Jim Jones Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Publicity problems=== Jones began to receive negative press beginning in October 1971 when reporters covered one of Jones's divine healing services during a visit to his old church in Indianapolis. The news report led to an investigation by the Indiana State Psychology Board into Jones's healing practices in 1972.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=209}} A doctor involved in the investigation accused Jones of "quackery" and challenged Jones to give tissue samples of the material he claimed fell off people when they were healed of cancer. The investigation caused alarm within the Temple.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=211}} Jones had been performing faith healing "miracles" since his joint campaigns with William Branham.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=61481 |title= The Intersection of William Branham and Jim Jones |author1=Collins, John|author2= Duyzer, Peter M. |date=October 20, 2014 |website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple |publisher=San Diego State University |access-date=August 15, 2017}}</ref> "On several occasions his healings were revealed as nothing but a hoax."<ref name = whig/> In one incident, Jones drugged Temple member Irene Mason, and while she was unconscious, a cast was put on her arm. When she regained consciousness, she was told she had fallen and broken her arm and taken to the hospital. In a subsequent healing service, Jones removed her cast in front of the congregation and told them she was healed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=17067|author=Wise, David Parker|title=25 Years Hiding From A Dead Man|accessdate=March 16, 2022|date=March 9, 2013|publisher=San Diego State University|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple}}</ref> In other instances, Jones had someone from his inner circle enter the prayer line for healing of cancer. After being "healed" the person would pretend to cough up their tumor, which was actually a chicken [[gizzard]].<ref name = whig>{{cite web|url=https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=17067|author=Svendsen, Ann Kristin|title=White Nights In Guyana: Leadership, conformity and persuasion in Jonestown and Peoples Temple|accessdate=March 16, 2022|date=July 25, 2013|publisher=San Diego State University|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple}}</ref> Jones also pretended to have "special revelations" about individuals which revealed supposed hidden details of their lives.<ref name = whig/> {{blockquote |Jones had coworkers who called at the potential recruits' homes, and asked detailed questions in the cover of doing an unrelated examination. This provided Jones with inside information that would make him seem clairvoyant and being in possession of superhuman powers.<ref name = whig/> |author=Ann Svendsen }} Jones was fearful that his methods would be exposed by the investigation. In response, Jones announced he was terminating his ministry in Indiana because it was too far from California for him to attend to and downplayed his healing claims to the authorities.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=211}} The issue only escalated however, and [[Lester Kinsolving]] ran a series of articles targeting Jones and Peoples Temple in the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' in September 1972. The stories reported on Jones's claims of divinity and exposed purported miracles as a hoax.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=211-212}} In 1973, Ross Case, a former follower of Jones, began working with a group in Ukiah to investigate Peoples Temple. They uncovered a staged healing, the abusive treatment of a woman in the church, and evidence that Jones raped a male member of his congregation.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=217}} Reports of Case's activity reached Jones, who became increasingly paranoid that the authorities were after him. Case reported his findings to the local police, but they took no action.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=218}} Shortly after, eight members of Peoples Temple made accusations of abuse against the Planning Commission and Peoples Temple staff members. They accused members of Planning Commission of being homosexuals and questioned their true commitment to socialism, before leaving the Peoples Temple.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=225}} Jones became convinced he was losing control and needed to relocate Peoples Temple to escape the mounting threats and allegations.{{sfn|Reiterman|Jacobs|1982|p=225}} On December 13, 1973, Jones was arrested and charged with lewd conduct for allegedly [[masturbation|masturbating]] in the presence of a male [[undercover operation|undercover]] [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] [[Vice squad|vice officer]] in a movie theater restroom near Los Angeles's [[MacArthur Park]].<ref name="wise">{{cite web|first=David|last=Wise|url=http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=17014|title=Sex in Peoples Temple|website=Alternative Considerations of Jonestown and Peoples Temple|publisher=San Diego State University|location=San Diego, California|date=March 9, 2013}}</ref> On December 20, 1973, the charge against Jones was dismissed, though the details of the dismissal are not clear. The court file was sealed, and the judge ordered that records of the arrest be destroyed.<ref name="Montreal Gazette Arrest Article, March 28, 1979">{{cite web |title=Lewd case against Jones a puzzle|author=UPI |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19790328&id=xZYuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=haEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2637,1586106&hl=en |publisher=The Montreal Gazette |access-date=September 24, 2021}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page