The Case Of Jim Jones And The Peoples Temple

Jim Jones, for example, was a visionary and he used religion to influence his followers to join his “community”. Jones persuasion was highly successful among the homeless, dispossessed, lonely, and lower-middle-class. These individuals were drawn in large numbers to the Peoples Temple. Using reams of personal documents and types of propaganda to recruit more people to Jonestown. Jonestown gave them fellowship, a dream of social justice, social services clinics for free health care, drug rehabs, legal aid, and a sense of purpose. Jones followers gave him all their worldly possessions, money, and all the power he needed even though he was just as average as his followers. Jones didn't start out as this powerful leader he came to be , he was born into a bitterly unhappy home in Crete, Indiana. “Jones himself was also a drug addict, a sexual predator among both sexes, and somehow he accomplished to fake to a large amount of people that he was against everything that he was still doing in secret” (George Russell). Jim eventually found his place as a member of a small Christian church in his home town. Jones said he joined the religion because he never felt accepted, and he was drawn to fellow outcasts. He soon acquired a gift for charismatic preaching and took it to neighborhoods that were populated primarily by African American in the 1950s. It was in these neighborhoods where he preached racial inclusion and gathered a mixed-race congregation. This did not sit well with many people in this era before the civil rights movement, and it added to his progressive reputation. He became head of the Indianapolis Human Rights Commission, which is a large reason he would recruit different ethnicities to join his temple. Jones also in order to get more members used informers in his audiences to get information out of the unsuspecting faithful that he could reveal as evidence of clairvoyant powers, and he hired fake invalids who would rise from

Jim Jones as a Prophet November 18, 1978 it all ended. Jim Jones and his followers committed mass suicide in Guyana, South America. The history of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple is still studied a great deal today. Why did all those people follow Jones? Were they forced, were they brain washed, or was Jones just that charismatic.

Existing in this book are fifteen essays, all written by Flynt, and all are relative to the South, religion, and diversity. His essays review southern history, politics, southern regionalism, evangelicalism, traditionalism, fundamentalism, social history, labor history, two case studies; one on the Southern Baptists in Appalachia and of modernization and community; the second one of twentieth-century politics and religion in Florida. Asserts the complexity of social issues and the reforms Baptists felt were necessary to change. He expounds a minister’s battle within a church to not display the American flag because of the death involved behind it and to not be willing for his church life to be separated from his personal convictions. Flynt

Jim Jones had many jobs before he became leader of the peoples temple. As a child he spent much of his time alone. He began preaching at 10 years old after going on weekly trips to church with a neighbor of his. He continued his strong religious beliefs when moved to Indianapolis with his mother. Jones became a minister at a local church and held racially integrated services to the church’s displeasure. During the mid 1950’s Jones opened his first church of The People’s Temple while still living in Indiana. As the cult grew in the 60’s Jones relocated to Northern California and soon after opened churches in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Followers of the People’s Temple often referred to him as ‘father’ or ‘Dad’.

The 1970s was a decade that was full of social reform and protests. People believed that they could change the world through social movements, in search of the hope that was lost with so much going on during this time. Jim Jones was one of these people, he wanted to change the world, and he had a vision of the Promised Land so he created the People’s Temple. The People’s Temple was a racially integrated church that Jones created to spread his beliefs on religion, socialism, and racial integrity. It was with these beliefs, paranoia, and his way with people that he convinced 909 people to commit suicide by drinking Kool-Aid with cyanide.

On November 18, 1978, with the help of grape flavored Flavor-Aid, over 900 members of “The people’s temple” were killed in a mass suicide directed by leader Jim Jones. In the beginning Jones movement was one that helped the poor and needy but with a growing number of members, unflattering reports surfaced. With former members telling stories of having all belongings, homes, and even children being taken from them Jones was forced to move his congregation to Guyana where he promised to build a socialist utopia. However, Jones created a socialist government far from utopia. Members worked long hours, had phone calls or any communication censored, and harsh punishment was given to anyone who questioned Jones. After hearing about these living circumstances,

Jim Jones started as a reverend who started his own racially-mixed church whose main goal was to eradicate racism. This church became known as the people’s temple and was well known throughout Indianapolis for their work. The People’s Temple opened an orphanage and soup kitchen; they also provided assistance to disabled people in the area. In addition to his church’s good work, Jim Jones and his wife became the first couple in Indiana to adopt a black child (Wunrow, Rose). Everything seemed to be going well for the People’s Temple and Jim Jones; however, this seemingly wholesome church would eventually lead to as assassinated congressman and one of the largest mass suicide events in history.

Arias had a pattern of unstable interpersonal romantic relationships with men, and the dynamics repeated in her relationships. She alternated between extremes of idealization and devaluation, and she was a chameleon, changing herself to fit in the people around her, in this case joining the Mormon Church a short time after meeting Alexander. In the beginning of these relationships she displayed intense fascination and were intrigued by their personality quirks, when she was ready to move on she then made claims of sexual deviancy, physical and emotional abuse, and in the case of Alexander, even stated he was a pedophile.

Along with a territory, comes its traditions and ways of living. One key aspect of the Appalachian life is religion. Religion plays a major role in Appalachia as well as the creation of Berea college. Focusing on the Christian traditions found in central and southern Appalachia, numerous scholars examine the theology and religious doctrines of the various mountain, Evangelical, Pentecostal and mainline denominational churches throughout the region. In the last several decades, the research of Appalachian scholars such as Ronald L. Lewis, Dwight B. Billings, Wilma Dunaway, and others contributed to the deconstruction of numerous economic and social myths. Until the 1970s, most of the literary and academic works on Appalachia failed to recognize

By the late 1970’s Jones’ congregation peaked in numbers, so did the persona of Jim Jones. His image was that of a messiah, the personal object of the People’s Temple, “Father” to his devout followers (Osherow). Jones had their unwavering loyalty, unconditional love, their worldly possessions, and believers who were under his will. He had the components to begin building his paradise, his city, his infamous legacy, Jonestown.

Jim Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project also known as Jonestown. This American religious organization is most known internationally for the events that happened on November 18, 1978. In the 1950s, the group was founded, but the Temple moved their following to San Fransisco in the mid 1970s. But even there they received critical claims and had several newspaper articles written about the group. The course of those events plus the defection of eight temple leaders made Jones prepare for an escape plan to get out of the United States and find a new place to make a compound for his group. There were several places that were considered, but eventually the Temple chose Guyana because of its own socialist politics.

The People’s Temple was a new religious movement founded on April 4th, 1955 by founder James Warren Jones. The movement had over 1000 members and lived on together, segregated from the outside society in a small encampment of Jonestown in the country of Guyana. The encampment which claimed to be a utopia, over time changed into an environment delegates have never signed up to be a part of, being part of one of the world’s most unfortunate massacre incidents.

This paper explores the different views of religion between three sociologist writers, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Emile Durkheim. It discusses a few different religions and the percent of Indiana that is religious. It will go into examples about how religion has developed over time and how Christians all have one big thing in common. Throughout the paper, it will explain how Christians are trying to share the word of God and make their community a better place.

When I consider those leaders who have used charisma to negative ends, a few examples immediately come to mind. David Koresh, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, and Osama bin Laden are all men who used their charismatic style of leadership in order to convey a specific ideology and persuade many to commit horrific acts to themselves and others. Although each of these provides ample fodder for analysis, the leader I have chosen for this analysis is Marshall Applewhite, the former head of the cult known as Heaven’s Gate.

The Peoples Temple A cult is a system sharing religious beliefs and devotion towards a specific figure or object. Every system or organization has a leader, and a cult leader is followed blindly by his/her followers. Leadership and control over people is a form of manipulation and the people who mastered it to perfection are the people who are at the top of the pyramid. Jim Jones is the founder of Peoples temple and he is a great example.