|
Mass-Murderer Jim Jones, As Seen Through the Eyes Of His Trusted Lieutenant.
By Leigh Rich
Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and
Death in the Peoples Temple, by Deborah Layton (Doubleday,
Anchor Books). Hardcover, $23.95.
NOVEMBER 18, 1978--Buried inconspicuously in a remote part
of Guyana, 913 members living in the Jonestown "commune"
commit mass suicide. Some drink the cyanide-laced Flavour-Aide
voluntarily; others are forced at gunpoint.
No one is spared. Not even Jim Jones, the "reverend"
who deceitfully enticed his followers of the Peoples Temple to
this so-called "Promised Land." A man who robbed, raped
and tortured his disciples into submission. A man self-proclaimed
the reincarnation of Jesus but, for many, now remembered as the
devil.
Few were closer to Jones than Deborah Layton, a high-ranking
Peoples Temple official for nearly a decade and survivor of one
of the most baffling tragedies in recent history. Layton's story
of escape, bravely recounted in Seductive Poison, unravels
the riddles of Jonestown from the inside and documents the rise
and fall of one of America's most notorious cult leaders.
Executed with precision and emotion, Layton's book serves dual
purposes: One, to emphasize how intelligent and independent individuals
can become engrossed in a cult; and, two, to educate government
officials on the ins-and-outs of cult life so future incidents
can be controlled appropriately.
A rebellious and lost youth of the '60s, Layton joined the Peoples
Temple after being introduced to its socialistic way of life by
her peace-loving brother and sister-in-law. She was only 16. Like
so many others before and after her, she found acceptance and
love in Jones, a leader who selflessly spoke against discrimination.
His platform opposed racism, class-ism and capitalism. He convinced
his followers that abandoning material possessions and living
in concert with one another would lead to spiritual liberation.
Jones promised the young Layton everything she was missing: "Debbie,
you have wandered upon this earth looking, wanting, and needing
answers. I can give you them. For every unknown in your mind,
I can give you enlightenment.
"For your fear, I can give you strength. For your sorrow,
I can give you hope and a dream we will attain together."
And so went her early years "and perhaps some of her happiest"
in the Peoples Temple. Situated outside of San Francisco, Layton
developed "family" ties with other members, carried
out her Temple duties flawlessly, and attended college. She, like
her counterparts, wholly accepted Jones' ideologies and, therefore,
rarely questioned Jones' increasingly anomalous behavior.
"The process of controlling new members began immediately
and intensely, and I'm not sure I'll know what prevented us from
seeing through his deceit, his lies, and his manipulations. Only
a few days after joining, I learned that 'All men are homosexuals,
except for Jim.' I was stunned, but when the information was not
disputed by anyone, I obediently believed it."
Resembling an abusive relationship, Jones used his powerful position
as "Father" to manipulate Temple members, blurring together
love, punishment and condemnation to procure loyalty. Layton repeatedly
describes falling out of favor with Jones, enduring his mean-spirited
discipline, and consequently attaining better positions within
the Temple's infrastructure.
"Over time," she states, "I became the perfect
vessel for my leader's dogma."
Even when Jones raped her twice (she refused the third time),
Layton bought into his explanation ("This is for your own
good") and blamed herself for the incidents.
He looked like a vampire as he thrust back his black choir
robe, lowered his heavy body onto mine, and cloaked us in his
demonic embrace. "I'm doing this for you," he groaned.
"I want you to appreciate yourself more. I have great things
in store for you, Debbie."
It was perhaps Layton's unerring loyalty to Jones that eventually
saved her from his ghastly grip. Continually promoted to higher
positions, such as handling finances and establishing bank accounts
in Panama and Switzerland for the Temple's millions, Layton was
eager to relocate to Jonestown with her mother, also a member.
The moment they arrived in Jonestown, however, Layton knew she
was far from the "Promised Land" Jones had described.
"As we were systematically stripped of our previous identities,
never to be allowed private possessions or autonomous thought
again, the lost souls [of other Jonestown members] watched. Later
on I, too, would feel the excitement when the siren sounded to
announce the new arrivals. It was a strange rush to watch these
outsiders, these newcomers, pull into the camp and realize they'd
been desperately wrong. We felt vindicated when we saw other new
arrivals' faces fall."
Forced to slave long hours in jungle fields that produced little
food, attend interminable "White Night" rehearsal suicide
sessions, and report members breaking any Jonestown rules, Jones'
"Promised Land" was little more than a prison.
During one all-night "emergency" meeting, Layton describes
in Seductive Poison, a 60-year-old man accidentally fell
asleep: "Now Jim was furious, and we were going to have to
confront Charlie and everything would drag on longer. But no wonder
Father was mad.... Falling asleep proved that your head was in
the wrong place, which made you more susceptible to committing
treason."
Jones meted out what he considered "appropriated" discipline:
Charlie's son, Nick, was ordered to place a 10-foot boa constrictor
about his father' s neck, thus punishing Charlie and testing Nick's
loyalty simultaneously.
Five months after her arrival, Layton began to recognize Jones' manipulations. While Jones lived in more extravagant conditions,
his members went without sufficient food, any privacy (even in
the latrines), sanitary environments, toilet paper and medical
treatment. Layton, fully aware of the Temple's finances and the
millions buried beneath Jonestown itself, grew doubtful. "I
wondered why, with millions in a Swiss bank account, we were struggling
in the rain forest, hot, thirsty, and foraging for food. ...Why,
with so many millions of dollars abroad, could we barely exist?"
Such questions even Layton cannot answer. But Seductive Poison
is a riveting, haunting and all-too-real glimpse at the manipulative,
egomaniacal Jones, his savage "Promised Land," and the
tragic events that chilling November night.
Five months previously, using her intelligence and high-ranking
position within the Temple, a 25-year-old Layton risked her life
and the lives of her mother and brother to escape and convince
the American government of the evils--including the possibility
of mass suicide--inside Jonestown.
Californian Congressman Leo Ryan heeded Layton's "wild"
claims and flew to Guyana to investigate Jones--on November 18,
1978. Ryan and several others were shot and killed as part of
Jones' mass suicide-murder.
"It breaks my heart to think how bravely and how desperately
we endured. Only very few people were lucky enough to have been
elsewhere when the suicide command was given. Those in the capital
[of Guyana], some 250 miles away, refused to take their lives
when Father's orders came over the radio. Just that little bit
of distance allowed them to think for themselves--and they chose
to live."
|
|