Jonestown: The Life And Death Of Peoples Temple

Lastly, in the incident with Jonestown, showed the most extreme case of conformity and obedience. Jim Jones was a pastor at Peoples Temple, he was the leader of an interracial church. For its time, Jim Jones was pushing past race and ethnicity and introducing a new church that welcomed all people. Jones was the type of man that made people feel comfortable and at home; maybe that is why so many people followed him when he moved his temple across the county and then to Guyana. I think what made people interested in Jonestown was how the community seemed very close and simple, but who would have guessed that those 900 townspeople would all commit mass suicide just because one man said to. The question that remains is, why did so many people obey

This led Seymour to hold meetings in the home of Richard and Ruth Asberry (214 North Bonnie Brae Street). These meetings were already controversial because they were interracial, included women, and teachings of the baptism of the holy spirit were frequently taught. (“William Seymour and the Azusa”). The house was starting to become crowded, that they had to find another building to hold these meetings. “Expectancy of revival intensified in Los Angeles, California, when believers there heard about the remarkable revival in Wales, where from September 1904 to June 1905, 100,000 people were converted to Christ. For the evangelicals around the world who had been praying for the outpouring of the latter rain of the Spirit as promised by the Old Testament prophet Joel (2:23-29).” (“William Seymour and the Azusa”). For a long time, believers in God had been waiting for revival to come and spark the excitement for Him once again. So when Azusa had started, it got many eager to see the work of the holy spirit to pour out. The revival impacted many who came, one man being Charles Mason. Mason was a man who had heard about the Azusa and traveled to California to check it out to experience it on his own. Meantime visiting there, his life changed for the better, thanks to Seymour. “A turning point in Mason’s life came in March 1907 when he journeyed to Los Angeles, California, to attend the great Pentecostal revival that everybody was talking about--- the Azusa Revival. As he entered the little mission on Azusa Street, he heard Brother Seymour preaching from Luke 24:49” (Liardon). Luke 24:49 says, “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Liardon) This scripture from the bible means, to wait where you are and

The higher ranking people in Jones’ cult (who were more educated) saw the incident as a Political & Ideological movement. Jones also convinced them that this would lead to a Utopia where everyone could co-exist together.

Culturally speaking observing the worship service demonstrated just how important of a role religion is for African Americans. There seemed to be a lot of focus on social

The leader of Jonestown, Jim Jones, applied this tactic to help fund the People’s Temple move to Guyana. Members of his church signed over personal items such as homes and custody of their own children. They also donated money for the move to Guyana, which Jones wanted because he faced unwanted media attention and investigations. The signing over of belongings was the smaller request Jones asked of his followers. The larger request Jones asked was for everyone to kill themselves by drinking poison. Since his followers agreed to the smaller request of signing over money and belonging, they are more likely to agree to his larger request of suicide. In addition to Jim Jones, Family International founder, David Berg, used the same tactic to help him achieve his goal. In order to join his cult, he suggested to his members that they

On the other hand, McIntosh commented in her interview that the neighboring master “have lots of land…and fixed up his slaves their own cabin” where missionaries came and preached. In another account, Nellie Jones of Savannah describes how “a gray-headed planter catechized us negro children …But I heard of the missionary instructing a large number of colored boys and girls at the big-planters farm”

Structural Functionalism is defined as, “a society which is a whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together” and “ its society as a living organism/ machine that has multiple organs and parts and people to fulfill their individual functions; working together to make it happen ” (Henslin 2015, Smith 2017).

Our American people learned about freedom and the consequences, good or bad, that may occur from it at the church. Also, there was no segregation allowed at the church. People of any race could attend and worship without worry. That freedom is still held strong and practiced today. As you can see, this church has many things that we can learn from it and the past.

In the PBS film, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple”, it illustrates an extreme example of one radical religious leader's control over hundreds of people to the extent of convincing them to voluntarily commit a "revolutionary suicide" in their attempted utopian settlement in Guyana. In the 1970's various changes were being made and through social and cultural movements, including political and religious, people wanted something to believe in. They wanted to fight for a cause that would change the world. Jim Jones preyed on the members of the Peoples' Temple and gained his ultimate control through promoting activism, managing all the finances of each member while providing them with benefits, and through creating a sense of

One of Jones' long time followers Tim Stoen explained, "There wasn't anything magical about Jim's power. It was raw politics. He was able to deliver what politicians want, which is power. And how do you get power? By votes. And how do you get votes? With people. Jim Jones could produce 3,000 people at a political event.''

: The structures that make up the Temple of Heaven are meant to signify the relationship between heaven and earth, more importantly the connection between the emperors and God. The through in It was believed that offerings made by the emperor to the Gods, would bring a flourishing harvests, as he was believed to be the closest being to god. The structure itself was built so majestically to represent it descending into heaven. The main ceremonies that were held within the hall were all on the basis of worshipping heaven and so it was believed by doing so, it would be seen as favorable to the gods, enough to be blessed with an abundance supply of harvests such as grain. The ceremonial interior of the hall was built in such a way as to emphasize

In the last several months of Peoples Temple before the massacre Congressmen Ryan, his aid, and a few others made a trip to Jonestown. Their first impression of the community was positive, until they received a couple notes saying, “help us get out of Jonestown”. At that time Jones’ paranoia increased, he believed that all of his followers we going to leave with the

On November 18, 1978 more than nine hundred people died in one of the largest mass murder/suicides in history. The man that implemented and carried out that atrocity was James Warren Jones, otherwise known as Jim Jones, a self proclaimed Second Coming (God). His exposure to an intensely emotional Pentecostal church service influenced and shaped his future beliefs and actions. In 1960, despite his lack of theological training, Jim Jones became an ordained minister. He made racial equality one of goals. Jim Jones also used fear arousal to recruit his followers by Genocide and thermonuclear war.

Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.

The intention of the Quakers was to rehabilitate the offender and bring him/her to repentance understanding that all answers came through God. As the laws changed abolishing the use of capital punishment for any crime other than first-degree murder, Quaker ideology recognized that the opportunity to rehabilitate individuals incarcerated or their crimes would make them better citizens and not merely institutionalized individuals when they were released. “It was believed that penitence; pastoral counseling and reasonable discipline would correct antisocial behavior” (Bartollas, 2013). The goal of the institution was solitude as this would provide the individuals time for reflection