{"id":18142,"date":"2013-04-14T22:09:41","date_gmt":"2013-04-14T22:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=18142"},"modified":"2025-11-18T11:53:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:53:49","slug":"index","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=18142","title":{"rendered":"Commentary & Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CommentaryHistorical accounts of life in Peoples Temple, and especially of the events in Jonestown, elicit strong opinion and analysis of what the Temple was, why people joined and stayed, where it succeeded and where it failed, and what went wrong at the end. This page gathers together some of the commentary which has been submitted to this site. This forum includes thoughtful discussion from a wide range of perspectives written by people who were not part of Peoples Temple. In effect, this section of the site is our newspaper op-ed page which features shorter, non-academic articles which have a point of view.<\/p>\n

Looking Past the Stereotypes<\/a>, by Anonymous (2009)<\/p>\n

Reflection on Jonestown<\/a>, by Jodie Arnold (2013)<\/p>\n

Two Commentaries by David Ballard \"NEW\"
\nMeet the New Boss<\/a> (2023)<\/span>
\nOne Must Consider Context<\/a> (2023)<\/span><\/p>\n

Sikamikanico Blogs<\/a>, by Nico Bell (2020) <\/p>\n

Jonestown Memorial Coda<\/a>, by David A. Berdass (2011)<\/p>\n

The Other Side Of The Story<\/a>, by Nicole Bissett (2009)<\/p>\n

Message from Jonestown<\/a>, by Scott Blackwood (2009)<\/p>\n

The Pain of Restoring Humanity<\/a>, by Mighael Botha (2013)
\n Scars Of The Past<\/a>, by Mighael Botha (2013)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Writings of Sara Brody<\/a><\/p>\n

Commentaries by Amy Brown<\/a> <\/p>\n

Those Who Do Not Remember the Past Are Condemned to Repeat It<\/a>, by Jaime Caron (2010)<\/p>\n

Commentaries by Erin Clymer<\/a> <\/p>\n

Born in San Francisco, Raised within a Group<\/a>, by Esther Cohen (2018)<\/p>\n

Commentaries by Niels Colesky<\/a><\/p>\n

Commentaries by Seriina Covarrubias<\/a><\/p>\n

A Terrible Solitude on Every Side<\/a>, by Rev. Barbara Crafton (2006)<\/p>\n

In Defense of Alternative Considerations<\/a>, by Darren Crawford (2012)<\/p>\n

You Meet the Strangest People\u2026<\/a>, by Gregory Curtis (2023) \"NEW\"<\/p>\n

The Memorial to Jonestown Victims at Evergreen Cemetery<\/a>, by Natalia Danesi (2011)<\/p>\n

An Apology to Peoples Temple<\/a>, by Amanda Davis (2021) <\/p>\n

Commentaries by Laurie Davis<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviews, Commentaries and Stories by Annie Dawid<\/a><\/p>\n

The Deaths of Children, the Death of Childhood<\/a>, by Jane Devin (2008)<\/p>\n

Commentaries and Observations by Leigh Fondakowski<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviews by Matthew Fulmer <\/a><\/p>\n

Peoples Temple seen through the eyes of Asperger\u2019s<\/a>, by Esben Lykke Gadgaard, Elg (2016)<\/p>\n

Reviews by Mark Gallaga <\/a><\/p>\n

Reflections on the 45th Anniversary of Jonestown<\/a>, by Michael Gangitano (2023) \"NEW\"<\/p>\n

The Children of Jonestown, the Children of the Church<\/a>, by Genexxa (2013)<\/p>\n

Commentaries by Jennifer Kathleen Gibbons<\/a><\/p>\n

Writings and Poetry by Carmen Gillespie<\/a><\/p>\n

What I learned about Peoples Temple<\/a>, by Kimberly Gomez (2008)<\/p>\n

Commentary and Articles by Jeff Guinn<\/a><\/p>\n

Conspiracies sell…but who’s buying?<\/a>, by Henri Helander (2020) <\/p>\n

Commentaries by Susan White Hicks<\/a><\/p>\n

Commentary and Articles by Jeff Hood<\/a><\/p>\n

Among the dead: Arkansans died at Jonestown in 1978<\/a>, by Preston Jones (2022) <\/p>\n

Jonestown: Community<\/a>, by Michael Kaplan (2012)<\/p>\n

Commentary on Q 170: \u201cJones announces defection of Teri Buford\u201d<\/a>, by Ian Kehoe (2018)<\/p>\n

Commentary and Articles by Tom Kinsolving<\/a> <\/p>\n

Leading to the Final Question<\/a> by Phil LaMonica (2007)<\/p>\n

Children of Jonestown and the Children of God<\/a>, by Don Lattin (2008)<\/p>\n

Lines and Strings<\/a>, by Kelly Lavoie\u00a0(2019) <\/p>\n

San Francisco Laid Low by Jungle Fungus<\/a>, by Bart Lee (2008)<\/p>\n

Commentaries by Mike Lieber<\/a><\/p>\n

The mystery of Liane Harris\u2019 death<\/a>, by Dagmara \u0141uczy\u0144ska (2021) <\/p>\n

Running Away<\/a>, by Sharon Maas (2013)
\nA Guyanese perspective of Jonestown, 1979<\/a>, by Eileen Cox (2013)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentaries by Sylvia Marciniak<\/a><\/p>\n

Writings of Jolene McDonald<\/a> <\/p>\n

Calling Out Tim Stoen<\/a>, by Jessica Mendes (2021) <\/p>\n

The “C” Word<\/a>, by Ken Musen (2016)<\/p>\n

Commentaries by Bill Neri-Amadeo<\/a><\/p>\n

Craving Knowledge<\/a>, by Catherine Peters (2018)<\/p>\n

Writings of Ken Risling<\/a><\/p>\n

Joining the Temple Community<\/a>, by Daniel Russell (2011)<\/p>\n

Haunted By a Panicky Phone Call From a Peoples Temple Member<\/a>, by Elayne Savage, PhD\u00a0(2019) <\/p>\n

Writings of Norman Scott<\/a><\/p>\n

Empathy: A Personal Relationship with Jonestown<\/a>, by Matthew Sochocki (2013)<\/p>\n

Why did the Reverend Jim Jones not preach on Philemon?<\/a>, by Robert L. Smith, III (2022) <\/p>\n

The Why People: Aphrodite Child’s 666, Jim Jones and the Doom of the 1960’s<\/a>, by Lincoln Swain (2012)<\/p>\n

Jonestown & Humanity<\/a>, by Steven Van Neste (2016)<\/p>\n

Oprah!<\/a>, by Amanda Veazey (2010)
\nWhat do you hear in these sounds?<\/a>, by Amanda Veazey (2010)<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the Note<\/a>, by Danielle Walker\u00a0(2020) <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not drinking it!<\/a> by James Welborn (2006)<\/p>\n

The Role of the Arts in Examining Jonestown<\/a>, by Ken White (2018)<\/p>\n

Essays and Stories by Laura Woollett<\/a><\/p>\n

The Profound Loss, The Profound Conversation<\/a>, by Pete Wypyszinski\u00a0(2017)<\/p>\n

Should Jim Jones\u2019 Name Have Been Included on the Marker? A Catholic\u2019s Perspective<\/a>, by Theresa Yugar (2011)<\/p>\n

Remembering Jonestown: A Homage to the Dead, a Prayer for the Living<\/a>, by Chuan Zhi (2011)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Array<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":125522,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18142","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18142"}],"version-history":[{"count":111,"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124940,"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18142\/revisions\/124940"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestowndev.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}