Jim Jonesand the Peoples' Temple

Jim Jones

Who was Jim Jones?

-James Warren "Jim" Jones was an Indiana native who attended both Indiana at Bloomington and Butler University.

-He was an ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ Denomination.

-He claimed to be a Fundamentalist pasteur and was a vigorous advocate for social and racial justice.

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Early Life-Jones was born in Randolph County Indiana right near the Ohio border.-Jim Jones parents were James Thurman Jones and Lynetta Putnam.

-Lynetta believed that she had given birth to the Messiah.-Jim's father was a known member of the Klu Klux Klan.

-Jones Grew up in a shack in Lynn, Indiana with no plumbing.-In his highschool days Jim was an Avid book reader; some of his favorite authors included Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, and Adolf Hitler.

-Jones carefully studied all of their weaknesses.-Needless to say Jimmy had some trouble finding friends.

Peoples' Temple Facts-The religion that Jones preached was more of a blend of Communism with Christianity than pure Christianity.

-The Peoples Temple was moved a total of two times, once to California and another to South America.

-Prior to 9/11/2001, the mass suicide of this organization was the largest non-natural loss of US citizen lives.

-The Peoples Temple was founded in Indianapolis.

Formation of the Peoples' Temple

-Jones saw the way African Americans were oppressed in society.-He wanted a way to spread his Marxist ideals.

-It made him angry when Communists in the States were given so much criticism.-Jones decided that the best way to spread his beliefs was through the church because the church is what he always turned to as a lonely boy.-The church he started came to be called The Peoples Temple.

-It was originally created as an interracial gathering for the sick and homeless.

Founding of Jonestown-When the Peoples temple was in Indianapolis it was comprised of about 900 members.-The government began to hear the Jones possessed mysterious cures for diseases like Cancer and decided to investigate (this was actually propaganda Jones used to seduce people into the Temple).-In response to this, Jim decided to move to Ukiah, California to escape the government and recruit more members.-The 1970's magazine New West raised suspicion about illegal activities within the temple.

-Jones and his followers moved to the jungles of Guyana, South America and founded their own settlement called Jonestown in 1974.

Jonestown

-Jonestown became a climate of fear due to the highly paranoid members and ruthlessness of Jones.-Mass suicides were often practiced where members would pretend to drink poison.-Members of the temple who followed Jones to Guyana were told that it would be a paradise and agricultural settlement, but they were flat-out lied to.

Morals and Values

-The people of Jonestown were most afraid of a nuclear apocalypse.-Jones was said to have engage in "deviant sexual practices" with his members.-The brainwashed settlement in the jungle believed that government agents might attack them at any time.-Jim Jones developed a belief called translation in which he and his followers would die together and be transported to another planet for a life of bliss.

Jittery Jim-Jim Jones began abusing drugs in the 70's, causing him to become more paranoid than he already was.-Jones believed that the entire world would perish in a nuclear war, which was his own theory of "Doomsday".-Jones wanted to be known as the father, protector, and preserver of his people, faking "cancer healings" and taking custody of all peoples belongings, including their children.

All of these previous facts about Jim Jones are believed to be the cause for what was to come when the government began investigating the settlement.

The Representitive

-After the allegations of Jim's right-hand man that the town was being run like a concentration camp, and also the rumors about Jones having discovered the cures to terrible diseases and illnesses, Representative Leo Ryan decided to investigate the town personally.-16 people were going to leave the temple once Ryan came to Jonestown, but Jim Jones heard of this and ordered his security guards to surround the plane and start firing upon the people leaving, killing Ryan and four others. Three of them were from the media, and one was a person trying to leave the temple. Eleven others were injured.

Leading to the Mass Suicide

-After Jones' guards killed Ryan, the reporters, and the defector, Jones gave a final sermon to his people.

The most important parts of this sermon include:-It is now time to commit suicide.-The government threaten our way of life.-This is a revolutionary act, not a suicide.

Some members of the Peoples Temple begged Jones not to order the suicide, but were shouted down by the crowd.

(Jones had a jewelers license, allowing him to stockpile cyanide)

The Jonestown Kool-Aid-On November 18th, 1978 just over 900 people committed suicide. including 638 adults and 276 children-They did this by drinking Kool-Aid provided by Jones that was laced with cyanide.-Those who did not agree to drinking the poison were threatened by armed guards.-Children and babies were the first to be force-fed the poison, following adults, and finally the guards.-Jones did not actually die from poison, but a gunshot. It is unclear to whom shot Jones, or whether he shot himself.-Only four people survived, two who managed to flea, and two who were asleep and presumed dead by others.

The following pictures are taken from Jonestown after they discovered everyone had committed suicide.

They are all kind of graphic.

Bibliographyhttp://failuremag.com/feature/article/jonestown_the_untold_story/

http://www.religioustolerance.org/dc_jones.htm website 5/21/2013

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/November/On-This-Day--Hundreds-of-Cult-Members-Commit-Suicide-in-Jonestown.htmlhttp://www.history.com/topics/jonestownhttp://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/JonestownReport/Volume9/DieckmanNews.htmhttp://jonestownapologistsalert.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.htmlhttp://www.cleveland.com/world/index.ssf/2008/11/a_defector_recalls_his_time_wi.htmlhttp://murderpedia.org/male.J/j/jones-jim-photos-3.htmhttp://pundit.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kool-aid-man.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/1973_Congressional_Pictorial_Leo_Ryan.jpg/150px-1973_Congressional_Pictorial_Leo_Ryan.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5b/1973_Congressional_Pictorial_Leo_Ryan.jpg/150px-1973_Congressional_Pictorial_Leo_Ryan.jpg

http://savingotters.wildlifedirect.org/files/2011/04/Guyana-Map.jpg

http://hozacrecords.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/PeoplesTempleGold300.jpg