Mass Suicide by Jim Jones' Cult

John Lewis has never let his 40+ arrest affect what he stands for. In Lewis’ book March, he tells his story of segregation in the 60’s and the events that shaped his life. From when he was a little kid, to an older adult, March displays Lewis deal with the segregation in the south, and the hard ships others endure. Although he experienced many events in his life, John Lewis used those events to build himself religiously and help others. Receiving his first bible, Jim Lawsons workshops, his decision not to go to college and Martin Luther King’s speech all helped him become who he is.

James Eagan Holmes was born December 13, 1987. Holmes is now identified as a mass murder after murdering 12 people and wounding 70 in a shooting that took place at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Heterotypic continuity best described James Holmes behavior throughout his life. His underlying developmental process impairment stayed the same, but the way he acted them out drastically changed leading to the mass shooting. This impairment being James’ antisocial behavior. I would look at James Holmes through Sampson and Laub’s age-graded theory of social control. The three components of this theory are that structural context is intervened by informal family and school social controls, there is a continuity in antisocial behavior from childhood through adulthood, and that informal social bonds to family and employment during adulthood explain changes in criminality over the life span (Laub and Sampson 1993: 7).

He proposed this through the preaching of the holy gospel and opening the door to all religious beliefs. He promised religious freedom and property and wealth to all.

Antisocial personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (National Institute of Mental Health, 2007). It is often characterized by blatant inattention to social norms and laws, pathological lying, putting others at risk for personal benefit, and an obvious lack of remorse (NIMH, 2007). One of the most notorious people with this disorder is Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer and necrophiliac whose sexual nature and gruesome offenses captured the nation’s attention (Talbott, n.d.). This paper will attempt to provide an overview of Dahmer’s life, as well as explain how both nature and nurture played roles in not only the production of a criminal, but also in the personality of all people.

Jeffrey Dahmer, also commonly known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, is one of America’s most notorious serial killers. In the span of nearly 15 years, between the years 1978 and 1991, it is estimated that Dahmer was responsible for the death of fifteen to seventeen young men (Radford University). As his nickname suggests Dahmer was known for drugging his victims, then raping them, then disembodying them, and if the mood fit him, cooking and eating his victims. Dahmer’s unique case resulted in him being psychologically analyzed and diagnosed by at least seven different psychologists during his trial (Palermo & Bogaerts, 2014). This paper seeks to explore the diagnostics given to Jeffery Dahmer and prove, through the use of available information, their accuracy.

A Research Paper on the “The Contribution of Baptists in the Struggle for Religious Freedom”

Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity allowed me to comprehend fully the past occurrences of psychology and theology. The book displayed the faith and confidence that both psychology and Christianity must be combined in order for it to have a better understanding and allowing the client a better chance of healing. In order to do this there must be a complete understanding of each component in and of itself. Entwistle’s (2010) book presented all the facts from history as it has shaped society today (pp. 18-34). As he discussed these historic events, it shows just how the wisdom that is held today is a reflection or reaction of what happened then. Christianity has always had a huge impact on world history

It made others realize more about religion and how it impacted their own lives. This caused the number of denominations to increase and competitiveness of American churches to rise. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield played big role in the increase in religious toleration. They both had the same beliefs and motivated to write sermons to the people about good works and predestination. Both men believed that if you do not good works you are being called upon to receive the wrath of God and will be sent down to hell.

In the early 18th century, there was an increased movement away from the church due to the encouragement to value logic and reason over faith in the church. This caused the faith in the church to become incredibly low. Going to church started to be a chore, and individuals would only go to receive the sermon, if at all. Upon seeing the overall state of religious faith, preachers began taking their sermons to the people by preaching in central areas and going from church to church throughout the colonies. This became known as the first Great Awakening. At the forefront of the Great Awakening were preachers that came from England who would use evangelism to bring their word to the religiously complacent population of the colonies. The most prominent of these preachers were Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. In other words, the first Great Awakening was an explosion in evangelical activity in the colonies.

Throughout Jim Jones childhood and adulthood Jim Jones was a very religious person which changed his experience towards many things in his lifetime. Jim Jones was born on May 13, 1931 and throughout his childhood “he was a strong student, especially in public speaking, but he had few friends. His overpowering zest turned off some, and he, in turn, disliked many typical teenage boy activities such as sports, and objected what he believed to be sinful behavior, such as dancing and drinking” (Biography.com Editors). Ever since his childhood, his religious beliefs had taken over his body and viewed many things against him throughout his

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

Despite his situation, he continued to he preach his philosophies and as a result, converted many people from Catholicism to what was now commonly referred to as Protestant. This is known as the Protestant Reformation.

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.''

Some of the people were just compliant. They yielded to social pressure in their public behavior, even though their private beliefs had not changed. I believe these people to be the ones who ended up wanting to leave the cult. Some of these people were killed for trying to leave. There were still others who conformed to the social norms for fear of negative social consequences which they called catharsis. Their example of catharsis was, for example, if a teenager was accused of being rude to a senior citizen , the congregation would hear the evidence and vote on the teenagers innocence or guilt. The punishment could be a severe spanking administered by Jones. Adults who transgressed were punished by being placed in a ring and forced to box with bigger, stronger Temple members. Transgressions subject to catharsis ranged from selfishness, sexism, discourtesy to drug and alcohol abuse, and petty crimes for which members could be arrested and convicted by public authorities.

This allowed him to gain their obedience; they knew that they had to obey him to avoid punishment. There was no way to escape Jones, he seemed to be everywhere. He had them spying on one another and anything not acceptable would be immediately reported to Jones. He also had loud speakers everywhere that he would send messages through, this let the followers know that he was everywhere no matter what they were doing. Because everyone was obedient and thankful to Jones it was difficult to think he was wrong. In 1972 he staged his own death to sow panic then relief among his followers; he also staged attacks on his temple to further heighten fear, this also increased solidarity (Russell, pg 40). Jones also had his followers practice suicide drills and stated that “the proper thing to do was to kill yourself before they get you”(paraphrase article). The mass suicide/murder that happened on November 18, 1978 consisted of about 1,000 people drinking lethal cyanide punch. This included small children, women, and men; a total of 912 people died. Both obedience and conformity played a role in this tragedy. If they did not obey his command of drinking it then they would be shot in the head. Others complied with the drinking of the poison because they had to believe what was in accordance with others including Jones. Prisons are also similar to cults, they include obedience and compliance.