Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of Religion in Society
Effects of Religion in Society
The influence of religion and beliefs on individuals and society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
1) Name and describe the Social Movement. What is the goal of the Social Movement? The name of the social movement is “The People’s temple of the Disciples of Christ” in short “The People’s Temple” it was a religious group that had a goal of to create an egalitarian society free of problems of class and race. 2) When did this Social Movement begin? Provide an historical overview of the historical roots of the movement. The Peoples Temple was first founded by Jim Jones in 1955 in the city of Indianapolis,Indiana. In 1956 Jim jones bought his very own church building the church was first called “Wings of Deliverance” and later that year it was renamed into ‘People’s Temple of Gospel Church.” His church has racially integrated, something …show more content…
unusual for a Midwestern church during that time period and a week before easter in 1959 was the time The People Temple joined the Christian Church and was called “People’s Temple Christian Church Full Gospel” . As years goes by in the 1960’s The religious cult has officially become part of the Disciples of Christ and moved to northern california, settling first in Redwood Valley in Mendocino County. Soon after by the early 1970’s they relocated again to establish their headquarters in San Francisco and opened a temple in Los Angeles,California. The true reason why Jim Jones started this religion was to help him accomplish his social goals and communism. 3) Describe the social circumstances/events taking place in society wherein this Social Movement developed. What was the initial unrest and agitation? The social circumstances/events taking place in the 1950’s that caused agitation of the movement were certain events such as The Korean war, Racial segregation in public schools, and The Vietnam wars. In addition was the Tensions between The United States and The Soviet Union about two countries trying to spread their Ideology and an idea of a possible all out nuclear nuclear war. 4) List 2 important events in the life of the movement. What specific events have had a positive or negative impact on the movement? There were two major events that caused both a positive and negative impact on the life of the social movement.
The first one would be when Jim Jones made it known after he moved to San Francisco that he was interested in politics, and legal changes strengthened political groups like the temple. In 1975 when George Moscone won the election and appointed Jones as Chairman of San Francisco Housing Authority Commission. The negative impact was when Congressman Leo Ryan and a group of journalist visited People’s temple in Jonestown,Guyana During the Congressman's visit several members of the group wanted to leave with the congressman and on the afternoon of november 18 when they accompanied Congressman Ryan to the local airstrip to leave they were intercepted by a group of temple security guard who opened fire on the group killing Congressman Ryan ,three journalist and one temple defectors a few seconds of gunfire was captured on video by Bob Brown one of the journalist that was killed in the …show more content…
attack. 5) When was the high point (glory days) for this Social Movement? How can you tell? By the mid-1970 The People’s temple was able to establish a satellite congregations in almost a dozen in other california cities.
The temple also maintained a branch,college tuition program, and dormitory at Santa Rosa junior college. At the same time jones and the church earned reputation for aiding the city's poorest citizens, especially racial minorities, drug addict and the homeless. They also made strong connection with the california state welfare system. 6) Describe the Social Movement’s relationship to authorities. Give 2 specific examples- has the leader of the movement ever been arrested, positive or negative press, etc. The leader of of the social movement Jim Jones had made both positive and negative impact in 1977 Jones and Mayor George Moscone met privately with Vice presidential Candidate Walter Mondale in San Francisco Days, Jones also met First lady Rosalynn carter on multiple occasions including a private dinner, and corresponded with Mrs. Carter. The group has faced problems with authorities when the police and the IRS started investigating on the religious tax exemption of the cult and also because of The cult leader Jim Jones praising the radical bay area group the Symbionese Liberation Army and its leaders when they attended san francisco temple meetings further suspicions were raised after the defection of Joyce Shaw and her husband Bob
Houston 7) What do opponents say about the movement and its followers? Cite 2 specific examples. The only opponents that were able to say against the movement was defectors from the cult, Parents, and relatives of children and adults under Jim Jones control in jonestown. In 1973, when eight young members commonly the “Gang of eight” defected together and started writing long letters documenting their complaints of the immoral actions of the cult. Also former member Jeannie Mills later wrote that Jim Jones called thirty members to home to discuss about the defections of the “Gang of Eight” quoting that “ In order to keep our apostolic socialism,we should all kill ourselves and leave a note saying that because of harassment, a socialist group cannot exist at this time.”Threatening those potential defectors they were also accused of human right violation by family and relatives of those who were in the cult. 8) Is was media coverage of this Social Movement favourable or unfavourable? Give at least one specific example. The media was favourable to the social movement in 1975 Dr. Carlton Goodlett publisher of The Sun Reporter praising the Jim Jones and The People temple. Identify ways in which the social movement uses propaganda and/or mass media to influence public opinion. What sort of propaganda or “Tricks of the Trade” are used by this Social Movement? Find two pieces of propaganda that this Social Movement has used and explain specifically what type it is. 9) The tricks and trades they have used are Good deeds and Cool words Good deeds for example is: Jim Jones started a social service center that helped members and non-members alike find employment, shelter, food and clothing. It ran much like the Salvation Army does today. Many people joined the Temple at this time to either help serve others or to be a part of the institution that had helped them get their feet off the ground. The church also offered drug and alcohol counseling and ran a nursing home. Which appealed people to join that most would jump at the chance to be a part of such a revolutionary and compassionate group. Cool words Notably, he pushed seamless integration of black and white into one homogenous society (at a time when that wasn't really happening in practice), which allowed him to draw in a large black membership as well as white. Although his movement initially had the outward appearance of a church of some kind, it was always more of a social movement than a religion (Jones was clearly atheist by the end of his life, if not well before that). 10) Did this Social Movement succeed, fail, or is it still in process? The social movement failed horribly because of the event of what happened in Jonestown when 918 people died, including 276 children from cyanide poisoning. Soon after that four people died in Temple headquarters in Georgetown in result the cult immediately disbanded. At the end of 1978 the temple declared bankruptcy, and all its assets went into receivership. 11) Explain the impact it has had on individuals and on society. Their impact has cause people to form anti-cult organizations which seeks to demonize and dismantle organizations which attempt to subvert the normative social order.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the economy was booming, new technology flourished. The rapid industrialization brought achievement to the United States, however, it also caused several social problems. Wealth and power were concentrated in the hands of a few, and poverty and political corruption were widespread. As people became aware of these problems, a new reform group was created. Unlike populism, which had been a group of farmers grown desperate as the economy submerged into depression, the new reform movement arose from the educated middle class. These people were known as the progressives. The Progressive Movement was a movement that aimed at solving political, economic, and social problems. The Progressives were people from the middle class who had confidence that they could achieve social progress through political reform. The Progressives sought after changes and improvements in the society through laws and other federal actions.
The United States at the turn of the century was under going a major social movement. The United States was trying to change its society to a more moral country. The groups involved in the movement consisted of many groups from around the United States. Some of the most notable groups involved in the social reform movement were the churches in the country. They targeted many aspects of life of the normal Americans. The social reforms targeted social ills such as adultery, crime, and lastly, drinking. These groups had large number of followers, and had considerable height in government.
Jones emulated the word and style of Father Divine, a preacher who founded the International Peace Mission Movement. He spoke in a captivating manner, with passion and wisdom, directly interacting with members. His sermons would include ideas that Jones was the “Christ the Revolution”, a holy figure who had the power to heal. He also preached that the U.S. and capitalism were evil and comparable to the Antichrist and that Communism was the system of Christ. E also rejected the Bible and traditional Christianity, dismissing them as a justification for white men to dominate and oppress others.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), often pronounced "snick" (Wikipedia), was a really important organization of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. “It emerged from a student meeting organized by Ella Baker
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 .
At the beginning, the People’s Temple started out as a church that’s main focus was on helping the poor, the outcast, and the needy, and was seen by most as a good and honest organization. The People’s Temple was founded in 1955 by Reverend Jim Jones. Jones started the People’s Temple in Indiana, then moved it to the Redwood Valley in California before moving it to San Francisco. The People’s Temple was able to gain thousands of believers through its many years of charitable ministries and “special miracles”. Raised in poverty, Jones was convinced that a church should provide for its congregants, and for the whole community. Jones was raised by a deadbeat father who had little in...
Klotz first defines a social movement as a group of individuals who share a common cause and promote this cause by means of mobilization thereby challenging major political and social figures. Although the abolitionist movement was centered more in the continental US Klotz stresses its similar struggles, tactics and motivations seen with the anti-apartheid movement almost a century later. Klotz first includes the studies of social analysts to explain the beginnings and actions that lead to successful social movements. One of the many social movement theories Klotz includes comes from the similar conclusions of Thomas Rochon and Ethan Nadelmann who emphasize the importance of non-governmental establishments as a transnational movement with a common moral code who look to completely demolish previous social norms and political conventions. However Klotz believes the analysis of both Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink prove most accurate as they focus on the need of mobilization efforts to concentrate on the personal desires of the majority rather than influence of tr...
The movement changed the landscape of American society and opened it up to excluded groups and gave these groups a model for protest and change. It demonstrated that nonviolent protests and struggle was a viable method of social and cultural change.
Politics had played a large part in the movement’s beginning, and they continued to be...
How did they interact with social issues such as segregation or the peace movement and what affect did that have on the movements?
The literature on social studies enjoys a wide range of social movement’s definitions (Christiansen 2009). This diversity of such a definition is due to the fact that theorists tend to define the term of a social movement depending on their particular theoretical formulation (Diani 1992). Therefore, this section will first consider definitions proposed by group of scholars that represent four major trends in social movements analysis. These trends are as follow, the ‘Collective Behavior Perspective’ (Turner and Killian), the ‘Resource Mobilization Theory’ (RMT) (ZaId and McCarthy); the ‘Political Process Perspective (Tilly); and the ‘New Social Movements Approach’ (NSMs) (Touraine, Melucci). Then, a definition by Della Porta and Diani is selected as this definition has been centered on the most important characteristics of the social movements and oft-cited by researchers.
The socials groups can be formal or informal. This is very advantageous as they also lead to the unification of the established group. In this case, the Social movement is very important. The Social movement is either by individuals, a group of people or even organizations. They fight against a common goal in the short run (Sombart, 1896). The Social movements are made better by the improvement of education center. This has given more literature to the people hence they are able to facilitate their activities to the best.
Tarrow, S. 1998. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. page 4
2) Identity and describe the four stages in the life course of a social movement.
Social movements have played a defining role for society’s actors since the mid-18th century when followers of the English politician, John Wilkes, ran for the lower house of parliament on a platform to promote civil rights for all citizens of England . This social movement was not phenomena, but a direct response to changes occurring at the time namely: urbanization, use of print media, and the growing idea of popular sovereignty . In addition, the Enlightened writings of European, mostly French, philosophes were impacting much of the Western world which was just on the cusp of several revolutions for independence from the dominating and repressive political culture . According to Francis Fukuyama, “civil society serves to balance the power of the state and to protect individuals from the state’s power” . Civil society promotes democracy. Global civil society is also democratic in nature and creates a platform for dialogue . However, even in democracies, there are injustices and inequalities. Enter the role of social movements in global civil society. Social movements “organize and mobilize those who have failed to find redress for their grievances through the existing political system” . They seek to bring to the forefront issues that often challenge the dominant social, political, or economic structure.