to offer advice concerning any problems and to check on their grades. Those not maintaining decent class averages could give the outside world a bad impression of people's temple, and might, at jons's direction, be removed from school at any time. Besides faithfully attending classes and studying late into the night. The students were also expected to at attend temple services and be constantly on call. The only thing that trump school obligations was serving the temple in whatever way jones wanted. When jones ordered participation in a demonstration, a bus stopped in santa rosa for the college kids. On week ends, the students were also expected to participate in weapons training. It was the younger follower's obligation to defend senior members the event of world war or any other life threatening scenario. Jones expected a lot of the college students, including their gratitude. In his view, no one owed the church more. Occasionally, one of the temple's santa rosa students rebelled and left both the school and the temple. One young woman fled after jones took her to task for practising vegetarianism. All the other students ate meat. By being different, she was effectively raising herself above them, acting elite. When she was forced to eat a few bites of chicken, she ran away. There was no attempt to persuade her to return. She'd proven herself unworthy back to riderman. In addition to long church meetings, the dorm students were following another agenda. New students found themselves living among young people who talked some day of being urban guerrillas or dying for socialism, like communards in berkeley, ann arbor and elsewhere. The dorm students had mandatory study groups in marxism and socialism. Certain lefti books were required reading. Jones had condoned and fed a more radical than nhou attitude among his young followers. He converted the dorms gradually into a training center for his future professionals, his socialist vanguard. Nowththe writerman's book is great. It's probably the best and most complete history of the movement. I think i mentioned that before, and i may have also told you before, it suffers from a major problem, in my opinion. Throughout the entire book, raven writermen, often it reads like jim jones's guiding hand is behind every troubling thing that went on in or around the church, whether or not there is really any evidence for that. The truth is that the students did not need jim jones encouragement to engage in student radicalism because they were already surrounded by it on campus. F they were part of that world. Jim may have stoked the fire and played into it and played. But there is no need for some grand plan inorder to change these places into a socialist training center. Riderman continues, students discussed issues such as vietnon and south africa. They also researched corporations supporting or benefiting from the war, and they studied the effects of nuclear fall out. The church monitored the progress and content of the classes.

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