...Jonestown Section I: The Event One of the more disturbing incidents in American History is the Jonestown Massacre that occurred on November 18th, 1978 in Georgetown, Guyana. It was the largest loss of civilian life in a non-natural tragedy until the attacks of September 11th, 2001. 909 lives were lost under the hand of Jim Jones who had cultivated a following of people over twenty-plus years. Jim Jones started his first church, named The Peoples Temple, in the mid-1950’s in Indianapolis, Indiana (I). From the beginning, he preached a message of socialism and communism. Upon scrutiny of his tactics and teachings, he moved The Peoples Temple to Redwood Valley, California in 1965 and shortly after headquarters were set up in San Francisco. The Peoples Templecame into the public eye when eight defectors and negative media spoke out against the church. Jim Jones decided at this point to move his church to Georgetown, Guyana where the chilling events of November 18th would eventually unfold. To better understand how such a tragedy could occur it is important to understand the background of Jim Jones. Jones was born in Indianaand from an early age expressed interest in socialism and communism, studying the works and lives of Stalin, Marx, Gandhi, and Hitler among others. As he grew older, he became more and more politically involved in the communism movement, joining the Communist Party USA in 1951 (II). Jones was surprised with the reaction he received from Americans when he...
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...Jonestown Tragedy In 1978 Minister James Warren “Jim” Jones, developed a following of people known as “The Peoples Temple” in Guyana, South America later known as Jonestown. This group of people included mostly African American, urban, and poor people. Jones based his teachings off Christianity and social philosophy. On November 18, 1978 nine hundred residents of The Peoples Temple drank “Fla-vor-aid” a cyanide laced drink, which later took their lives. The questions still remains was this mass murder or mass suicide? The first argument being that Jones’s people were gathered in the temple, unable to leave in fear of being shot by guards surrounding the temple. During their time in the temple Jones spent his time brainwashing the people into his ways of thinking. Therefore the people were forced to poison their children and the elderly first, and then drink the “fla-vor-aid” themselves. This was considered by some to be mass murder by Jones himself. The second argument being that Jones’s people gathered in the temple and willingly drank the “fla-vor-aid” and took their own lives. Many of the people believed that the U.S. Government was going to be sent to destroy Jonestown because of the killing of a U.S. representative by some of Jones’s temple members. Most people felt as if the children and elderly were murdered while the capable willingly took their own lives, because they had nothing left to live for. I believe out of the two arguments stated above, I firmly agree...
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...Jonestown, once known as a promising religion, now thought of as a cult. The story of the Jonestown massacre has made me feel very uncomfortable for years. Regarding my opinion and feelings toward the documentary, I am very mixed. Jonestown itself is a very dark subject but, at the same time, I feel like I have learned a lot from it. My belief is that in the beginning of Jonestown, Jim Jones had great intentions. His main goal was to create the “perfect” world, a world without poverty and racism. These are great ideas that everyone should strive for. However, Jim Jones’s insecurities took over his mind and caused him to be afraid and worried of the outside world. Overall, Jim Jones’s intentions were good until his own worries got to him and...
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...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...
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...[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines] Jim Jones Visionary Leader/Ethical Leader Synthesis Essay In this essay I will explain why Jim Jones was a Visionary Leader but by no means an ethical leader. In many ways Jim Jones was decades ahead of his time with regards to social issues. His leadership helped many disadvantaged people in Indianapolis, Indiana. At first glance it may appear he used his Visionary Leadership for a higher cause; however his unethical pursuits, ultimately resulted in the downfall of his church, his followers and himself when 914 members of his congregation committed suicide after “drinking the Kool Aid”. Visionary Leadership From early in his life Jim Jones had a vision of the world he wanted to live in. Jim Jones was born the only child of a disabled veteran father and working mother during the Great Depression. His poor upbringing shaped his vision of a world in which all people were equal. As an adult he began to attend uni-racial churches in Indianapolis. In 1961 he became the first white man to adopt and African-American child in Indiana (Ryan, 2011). Shortly thereafter he became disenfranchised with the segregation, of the congregations, in the churches he attended. In response to this social norm of the time, Jim Jones visionary leadership began. He started by establishing the Peoples Temple and invited all races and social demographics to join his congregation. Jim Jones encouraged Demographic Diversity (USAF) because...
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...Drinking the Kool-Aid? On November 18, 1978, at a commune often called “Jonestown” in the jungle of Guyana, 900 people died in a mass murder/suicide; all were members of the Peoples Temple, an American religious cult. At the request of their leader, men and women administered lethal doses of cyanide-laced punch to over 300 infants and children before gulping down their own. How could so many people be convinced to kill their babies and themselves? His name was James Warren Jones. Like his idol, Hitler, he was a dominant propagandist, a charismatic leader, and an evil human being. Summaries In the piece “Propaganda under a Dictatorship” (1958/2016), Aldous Huxley, renowned English novelist, and Oxford graduate expands on ideas he first presented in his 1932 novel, Brave New World, which examines a futuristic culture in which no individual thought takes form. Huxley’s essay explores the practical use of propaganda by Adolph Hitler in controlling the minds of eighty million German people in the years leading to the Second World War. He examines, with chilling account, Hitler’s...
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...James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader and community organizer. Jones was the founder and the leader of the Peoples Temple, best known for the mass murder-suicide in November 1978 of 909 of its members in Jonestown, Guyana,[1] and the murder of five people at a nearby airstrip, including Congressman Leo Ryan. Over two hundred children were murdered at Jonestown, almost all of them by cyanide poisoning.[2] Jones died from a gunshot wound to the head; it is suspected his death was a suicide. Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple there in the 1950s. He later moved the Temple to California in the mid-1960s, and gained notoriety with the move of the Temple's headquarters to San Francisco in the early 1970s. Jones was born in a rural area of Randolph County, Indiana,[3] to James Thurman Jones (1887 – 1951), a World War I veteran, and Lynetta Putnam (1902 – 1977). Lynetta reportedly believed she had given birth to a messiah.[4][5] He was of Irish and Welsh descent.[6] Jones later claimed partial Cherokee ancestry through his mother, though according to his maternal second cousin Barbara Shaffer, this is likely untrue.[6][note 1] Economic difficulties during the Great Depression necessitated that Jones' family move to nearby Lynn, Indiana in 1934, where he grew up in a shack without plumbing.[2][7] Jones was a voracious reader as a child and studied Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler carefully...
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...surface he preached equality and between genders and races, but in reality failed to achieve this harmonious vision. Jones’ thesis utters that if you want to understand Jonestown, you have to look at humanity because refusing to understand Jonestown was refusing to fully commit yourself to the study of religion. The author reinforces “Nothing is foreign to me” through recognition of the ordinary humanness Jonestown’s White Night victims. To begin, after watching the short film about Jonestown, I found it a funny coincidence that Post Malone released his new album “beerbongs and bentleys” including a song called “Jonestown”. The interlude of Malone’s song repeats...
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...On May 31, 1937, ten people lost their lives. The Memorial day Massacre was one of the most brutal massacres ever in the United States of America. But, it was an important part of the Great Depression. What happened was that Chicago union protesters were protesting about Republic Steel’s Chicago plant turning union. But the steel mill was ready for the protesters. Republic Steel’s Chicago plant hired police. The company-hired police blocked the pickets. Once the pickets arrived, they were surprised to see the Chicago police’s blockade. Then the protesters and the Chicago police started squabbling, and out of the blue, the Chicago police pulled out their revolvers and shot into the mob, killing ten of the “rebels.” This all happened...
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...Religion is a major contributor to the prejudices and social detachment in the structure of society. Religion is practiced all over the world in some form or aspect. Religion may be defined as the concept of devoting one’s life to a standard of set codes, beliefs, rituals and/ or traditions. Early religions practiced in America justified conformity in early settlers. One of the first structural religions practiced after the arrival of the Europeans to America has influences of Puritanism (Jamestown 1492). Christianity among many different religious, originated from the concept that some individuals are blessed with while others are cursed (Cain and Abel, Genesis, Ch. 4, Holy Bible, King James). This chapter in the Bible has been used to discipline, control race relations, social contacts, and individual life styles to name a few. The Holy Bible is used actively in the United States court room, before every testimony, A Judge or bailiff will ask Individuals if they “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God? Jim Jones founded the “Peoples Temple Full Gospel Christian Church”, (Wessinger, 2000) as a means of providing hope in desperate times, elderly, poor, and disadvantaged citizens were converting. Jim Jones used social and ethnic issues to subdue his flock of mostly African Americans. The Christian aspect of the People’s Temple was soon transformed into what many refer to as a “cult”. The power associated with religious...
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...BUS381 Solutions Focused Leadership Laura Schade Dr. Marjorie Lott Argosy University – Inland Empire Analyzing Jim Jones as a Leader When analyzing what is determined as a good leader, one must think about what leadership really is. According to our text, “leadership is a complex phenomenon involving the leader, the followers, and the situation.” (Chapter 1) A leader is someone who is able to influence others to attain goals. “Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes whether religious or political or social…an essential element that all leaders share whether for good or evil goals is vision.” (Mosley, 2009) Jim Jones had a vision of making the world a better place. Or at least that was what he wanted people to believe. In Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, an article by Jennifer Rosenberg, she says that Jim had one child and adopted several children of different ethnicities. He was proud of his “rainbow family” and tried to encourage others to adopt interracially. He was against segregation which was not a popular idea in his time. He started his own church in 1956, the Peoples Temple in Indianapolis, Indiana. Most churches were segregated at that time, but Jim Jones offered a utopian view of what society could become. He was a charismatic man who demanded loyalty and preached of sacrifice. His church established soup kitchens and homes for elderly and also helped people find jobs. In 1966, he moved the church to California because it seemed more open to an integrationist...
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...On November 18, 1978, in what is known as the “Jonestown Massacre,” more than 900 members of an American cult died in a mass suicide-murder under their leader Jim Jones. The mass suicide-murder took place at the Jonestown settlement in the South American nation of Guyana. James founded what turned into the Peoples Temple. Jones moved to Guyanese jungle where he made the Peoples Temple into what was supposed to be a real life paradise. Who would've thought that a gift from Heaven would later on turn out to be a gift from Hell in 1978. Jim Jones began his own religion at a young age and he often visited different churches in his area. As Jones’s knowledge grew on religions he began taking what he learned and going to houses preaching and he also preached to younger children. He was no normal teenage boy he wasn’t so much into sports, he believed to be sinful, he liked to drink and dance. After he had gathered a good amount of followers he had developed a church of his own. Jones was the leader of his church named, “the Peoples Temple” and he demanded loyalty and preached sacrifice. He believed the American Capitalism was the reason for unhealthy balance in the world. The rich had too much money and the poor worked to hard to try to get money. The Peoples Temple helped people find jobs and was suppose to be fair. Jones church was growing and was very successful, until investigations began and Jones decided it was time to move the Peoples Temple to a different location. Jim Jones...
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...Thesis Jim Jones formed The People’s Temples that had hundreds, even thousands of followers from a large range of religious and social backgrounds. It was a mystery on how he was able to manipulate and brainwash so many people to follow him and portray himself as their saviour, let along make them do a loyalty test by telling them to drink poison. Many people have different opinion regarding the massacre that occurred in Jonestown on November 18th 1978. This is one of the biggest mystery related to the Jonestown. Was the massacre a suicide performed by the group members to show their loyalty towards Jim Jones or was it cover up for murder? There was a lot of supporting evidence to show that this was an act of murder which was tried to cover...
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...Lucius Jones was a cruddy and cantankerous bigoted racist. Anyone who didn’t agree with his ideas could “go straight to hell," and anyone who wasn’t from the same race as him, could “burn in hell”. There was a decided difference between the two damnations and Lucius would be more than obliged to explain it to anyone who thought otherwise, if only anyone had the backbone to ask him. He was a crusty, willowy scarecrow looking old man with long gangly limbs, a thin narrow frame and an even thinner face with a hollowed out right eye socket. The empty hole could hold a glass eye, but Lucius chose not to use one and he refused to wear an eye patch. He knew it made people uncomfortable and he liked that. His dingy colored hair, which he rarely washed, was lacquered against his skull into a nearly impenetrable helmet from applying copious amounts of hair tonic. His clothes, usually a flannel shirt, no matter the season, and dungaree pants, well wrinkled, sported faded dirt spots and stunk from consecutive days of wear. His excessively worn brown leather shoes made a slight squeaking sound whenever he moved his feet; at least that was the hope of what was behind the sound. It was common consensus throughout town that Lucius Jones was uncouth enough to be flatulent in public and it was often joked that the squeak wasn’t his shoes. He approached the entrance to the local insurance shop to pay his bill, but he struggled to push the massively thick glass door open. Lucius said to no one...
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...In the eyes of Phillip Kent, the town was going to hell. First, they built the air force base that caused large military trucks to clog up the roads. Then they built the test site where they plotted the end of the world. And plot they did. Phillip would rant and rave and scream and complain to anyone that would listen. “They’re doing stuff over there that’s not right,” he would say, his hands shaking and his long face dripping with sweat. “I know. I read the Book of Revelations. I know end times when I see it, and this here’s the end times – mark my words. They’re messing with things that shouldn’t be messed with.” Still, no one paid him any mind. Every town had their fool, and Phillip was the fool of Beatty, Nevada. So, when Doris and Marvin Hinckley moved to Beatty in the summer of ’57, they followed suit with the rest of the town. They backed Eisenhower, feared the Reds, went to church on Sunday, and stayed away from Crazy Phillip. The only problem was that he lived next door. Being the gracious American’s the Hinckley’s sworn to be, they tried to make nice with their rather eccentric neighbor. But the conversations were prickly, to say the least. “You work at that base. You’re a part of it wheater you like it or not. Don’t tell me you don’t see those lights in the sky. Don’t tell me you don’t notice this town is being infected by the cancers and tumors of ungodly origin. What are you people messing with other there? What did you bring into my town?” It was at this part of...
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