52 International Journal of Cultic Studies Vol. 4, 2013
Marx and the opium of the people. The sentence
that immediately preceded that statement and
which is never quoted says that religion is the
spirit of a world without spirit.”102 Therefore,
religion stood as a reaction to oppression in the
material world.
Engels and Bax described this situation in a
different fashion. Both understood religious
revolts to be a guise for sociopolitical ones.103
Bax explained the conditions in Germany, where
the Anabaptists developed, as follows:
The political and economic aspirations
of the democracies, especially of the
German cities, called forth by the
pressure of circumstances, readily and
naturally clothed themselves in a
religious or theological garb, whilst the
religious aspirations themselves seemed
to demand political and economic
revolution as the conditions of their
fulfillment.104
Therefore, the Anabaptists’ religious aspirations
to bring about the Kingdom of God were deeply
embedded in their material conditions. Their
desire to bring about equality in their religious
lives paralleled the same want in their material
lives.
This same analysis applies to the Essenes and
the Peoples Temple. The Damascus Document,
which is a text found at Qumran, revealed the
Essenes’ contempt for the condition of Jewish
society: “But in the present age Belial [Satan] is
unrestrained in Israel, just as God said by Isaiah
the prophet, the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Fear and
pit and snare upon these, dweller in the land.’”105
The text continues to describe three reasons why
Israel had descended to this situation: “[t]he first
is fornication the second is wealth the third is
defiling the sanctuary.”106 The author of the text
also stated, “They [the Temple priests] must not
rob ‘the poor of God’s people, making widows’
102 Foucault, “Iran: The Spirit of a World Without Spirit,” p. 255.
103 Bax, The Peasants War in Germany, pp. 27, 33, 60, 86 Bax,
Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, pp. 1, 388 Engels, “The Peasant
War in Germany,” pp. 206, 212 McKown, p. 88.
104 Bax, Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, pp. 166–177.
105 The Damascus Document, 4, pp. 13–14 (as printed in Wise et
al., The Dead Sea Scrolls.)
106 The Damascus Document, 4, p. 17.
wealth their booty…’”107 The Essenes saw a
large number of political, religious, and social
problems in Israel and described them in
primarily religious terms. They responded to the
corruption they felt existed in mainstream
Judaism by creating isolated communities, such
as Qumran. In other words, this community
acted out their religious problems in social and
political ways, in much the same way as Bax
described.
Jones provided an even clearer example of the
“guise.” In one of his sermons, he exhorted,
“‘And you can become your own God! Not in
condescension but in resurrection and upliftment
from whatever economic condition, injustice or
racism or servitude which you have had to
endure. Within you rest the keys of
deliverance.’”108 Jones, in fact, blended
socialism and religion to such a degree that, at
times, it was difficult to notice if his religion
was masking his socialism or his socialism was
masking his religion. His rhetoric, for instance,
was an intricate blend of Christian terminology
and socialist rhetoric.109 After a demonstration
in 1976, he admitted to using religion to
legitimize a socialist statement:
‘But you’ve got to understand these
people. If I had said, ‘Well, I don’t
think it’s a good idea for you to buy on
time,’ now, if you are coming from up
the mountains [of Appalachia], you get
into all sorts of troubles. It wouldn’t
have meant anything to them. I had to
talk their language. Their language is
“God says.”’110
In another instance, he proclaimed the eventual
dissolution of religion, yet followed this
statement by claiming to be able to conduct
miracles and provide cures for diseases.111 For
Jones, socialism was religion God was a
socialist and he was God.112 In fact, in one
sermon Jones referred to himself as the “‘God
107 The Damascus Document, 6, p. 16.
108 Reiterman with Jacobs, p. 147. Emphasis in original.
109 Chidester, pp. 59–60.
110 Cited in Hall, p. 27.
111 Reiterman with Jacobs, p. 147. In particular, Jones believed that
he gained three major abilities from the “paranormal dimension of
socialism[:] ...psychic powers, healing powers, and the power over
death” (Chidester, p. 57).
112 Reiterman with Jacobs, pp. 147–148.
Marx and the opium of the people. The sentence
that immediately preceded that statement and
which is never quoted says that religion is the
spirit of a world without spirit.”102 Therefore,
religion stood as a reaction to oppression in the
material world.
Engels and Bax described this situation in a
different fashion. Both understood religious
revolts to be a guise for sociopolitical ones.103
Bax explained the conditions in Germany, where
the Anabaptists developed, as follows:
The political and economic aspirations
of the democracies, especially of the
German cities, called forth by the
pressure of circumstances, readily and
naturally clothed themselves in a
religious or theological garb, whilst the
religious aspirations themselves seemed
to demand political and economic
revolution as the conditions of their
fulfillment.104
Therefore, the Anabaptists’ religious aspirations
to bring about the Kingdom of God were deeply
embedded in their material conditions. Their
desire to bring about equality in their religious
lives paralleled the same want in their material
lives.
This same analysis applies to the Essenes and
the Peoples Temple. The Damascus Document,
which is a text found at Qumran, revealed the
Essenes’ contempt for the condition of Jewish
society: “But in the present age Belial [Satan] is
unrestrained in Israel, just as God said by Isaiah
the prophet, the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Fear and
pit and snare upon these, dweller in the land.’”105
The text continues to describe three reasons why
Israel had descended to this situation: “[t]he first
is fornication the second is wealth the third is
defiling the sanctuary.”106 The author of the text
also stated, “They [the Temple priests] must not
rob ‘the poor of God’s people, making widows’
102 Foucault, “Iran: The Spirit of a World Without Spirit,” p. 255.
103 Bax, The Peasants War in Germany, pp. 27, 33, 60, 86 Bax,
Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, pp. 1, 388 Engels, “The Peasant
War in Germany,” pp. 206, 212 McKown, p. 88.
104 Bax, Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists, pp. 166–177.
105 The Damascus Document, 4, pp. 13–14 (as printed in Wise et
al., The Dead Sea Scrolls.)
106 The Damascus Document, 4, p. 17.
wealth their booty…’”107 The Essenes saw a
large number of political, religious, and social
problems in Israel and described them in
primarily religious terms. They responded to the
corruption they felt existed in mainstream
Judaism by creating isolated communities, such
as Qumran. In other words, this community
acted out their religious problems in social and
political ways, in much the same way as Bax
described.
Jones provided an even clearer example of the
“guise.” In one of his sermons, he exhorted,
“‘And you can become your own God! Not in
condescension but in resurrection and upliftment
from whatever economic condition, injustice or
racism or servitude which you have had to
endure. Within you rest the keys of
deliverance.’”108 Jones, in fact, blended
socialism and religion to such a degree that, at
times, it was difficult to notice if his religion
was masking his socialism or his socialism was
masking his religion. His rhetoric, for instance,
was an intricate blend of Christian terminology
and socialist rhetoric.109 After a demonstration
in 1976, he admitted to using religion to
legitimize a socialist statement:
‘But you’ve got to understand these
people. If I had said, ‘Well, I don’t
think it’s a good idea for you to buy on
time,’ now, if you are coming from up
the mountains [of Appalachia], you get
into all sorts of troubles. It wouldn’t
have meant anything to them. I had to
talk their language. Their language is
“God says.”’110
In another instance, he proclaimed the eventual
dissolution of religion, yet followed this
statement by claiming to be able to conduct
miracles and provide cures for diseases.111 For
Jones, socialism was religion God was a
socialist and he was God.112 In fact, in one
sermon Jones referred to himself as the “‘God
107 The Damascus Document, 6, p. 16.
108 Reiterman with Jacobs, p. 147. Emphasis in original.
109 Chidester, pp. 59–60.
110 Cited in Hall, p. 27.
111 Reiterman with Jacobs, p. 147. In particular, Jones believed that
he gained three major abilities from the “paranormal dimension of
socialism[:] ...psychic powers, healing powers, and the power over
death” (Chidester, p. 57).
112 Reiterman with Jacobs, pp. 147–148.
