JONESTOWN- JIM JONES

Jonestown- Jim Jones
Student: Thi Nguyen
Grand Canyon University: General Psychology- 102
Date: 08-19-2012
Professor: Jennifer Jones

Jonestown- Jim Jones The tragedy named Jonestown happened in the past over 30 years and it still has been suspense from the bottom of the heart of everyone. Jim Jones is known as a American leader culture, is one of the most popular historian of America and Guyana’s history as well as the world’s history (Wilkinson, B, 2011). There are many books, articles, video clips described, discussed as well as argued about Jim Jones and Jonestown event. In this research paper as known as a social psychology essay , one more time, I would like write, persuasion, and argue about Jim Jones and what his had done in the past. Furthermore, the paper will describe and discuss in detail about Jonestown events and other concerned that related to this event which gave shock to American society, Guyana, and the rest of the world. Who is Jim Jones? First of all, I would like to introduce about him as well as his life. Jim Jones is a son of James Jones who had a poor health by poisonous gasses in the World War One; and he was a son of a woman named Lynetta in a factory in Indiana. Jim Jones learned from his Mom that he should love animal and care for the people who have underprivileged; and she expected that her son would come a ministered when he grow up. Even though Jim Jones was a noisy child and along with neighborhood children but he still followed his Mom, he loved and kinds to all kinds of animals and underprivileged people. His parents divorced in 1945 and moved to Richmond, Indiana. A few years later, he married to Maceline who was a nurse in a hospital in Indiana, where he worked when he was a high school student. In 1949, Jim’s family moved to another city in Indiana named Indianapolis, and he started to develop in radical integration and socialism, the two areas he concerned at that time. After attended in churches as a pastor of over radical issues, he left these places and created the Peoples Temple in 1955 (The Jonestown Mass Suicide, 2008). Jim Jones had a son named Stephan who was born in 1959, and then he continued adopted an African American children, who were one of the most important things of his plan, it was “Multiracial rainbow family” (1970s, t. e., & Christianity, J. b, n.d.). Three years after, he had an idea to destroy people from Midwest of America by using of a holocaust nuclear, after that, he moved his family to Brazil in South America for two years. When Jim Jones moved back to America, he also moved his People Temples to Redwood Valley in California. In San Francisco, the people Temple expanded in wider with over 20 thousand members. After that, in 1973, Jim Jones decided and chose Guyana in South America to resolve and established the Peoples Temple and all members and followers admired, worshiped, and considered Jim Jones as a God. In two years, from 1974 to 1976, almost 100 members of Peoples Temple moved to Guyana from the United States and established Jonestown. The Peoples Temples did everything to clear out for agriculture when it was a jungle before. Jim Jones received a named as the most popular clergymen as well as the Peoples Temple was acknowledged, and he also received the named of Humanitarian in 1976. In late 1977, as Jim Jones had done well so many great things in the United States, the Jonestown became an interracial and intergenerational community by proved of almost a thousand members left California, America to Guyana’s jungles. Jonestown contained big percent of population in black, and very small percent in white and Hispanic; it was a great place as a heaven on the earth for them when they lived in a new community and seemed everything there was developed quickly such as education, medical services, factories, agricultural. At this point time, Jonestown was known as the heaven in the earth, some articles discussed how good of Jonestown was and some of them were also reported that how bad of Jonestown and the mistreated of Jim Jones. The Congressman of California at this time was Leo Ryan, one of an extremely important person who interested and considered into Jonestown’s situations and he assigned to go to Jonestown to find out the facts of Peoples Temple in 1978 (The Jonestown Mass Suicide, 2008). Jim Jones knew what would happen, then calmed down his residents that they should stay and do not go to anywhere as well as approximately one hundred members signed and stated that they were not welcomed and uninvited the Congressman of California, Leo Ryan to visit their community. Although they tried to prevent the important visitors but they were still wanted to show off their community by prepared many things to welcome. Total 21 people on the airplanes flew to Jonestown with the Congressman; however, six people in that flight were members of Peoples Temple who announced that Leo Ryan should conferred Jim Jones when they arrived to Jonestown. The Congressman and his officials stayed in Jonestown in one day to had parties and opportunities to interviewed Jim Jones and his residents in this place known as the heaven in the earth. As Jim Jones and his residents wanted Leo Ryan and his officials had to leave in the next morning, the Congressman was surprised when approximately six people said they wish they could leave Jonestown with him. In addition, at that time, Leo Ryan and Jones’s family were attacked by a member who was distraught in Jonestown. The man did not hurt them at all, however, he had small cut by the knife and the Congressman begged to Jim Jones that he wished to leave Jonestown right away. When Leo Ryan, his officials, and six people wished to leave Jonestown were ready to board, the whole group got shot from the members of the Peoples Temple by ambushed near the two air planes which would take them back to America. After the shooting, the shooters left and leave the casualties, people with wounded, and two damaged airplanes. In these casualties, they found the death body of Leo Ryan, who was the Congress of California at this point times as well as other bodies of members of Jonestown were there; and five children were missing when they were there to leave with Leo Ryan. With Jim Jones, he restored his members in Jonestown as well as Larry Layton, who was Jim Jones’s fanatic supporter that related to the shooting was went into jail of Guyana. The shooting was confused to the residents of Jonestown, Guyana; however, Jim Jones stated that the shooting was a credit for the security of community. Even though Jonestown’s residents wished to go to another country such as Russia, but Jim Jones said that they could not ran away about the shooting of Leo Ryan and his officials. After that, in private, the shooters told to Jim Jones details about the shooting, then Jim Jones announced everyone could have the poison drink as well as told them about the lesson he just learned. It was Jim Jones’s plan to lie to Jonestown’s residents. Jim Jones was speaking in one side of the building while the on the other side, everyone got in line to take the poison drink behind the shooters who hold guns; in addition, who did not want to take the poison drink or ran away, they will get shot. The poison drink was potassium cyanide which makes people die quickly just in few minutes by getting serious pain and bleeding external bodies. During this dying time, as Jonestown’s residents ran around and told each other about their reincarnations as well as Jim Jones was telling them that he loved and proud of them when they were dying by this way. Throughout the dying time, Stephan who was Jim Jones’s son ran away successful without shooting from the killers, his wife was died because of poison drink, especially, Jim Jones died by got shoot in the temple through his brain and laid down between his wife and aides. Throughout the suicide in Jonestown, that day was called “White Night” the terrified night which took away over 9 hundreds life of Guyanese as well as the Peoples Temple’ members by Jim Jones (Greenberg, J., 1979). There were many stories about how they killed themselves, their children, their family members, or people who had lucky to wake up after the suicide were mentioned and retell throughout articles, books, and video clips about Jonestown event as well as Jim Jones’s life. However, many people still respected him even though he passed away, and from this point, this is the reason why a lot of people did not oppose to him. In San Francisco- Northern California, it seemed no one attacked and felt fear to Peoples Temple’s members at churches and areas surrounded. Stephan Jones, who was Jim Jones’s son condemned about his Dad, he announced that he disappointed and hated what his Dad had done in the past. With these paragraphs above which were summary Jonestown event as well as persuasion to created a culture that results tragedy in Guyana, the following one would show what Jim Jones did to attract people and followed him very tight. At first, Jim Jones demonstrate his “magic power” 2to recruit the new followers. The article named Jim Jones- the Deadly Hypnotist which proved that Jim Jones’s techniques attract the new followers by many ways. It also stated “Convinced of their leader's "Divine" powers, new members usually would faithfully submit to what Lasaga describes as the "basic techniques of political control" employed by Jones.” (Greenberg, J., 1979). The techniques that Jim Jones applied were control his follower’s properties and incomes, weakening of family ties, institution of a social political case system, no escape society, control over verbal expression, cognitive and emotional control of the mind. With these techniques, they are examples of language used, the use of control, and psychological games that contributed to the community by Jim Jones. Moreover, as the Peoples Temple created and established by Jim Jones in the period time of 1950 to 1955, he gathered approximately over 9 hundreds members in Indianapolis, Illinois. Another researched article named Jim Jones’s People’s Temple discovered that the most characteristics and structures of the followers of Jim Jones included interracial mission for the sick, homeless and jobless. Throughout the article, Jim Jones announced, "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 in Jones' own view, and the hypocrisy of white Christianity was ridiculed while 'apostolic socialism' was preached." (Jim Jones' People's Temple, n.d, 2012). In addition, there are some persuasions from society be used to counteract the formation of community and followership in modern cultures. As researched, the article named Catholic to Rebuild Jim Jones’s Churches proved how counteracted to the community, followers, and the leader by society in 1970, it stated that, “Back in the 1970s, the California-based Rev. Jones announced that he was fleeing-police and political persecution in the U.S. and relocating to a heavily forested jungle commune in northwest Guyana, near its border with Venezuela.” (Wilkinson, B. 2011). In my opinion, as Jim Jones known as American cultures, was feeling police and political persecution in the U. S, I believed that there are still many similar situations happen that offset to the community, followers as well as the leaders. In conclusion, over the past 30 years, Jonestown has been brought us so many things that we should understand, learn, and remember about this event. The pain and sorrow still suspense inside the heart of people who passed through Jonestown event and have another life after get back to the United States. However, the families of victims who died from the shooting and the white night would have a extremely difficult times to understand and look for the answers, for instance, what happened in Jonestown where it took away their family’s members’ life. Almost one thousand people died in Jonestown was shocked the United States, Guyana, as well as across the countries. However, the Jonestown event made great things throughout the history. As a research and a term paper, it could be state that Jonestown would last longer and successful itself if Jim Jones did not make any mistake. In this century, it known as a time of wars and development of technologies, Jonestown seems to represent for all and unforgettable in history although it happened in the past over 30 years. References:

Greenberg, J. (1979). Jim Jones: The Deadly Hypnotist. Science News, 116(22), 378-382.

Jim Jones' People's Temple. (n.d.). The home page of the ReligiousTolerance.org web site. Retrieved August 17, 2012, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm
The Jonestown Mass Suicide. (2008). History Today, 58(11), 13.

WILKINSON, B. (2011, February 24). Catholics to rebuild Jim Jones' church. New York Amsterdam News. p. 14.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7860880126603536377