Breaking a ten - year silence about his own experience, Stoen stated last July that «what made Jim Jones a historical figure was his genius in
giving the utopian dreams of idealistic people a
tangible structure for
expression.»
He writes that the laymen reported increased honesty with patients; increased ability to listen to the patients; increased ability to notice nonverbal behavior; lessening of the savior role; increased ability to help the patient face the facts as they are, and a lessening of the temptation to
give false assurance; and finally, further realization that their being with another person was a
tangible expression of God's concern.