The truly rich (in character) will rarely speak of money.
The truly helpful will never speak of the help they give to others.
The truly powerful (in character) will have no need nor desire to ask for your loyalty.
The truly loving will never ask for your love.
I will list out below the strategies with which Rev. Jones manipulated and eventually murdered his followers. Maintain a rational level of skepticism and apply critical thought to every facet of your life.
Upon his church’s growing popularity, he targeted the recruitment of the dispossessed, the young and impressionable, the old and the needy.
Followers gave their earnings to the church and began working for the church to support the many functions of the church. With no financial independence of their own, they became locked into the church.
He carried out psychic healing scams to earn the trust of his followers.
He transferred the moral authority/ focus of faith upon himself soon after.
The church held entire families in and familial bonds prevented followers from leaving.
He isolated them geographically. Mentally, he engineered the removal of external influences and achieved monopoly of influence by bombarding them with his narrative (which his followers had to accept without question).
He had a team of loyal lieutenants who had a hidden cache of weapons. These people then went on to murder congressman Leo Ryan and forced the followers to ingest poison.
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