Jim Jones believed: "Families are part of the enemy system," because they hurt one's total dedication to the "Cause."³⁰³ The "Cause" was of course none but himself. Thus, a person called before membership to be punished could expect his or her family to be among the first and most forceful critics.³⁰⁴

          Muhammad split families by stating that the believers must pay their allegiance first to Allâh and his Messenger and disobey their parents if they come between them and Islam. The following verse from the Qur'an makes this point clear:           "Why didn't more people leave?" Osherow asks. "Once inside the People's Temple, leaving was discouraged; defectors were hated," he explains. "Nothing upset Jim Jones so much; people who left became the targets of his most vitriolic attacks and were blamed for any problems that occurred. One member recalled that after several teen-age members left the Temple, 'We hated those eight with such a passion because we knew any day they were going to try bombing us. I mean Jim Jones had us totally convinced of this.'"³⁰⁶

          Muslims are also brought up with the same mentality. A Muslim can't hate anyone more than the apostates. In Islam, apostates, freethinkers and critics are threatened and killed. Muslim dissenters are accused of blasphemy and lynched or executed.

          Osherow writes: "Defecting became quite a risky enterprise, and, for most members, the potential benefits were very uncertain. Escape was not a viable option. Resistance was too costly. With no other alternatives apparent, compliance became the most reasonable course of action. The power that Jim Jones wielded kept the membersip of the People's Temple in line, and the difficulty of defecting helped to keep them in." The Qur'an makes it clear that apostasy is not accepted.

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          Here Muhammad is promising divine chastisement for the apostates. He also prescribed punishment in this world. Bukhari has reported the following hadith:           Another hadith tells us that some apostates were brought to Ali and he burned When the news of this event reached Ibn 'Abbas, he said, "If I had been in his place, I would not have burnt then, as Allâh's Apostle forbade it, saying, 'Do not punish anybody with Allâh's punishment (fire).' I would have killed them according to the statement of Allâh's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his Islmaic religion, then kill him.'"³⁰⁸
 



          What attracted people to join Jones' church in the first place? Let us analyze this question and compare it to what attracts new converts to Islam.

          Osherow credits Jones's charismatic personality to his oratory power, aided by his genius and manipulating people who were most vulnerable. With promises and carefully honing his presentation to appeal to each specific audience he would easily win their hearts and imagination. In the words of Cicero "Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable."

          Muhammad was fully aware of the power of oratory. He believed that "in eloquence there is magic"³⁰⁹ and used to say: "Some eloquent speech has the influence of magic (e.g., some people refuse to do something and then a good

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a tape-recording of the final minutes [quoted earlier], he stepped into the bathroom and shot himself in the head. He left behind a note, saying that if his death inspired another book about Jonestown, it was worthwhile. (Newsweek, 1979) Doesn't this shed a light on the psychopathology of a suicide bomber?

          Jeanne and Al Mills were among the most vocal critics of the People's Temple following their defection, and they topped an alleged "death list" of its enenmies. Even after Jonestown, the Mills had repeatedly expressed fear for their lives. Well over a year after People's Temple massacre, they and their daughter were murdered in their Berkeley home. Their teen-age son, himself an ex-People's Temple member, testified that he was in another part of the large house at the time. As yet, no suspect has been charged. Therer are indications that the Mills knew their killer. There were no signs of forced entry, and they were shot at close range. Jeanne Mills had been quoted as saying, "It's going to happen; if not today, then tomorrow." On the final tape of Jonestown, Jim Jones blamed Jeanne Mills by name, and promised that his followers in San Francisco "will not take our death in vain." (Newsweek, 1980)

          Muslims consider it their duty to kill anyone who leaves Islam. Their hatred of apostates is unbelievably intense. There is nothing that a Muslim hates so feverishly as an apostate. Muslims will not relent or give up until they find and kill apostates. Those who dare to defy Islam do so at their own peril. Muhammad's orders are unequivocal:

          But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them. (Q.4:89)