The Jonestown Massacre: Jim Jones

866 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social psychology of cults

Have you ever heard the term, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid?” or “You have drank the Kool-Aid.”? Well, ”Drinking the Kool-Aid” means you have done something that others have told you to do or did yourself. This saying comes from the cult society led by Reverend Jim Jones, named Jonestown. Jonestown was a small community in the jungle of Guyana, South America. After getting word of people coming to investigate the society, Jones had committed a mass suicide by poisoning Kool-Aid and giving it to the people of Jonestown. A cult society is an organization that basically disguises itself as a religion. In a cult, they normally perform rituals. There are usually many people in these societies. In Jim Jones’s cult, there were at least one thousand people in this community. Jim Jones was the notorious cult leader of the Peoples Temple. Jones was born on May 13, 1931 in Crete, Indiana. He was a self-appointed pastor from a church in the Midwest. Jim had been popular for always wearing dark glasses, black suits and slicked-back hair, which made a splendid impression on the pulpit of the churches he had preached at or had been to. He then, in the mid-1960s, moved his congregation to California to, what he had wished, avoid the start of a nuclear war. Then, in 1974, he moved his people to Guyana after he was faced with financial abuses, criticism, and church beatings. Guyana, South America is South America’s monarch. It is located on the northern border of South America and is also part of the Anglophone Islands. After Jones and his flock moved to this country, he started a cult. He named this the Peoples Temple.They were located in the jungle of Guyana. In this community, Jones proclaimed that all men, except for him, were homosexual. He... ... middle of paper ... ...s already small portions of food and horrible tasks given to those who didn’t obey Jim Jones. Also, Reverend jones clearly didn’t mind the fact that he was forcing more than nine hundred people to commit suicide, a third if them children. Being me, I feel like the way Jim Jones treated these people, and the way he led this cult compound was completely wrong. I feel like Peoples Temple was a humungous mistake. I also feel truly sorry for those who lose friends and family in this horrible event and for those who went through this. Although this is all over the Jim jones Massacre will forever be remembered and never be forgotten. Works Cited “Inside the Jonestown Massacre.” CNN.com/US. 13 November 2008. “Jim Jones Biography.” Bio.. 15 May 2014

Show More
Related

  • MKULTRA

    1972 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...t its operation. Jonestown, after the termination of the project, was thought to have been a test site for mind control and mental experiments under MKUltra due to the mass suicide that took place there that became known as the Peoples Temple mass suicide and the formation of the Jim Jones cult in that town. Further, Leo Ryan was murdered in Jonestown by the Peoples Temple members when he was investigating numerous reports that were claimed to have happened in that area. Besides the Jonestown theory, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy was believed, by Lawrence Teeter, to have been a work of the techniques used in the Project MKUltra. Moreover, the attorney believed that Sirhan Sirhan, was under the influence of hypnosis when he murdered Robert F. Kennedy. Nevertheless, he was found guilty of first degree murder and six days later, was executed in a gas chamber.

    Read More

  • The Danger of the FLDS

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cults are dangerous institutions that have existed for many years, corrupting and reforming the minds of innocent people into believing outrageous doctrines that eventually result in disaster. Horrifying cases involving men such as Charles Manson, Jim Jones and David Koresh have bewildered people and raise the question: how could individuals be easily susceptible to the teachings of these men, so influenced that masses go as far as to commit the unthinkable? Individuals who are in a vulnerable position in search for an identity are attracted to cults because they offer a sense of belonging. In addition, isolation from society contributes to the functioning of a cult for it creates an atmosphere where submissiveness and obedience runs high. These two factors seem to hold true for one of the most notorious cults currently established in the United States and Canada. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or, FLDS, is an international polygamist sect that incorporates belonging and isolation along with a dangerous mentality that have resulted in the abuse of women and children in the name of God.

    Read More

  • Cult Mentality and How People Become Involved in Religious and Secular Cults

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    ..., to note that there seems to be no adverse effects while a person is in a cult, as their levels of stress goes down and they seem happier. Overall, the cult mentality is one that continues to be an enigma to society today.

    Read More

  • The Mass-Suicide in Cult Known as The People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    James Warren “Jim” Jones was born on May 13, 1931 in Lynn, Indiana. Jim Jones grew up in a very racially segregated area of Indiana and in a broken home. Jones’s father was a poor influence from an early age. His father was an injured WWI veteran, a drunk and alleged member of the Ku Klux Klan which left the burden of caring for the family to his mother. His mother provided for the family by working in a factory to put food on the table. Jones was a very strange child, in interviews from the documentary Jonestown: The life and Death of the Peoples Temple (Nelson 2007), child hood friends claimed he was obsessed with death. One person said that he was even caught multiple times holding funerals for small animals that had died.

    Read More

  • Jonestown

    2195 Words  | 5 Pages

    The People’s Temple was religious cult founded and lead by Jim Jones, based in Jonestown, Guyana. The converts belonging to Peoples Temple may have joined for various reasons differing from one another, yet the one common bond they all shared was Jim Jones. They loved Jim, they feared Jim, and eventually they died for Jim .

    Read More

  • the peoples temple

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    When New West began to investigate The Peoples Temple, it shook the members of the group and they attempted to fend it off by messaging the media group with several letters and calls saying “We hear New West is going to attack Jim Jones in print; don’t do that. He’s a good man who doesn’t good works.” After a bit of time passed, ex-members of The Peoples Temple

    Read More

  • Mormons Are Not Christ

    434 Words  | 1 Pages

    Cults that are formed today do not believe in Jesus Christ as the savior. Christian churches are the only ones that claim Jesus to be the savior. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was founded around 1850. If a cult had any intentions to undermine the beliefs of other religions, lead people to kill themselves or others, and turn people away from Christianity, they would not wait more than 150 years to do so.

    Read More

  • Jonestown Sociology

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jim Jones and his infamous cult entitled, “The People’s Temple,” holds an interesting value to social psychology. Jonestown is a topic that can relate back to many sociology terms and ideas. Jonestown can be related to social deviance, the effect of American culture on social groups, labelling theory, charismatic authority, and even shows how societal history often repeats itself. American society during the late 60’s-70’s is what led to the creation of Jonestown. Jonestowns downfall provided a lot of insight to the American public of how society needed to change, proving that the deaths of about 900 people weren’t for nothing.

    Read More

  • Jim Jonestown Analysis

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the heartfelt documentary about Jim Jones and the people of The People’s Church, it starts off very well in the state of Indiana. The first church known as The People’s Church was created by Jim Jones to show a different side of what life was all about. The church was not racist, it was not biased, it saw everyone as equal and people bought into that. Jim Jones invited everyone into his church and gave all his followers a reason to be happy. He gave the people a reason to believe in him by gaining their trust through ways such as giving them food, giving them a place to stay, giving them their necessities in order to live a healthy life. Soon enough he found that Indiana couldn’t be his center focus on getting more members into his community. He gathered his current followers and set off to a small town in northern California, which he had oddly selected by looking at a study that said it was in the top nine places to survive a nuclear attack. Jones’ church quickly grew and more and more people were coming from all across the country to follow Jim Jones and his teachings. The People’s Church was a way of life for people and through the persuasive talk of an unbelievable leader, the church was at an all time high and needed to be moved to yet another

    Read More

  • Jim Jones Corruption

    1793 Words  | 4 Pages

    He would hold his own services preaching to other children in his community. Jones preached about spiritual healing, wisdom, healing and brotherhood. When he first founded his church, it was named Wings of Deliverance, later known as the Peoples Temple. One of the ways he would attract followers was through his healings. He would perform healings showing his congregation he had the power to magically cure all illnesses, however, it turned out to be fake. For example, Jones healed people of cancer, where he would remove rancid-smelling objects that were supposedly cancerous tissue, when in fact, were rotten chicken liver. Not to mention, Jones influenced some of his subordinates to deceive the congregation to believe he had healing powers; "secretaries dressing up as old women, and the same woman coming out of wheelchairs on different nights" (McGehee III, Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple). Jones implanted people in different locations of his assembly. When it was time for healings, these women would walk to the pulpit and he would magically heal them. By Jones using his subordinates to deceive the congregation, he was able to convince them that he had healing powers. The congregation believed he could heal all of them of their illnesses and diseases because of his healing powers. The people in the congregation would also spread the news to others, presenting them a Savior. This fantasy entices more people to join his congregation. In view of this, we see that Jones resorted to deceitful means to acquire more

    Read More

  • Jonestown's Legacy

    481 Words  | 1 Pages

    In my research on the People's Temple I looked at many different aspects of the group. I quickly learned that the group did not start out as a cult, ready to kill themselves at any moment, and that's not the way they ended either. The People's Temple started with Jim forming a church that reached out to the community in many ways. It gained

    Read More

  • The Heaven's Gate Cult

    511 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to dictionaries a cult is 1) a system of religious worship or ritual. 2) A religion or sect considered extremist of false. 3) Obsessive devotion to a person or principle. It is believed that every cult ties into some kind of religion, and religions all have a common basis of “a leap of faith”. Whether this so-called leap of faith is going to heaven or being reincarnated, or moving on to some other planet, depends on the beliefs of the cult itself.

    Read More

  • Sociological Perspectives on Cult Leaders

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society strives to feel a sense of belonging. We want to be a part of something that shares the same beliefs as us. We spend our time trying to place ourselves in a group to satisfy these needs, whether it is in a hobby club, a group of friends, or religion. Some people go to more extreme measures and find this in what we call a cult. According to Henslin, a cult is a new or different religion whose teachings and practices put it at odds with the dominant culture and religion. (2013:405) Cults are often identified with the ideas of mass murder, deviant behaviors, unusual beliefs, and extremely devoted members. Cults are also highly known for their leaders. The leaders of cults usually are the ones that portray the image for the entire group. Successful cults take a strong-minded and, according to Max Weber, charismatic leader.

    Read More

  • Cults Essay

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although cults have become a very common practice in our society, not many people actually know what a cult is. A cult is a group that demonstrates an excessive dedication to an idea, person or thing. Cults will conduct manipulative and persuasive behavior to advance the goals of the leader (Langone). There are many different types of cults, but they usually fall into four categories: Religious, Commercial, Self Help and Counselling or Political. Many people mistake religions as cults, but that is not the case. Religious cults are cults that center around a belief system as many common religions do, but they are categorized as a cult because of their practices and mind control. Common religions do not practice these techniques. Commercial cults are those that are interested in gaining money. These cults use their scare tactics and mind control techniques to get members to give them money and even work for them. Self Help and Counselling cults are centered around a business that has programs designed to help people by counselling them. By taking their courses, members are told they will become better people. This of course is not the case and these cults are inte...

    Read More

  • Analysis of John Saliba´s Understanding New Religious Movements

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    The word “cult” has a very negative connotation in modern society as a result of it being applied to several religious groups that have violated basic moral or societal rules. It is regularly applied by the media to groups that are considered to be “deviant, dangerous or corrupt” (1). “The Theological use of the word “cult” is most evident in Christian Evangelical literature.” (2) Here, a cult is described by Walter Ralston Martin as “a group, religious in nature which surrounds a leader or a group of teaching which either denies or misinterprets essential Biblical doctrine.”(2) Another definition by Charles Braden is “those religious groups that differ significantly from those religious groups that are regarded as the normative expression of religion in our total culture.” And “a group of people gathered about a specific person or person’s misinterpretation of the Bible.”(2). Two very vague definitions that could apply to just about any faith that doesn’t align with what the...

    Read More

More about The Jonestown Massacre: Jim Jones

Open Document