"The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, today known as the Peoples Temple, was a U.S. new religious movement organization existing between its founding in 1955 until its dissolution in 1978. Founded by Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Peoples Temple spread a message combining elements of Christianity with egalitarian politics. Through the years, Jones tightened his control over the group, first by requiring members to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a Temple "family" rather than with blood relatives."
"He then demanded that members turn over all their material possessions to the Temple in exchange for the promise that the Temple would meet all their needs. Jones had a vision in 1961 that Indianapolis and most of the Midwest would be destroyed by a nuclear bomb attack. By this time, he had begun taking illicit drugs, which further increased his paranoia."
Jim Jones founded the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis in 1955 and combined Christian teachings with egalitarian politics. Jones consolidated control by insisting members celebrate holidays together and by requiring them to surrender personal possessions to the Temple. A 1961 vision of a nuclear attack, coupled with illicit drug use, intensified Jones's paranoia and prompted relocation plans to South America. In 1974 Jones leased land in Guyana and established the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, known as Jonestown, which grew to about 1,000 residents by late 1978. In Guyana Jones forbade residents from leaving, controlled marriages, demanded sexual favors from women, raped several men, and punished dissenters with reduced food rations.
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