Group collaboration 2 Jonestown
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The Jonestown Massacre, a tragedy happening in 1978, killed hundreds. A massive suicide involving cyanide and a juice-based mixer. Jim Jones led Jonestown in Guyana, South America. The People called themselves “The Peoples Temple,” a Christian-based faith. Thought of as a cult, The People’s Temple held just around 950 people. Jones sought control over these people, leaving them no access to the outside world and forbidding them to leave.
Jim Jones began his rise through the San Francisco, California, church culture. Jones campaigned for what Britannica calls “the evils of racism and poverty.” Gaining popularity, he acclaimed a church, naming it the Peoples Temple. After some expansion, Jones eventually moved his church to its destination of Guyana, South America. It is here that Jonestown became a full-on cult. Jones had a background deriving from Pentecostal Christianity. His Ideas led him to believe he was the new coming of Christ. Jones used his followers “unpaid labor for the church and often broke contact with their families. They were expected to raise their children within the commune. As a show of commitment, Peoples Temple members were asked to sign false testimonials that they had molested their children, which the church kept for potential blackmail ( Conroy). Jones portrayed himself as their sacred. Jones, when starting his church, had a fear of the world coming to an abrupt end. He used this to his advantage, collecting those who believed the same. Jones piggybacked most of the struggles at the current time, especially those who joined because of the church's advantages. Sarah Harvey writes, " Many of these young people were involved in the Civil Rights movement and Anti-Vietnam War protests. These political youths, particularly the women, would become the Peoples Temple leaders in Jonestown." Harvey also touches on the political force Jones had while in San Francisco, the championing of peace and equality, which attracted the eyes of many. Harvey also touched on Jones's belief that he had psychoactive powers. Setting up staged healings to prove to others it was real. Claiming God had anointed him.
Forms of Salvation within the Peoples Temple:-KJ,JM,MA
The Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, offered several forms of salvation to its followers. Firstly, salvation was equated with total commitment to Jim Jones himself. Members believed that by fully dedicating themselves to Jones and following his guidance without question, they would achieve spiritual salvation and purpose.
Furthermore, the Peoples Temple propagated a captivating utopian vision of salvation. With his persuasive rhetoric, Jones promised his followers a society devoid of oppression, discrimination, and inequality. This vision of salvation entailed communal living and the establishment of a harmonious, egalitarian community where members could coexist in tranquility and unity.
Tragically, Jones also propagated the notion of death as a form of salvation. He manipulated his followers into believing that death, mainly through the mass suicide/murder at Jonestown, would liberate them from perceived threats and suffering in the world. This distorted belief led to one of the most tragic events in modern history. The people of Jonestown often practiced these suicides as a form of ritual.
Another way Jones offered salvation was the engagement in politics. In one of his sermons, he says “We say, oh the church shouldn’t have anything to do with government. Oh, yes it should, the government is upon his shoulders. We have to get involved with politics… It’s your duty.” (Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple). Because of this statement, the members of the Peoples Temple sought salvation through politics. Also, after this statement, the number of members who participate in politics rapidly increased.
Addressing the Problem of Evil:-KJ,JM
The Peoples Temple, under Jim Jones' leadership, attempted to address the problem of evil through a highly authoritarian structure. Jones positioned himself as the ultimate authority, claiming to possess the power to protect his followers from evil forces both within and outside the group. Jones had communist traits; he wanted to maintain power and control. "He taught that American capitalist culture was irredeemably corrupt and would be destroyed. Communists, including the USSR, China, and Cuba, as well as members of the Peoples Temple, would survive to ‘establish the perfect communist society’ (Weissenger)."
However, rather than mitigating evil, Jones himself became the embodiment of it. Through manipulation, psychological abuse, and coercion, he exerted control over his followers, leading them down a path of destruction. Psychological abuse in the forms of "Temple members were regularly humiliated, beaten, and blackmailed, and many were coerced or brainwashed into signing over their possessions—including their homes—to the church (Britannica)."
Despite claims of offering salvation from evil, the Peoples Temple ultimately perpetuated it. The group's belief system and practices created an environment of fear, control, and blind obedience, ultimately culminating in the tragic mass murder-suicide at Jonestown. This catastrophic event stands as a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked authority and manipulation within religious movements. Jonestown was the perfect example of a cult, as it is a variation of Christianity. Although its ideas of salvation aren't the same, the concept of evil portrays a similar picture to that of Christianity. Jones used and took control of The Temple's People for the good of his own, using and mistreating most.
References[edit]
Citations:KI,JM,MA
- Weissenger, M. (n.d.). "Jim Jones: The Malaise of Millennialism." Independent Institute.
- "Peoples Temple." Britannica.
- Hall, John R. Gone from the Promised Land: Jonestown in American Cultural History. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers, 1987.
- Guinn, Jeff. The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017.
-Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. (2015). Q929 Transcript. Jonestown Institute. Retrieved from http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=27617Links to an external site.
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