The People's Temple was a Christian doomsday cult founded and led by James Warren Jones (1931-1978). Jim Jones was not a fundamentalist pastor as many reports in the media and the anti-cult movement has claimed. He belonged to a mainline Christian denomination, having been ordained in the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ.
The Peoples Temple came about initially structured as an inter-racial mission for the sick, homeless and jobless. Jim Jones assembled a sizeable following of 900+ members in Indianapolis, IN during the 1950's. He preached a social gospel of human freedom, equality, and love...which required helping the least and the lowliest of society's members.
Later on, however, this gospel became explicitly socialistic, or communistic reflecting Jones' own view, and the hypocrisy of white Christianity was ridiculed while 'apostolic socialism' was preached. It was an interracial congregation -- *almost unheard of in Indiana at the time*. When a government investigation began to
…show more content…
look into his cures for cancer, heart disease and arthritis, he started preaching the imminent end of the world resulting from a self-proclaimed vision of a nuclear war. He decided to move the congregation to Ukiah in Northern California as it was deemed to be as safe as any location when war broke out. The People's Temple later moved to San Francisco and Los Angeles. After an expose' during the mid 1970's in the *New West Magazine* raised suspicions of illegal activities within the Temple; Jones moved some of the Temple membership to Jonestown, Guyana. The Temple had leased almost 4,000 acres of dense jungle from the government. They established an agricultural cooperative, called the 'Peoples Temple Agricultural Project.' They raised animals for food, and assorted tropical fruits and vegetables for consumption and sale. Jones developed a belief called *'Translation'* in which he and his followers would all die together, and would move to another planet for a life of bliss. Mass suicide practices were held in which his followers pretended to drink poison and fell to the ground. In the late 1970's, Jones had been abusing prescription drugs and this shapes why he may have become increasingly paranoid. As in most high-intensity religious groups, there was a considerable flow of people joining and leaving the group. Ironic rumors of human rights abuses started to circulate from Guyana. Tim Stoen, the Temple attorney and former right-hand man to Jones left to form 'Concerned Relatives' who claimed that Jonestown was being run like a concentration camp, and that people were being held against their will. This development motivated Leo Ryan, a Congressman, to visit Jonestown in 1978 for a personal inspection. At first, the visit went well.....then on November 18, 1978 about 16 Temple members decided that they wanted to leave Jonestown with the visitors. This came as quite a blow to both Jones and the rest of the project. While Ryan and the others were waiting at Port Kiatuma airfield, the local airstrip; some heavily armed members of the Temple's security guards arrived and started shooting. Congressman Ryan and four others were killed; three were members of the press; the other was a person from Jonestown who wanted to leave. 11 were left wounded. Fearing retribution, the project members discussed their options. They reached a consensus to commit group suicide. Some of the victims appear to have been murdered by poison injection. The Guyanese coroner said that hundreds of bodies showed needle marks, indicating foul play. Still other victims were shot. A very few fled into the jungle and survived. The bodies were in a state of extensive decay when the authorities arrived. There was no time to conduct a thorough investigation. 'The Peoples Temple' organization did not survive the mass suicide/murder in Guyana. Their former headquarters building in San Francisco was demolished by the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. As people sought out understanding, ideas were formed about the murder/suicide of over 900 people that sent shock-waves around the globe. This event generated enormous public support for the anti-cult and counter-cult movements, which still continues today. As with many major political assassinations or mass murders, Jonestown has spawned a number of conspiracy theories which attempt to explain this remarkable occurrence. It didn't help that there were some recovered FBI interview tapes released as there would be other items that remain top secret. Some believe that the People's Temple was an experimental laboratory operated for or by the CIA in order to perfect mind-control techniques. They speculate that Leo Ryan uncovered this information and that he and over 900 of Jones' followers had to be assassinated in order to maintain secrecy. There has been no hard evidence that would support this belief. U.S. government records relating to the mass deaths have never been made public. This contributes to this conspiracy theory. In 1980, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence announced that there was no evidence of CIA involvement at Jonestown. Still others have suggested that Jones worked closely with the communist governments of Cuba and the USSR in the hopes of eventually moving the Temple to the USSR.
The anti-cult movement also cites mind-control techniques by Jim Jones and his officials as the cause of the disaster. It is often claimed that the Jonestown disaster was a mass suicide made possible through psychological manipulation of Jones' congregation. The many victims who were shot or forcibly injected with poison have mostly been ignored. Some surviving members actually claim that they were exposed to mind-control methods. However, others claim that the crowd-manipulation was the best experience of their life.
There are claims that Jonestown was a spectacularly successful grass-roots demonstration of what people could accomplish if they break free of capitalism and join in a common cause. They speculate that the U.S. government assassinated the people at Jonestown because they could not tolerate its
success. Some in the academic community view the disaster as having been primarily caused by the hounding of Jonestown by anti-cult groups, news reporters and federal investigative agencies. If this theory is true, then the mass death at Jonestown could be considered a self-fulfilling prophecy.
On July 25, 1946, two young black couples- Roger and Dorothy Malcom, George and Mae Murray Dorsey-were killed by a lynch mob at the Moore's Ford Bridge over the Appalachee River connecting Walton and Oconee Counties (Brooks, 1). The four victims were tied up and shot hundreds of times in broad daylight by a mob of unmasked men; murder weapons included rifles, shotguns, pistols, and a machine gun. "Shooting a black person was like shooting a deer," George Dorsey's nephew, George Washington Dorsey said (Suggs C1). It has been over fifty years and this case is still unsolved by police investigators. It is known that there were atleast a dozen men involved in these killings. Included in the four that were known by name was Loy Harrison. Loy Harrison may not have been an obvious suspect to the investigators, but Harrison was the sole perpetrator in the unsolved Moore's Ford Lynching case. The motive appeared to be hatred and the crime hurt the image of the state leaving the town in an outrage due to the injustice that left the victims in unmarked graves (Jordon,31).
caused Union officials to call it an outright massacre. Was it a massacre or a result of
The Heaven’s Gate Cult is one of thousands of millennial cults and UFO- based cults throughout the world. It has existed for over 22 years now. The cult was lead by a man named Marshall Applewhite and a woman named Bonnie Nettles. They were referred to as “Do” and “Ti” by the cult. These were said to be their spiritual names. Bonnie met Marshall as a patient in a psychiatric hospital where she worked as a nurse.
The Heaven’s Gate Cult was founded in the early 1970’s by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Applewhite was recovering, under the care of his nurse Ms. Nettles, when he claimed to have has a near death experience. Applewhite claimed that he and Nettles were the two witnesses spoken of in the Book of Revelation. And they were to prepare the worlds inhabitants for recycling.
...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.
Christianity was amongst the slave community. Being that the vast majority of the slave community was born in America, converting slaves to Christianity was not a struggle. All slaves were not Christian, and slaves that had accepted Christianity were not official members of the church. Over time Slaves made Christianity their own. There would be occurrences where church gatherings would hold both white and black members. Slave religion was both institutional and non institutional. The slave gatherings would be both formally organized and spontaneously adapted. These gatherings would usually take place at night in the woods. Slaves enjoyed their own meetings better because they could sing and pray as they wanted. In some cases slave masters would not allow attendance of church gatherings and prayer meetings, some slaves would risk flogging to attend these meetings. Christianity was transformed into by the slave community to its own particular experience. Teachings by white masters were usually geared towards reminding slaves that on good behavior to their white masters, they would be accepted into heaven and even then , they would be limited to a lesser heaven than there owners. Jesus was not talked about, teachings consisted only of the laws to not lie or steal from their masters. Slaves would soon start to hold their own gatherings to just sing and pray a...
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.
The True Temple of Solomon in Chicago, Illinois, was established in 1950 as seen on the Church’s website. Prophet Peter Banks, is the founder of this church. In the religion that he preaches he claims that he and his followers are a form of Christianity. After Prophet Peter passed away his grandson Prophet John, was left to take control of the Church and all other property that corresponded with the church. From 2000 until present day Prophet John has been growing as activist in the south-side neighborhoods surrounding his church. Many fundraisers and food drives have been held over the years to help the ...
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 .
How could a single man lead nearly one thousand men, women, and children to participate in one of the largest mass murders in American history? Born in 1931 to veteran James Thurman Jones and his spirited wife, Lynetta, James Warren “Jim” Jones grew up in small-town Indiana. Ignored by his parents and desperately seeking attention, Jones became known as the terror of the town. He spent his abundant free time roaming the streets. Eventually, Jones found himself darkening the doors of religious institutions. He visited every church in the community, throwing himself into their rituals and becoming a dedicated member before moving on to the next (“Jonestown…” par 2-3). His group, the People’s Temple, focused on drawing people together, no
Once the Peoples Temple had moved to Jonestown, there was little the members could do other than follow Jim Jones's dictates. They were comforted by an authority of absolute power. They were left with few options, being surrounded by armed guards and by the jungle, having given their passports and various documents and confessions to Jones, and believing that conditions in the outside world were even more threatening.... ... middle of paper ... ...
On November 18, 1978, a notorious religious organization lead by Jim Jones became international news. As a result of manipulation and isolation, Jim Jones influenced his followers to commit suicide. Not only, but his followers were utterly convinced that what they were doing was for a good cause, specifically, a political movement. With kool-aid and a dash of cyanide, 918 people, adults and children, ended their lives that day. The aftermath of this horrific event resulted in numerous documentaries, on of which being, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple. Created in 2006, this documentary gives a thorough and accurate account of the events that lead up to as well as occured that day.
Yukio Mishima’s Temple of the Golden Pavilion, set in postwar Japan, gives way to a reflection of the postwar experience both the representation of military aggression and in use of symbolism of beauty, loss, and destruction. A story about Mizoguchi, a young, stuttering acolyte’s obsession with beauty lends itself to the conflagration of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, based loosely on a true story about the Kinkaku-ji.
I decided to visit a Hindu temple because the Hindu religion was the religion that I knew the least about and was interested in. This assignment gave me an opportunity to learn more about this religion and what their worship services and rituals were like. The temple that I went to was called BAPS Shri Swaminaryan Mandir and it was located in Lilburn. As soon as I walked in, I was amazed by the beautiful architectural design of this Temple. It seemed like it took a lot of hard work and dedication to make the place what it is now. While I was at the temple, I watched the Hindus perform an ancient Vedic ritual called the Abhishek, a ritual bathing to honor the murti of their God.
The temple that I attend is Swaminarayan Temple. Also, Justin its located in Clifton, New Jersey around five minutes from my house.