The Jim Jonestown Massacre
Jim Jones Jonestown Massacre
Jimmy Jones is the name that I’ve kept for the sake of my life and what does it truly say about my legacy? The question is who am I? I’ve kept many aliases for myself throughout my life. James, Jim, and frequently Jim Jones. My uncle told me as a child when he was in college that one day your going to have people start calling you Jim and start shorting your name to Jim – Jones. I laughed, and this was year 1997. That was thirteen years until this day. But it has been almost three decades ago an unusual series of events led to the deaths of more than 900 people in the middle of a South American jungle. Through dubbed a massacre, what transpired Jonestown on November 18th, 1978, was to some extent done willingly, …show more content…
There members began to live and work communally, donating wages and income from outside jobs. The group sponsored several residential homes and outpatient services for the mentally ill and mentally retarded, which Mrs. Jones- administered. James “Jim” Jones continued to preach a socially through group gospel messages of service to the poor and encouraged expansion of the church to San Francisco, where membership grew with the actions of thousands of African Americans. The dynamic minister became a political force in San Francisco in the 1970s, a result of his delivering Peoples Temple members to demonstrations in support of freedom of the press, Native American rights, and antidevelopment efforts. (1) Local, state, and national politicians frequented the Temple, where they were warmly greeted. The Temple also opened a church in Los Angeles, and during the mid- 1970s Jones preached at all three California congregations, traveling the length of the state in a Temple- funded and owned bus. He also led several cross- country caravans, preaching in Philadelphia, New York, and Midwestern cities that would include Milwaukee, and Chicago, cities in which attracted members at every …show more content…
Temple volunteers had been developing the site for three years when critical reports about the powerful and over charismatic minister emerged in San Francisco. But as the saying goes living life so lavishly can catch up to you. Former members claimed that Jones forced irrational decisions by encouraging corporal punishment to disobedient members that had faked faith healing and miracles. Some even claimed that Jones had ordered ex-members to be killed. Negative publicity, coupled with a federal tax investigation prompted Jones and a thousand members to immigrate from San Francisco to Guyana in 1977. From the cultural standpoint Jones’s mental and physical health deteriorated in the tropical climate, and his leadership became more erratic and abusive, as an addiction to tranquilizers worsened. (1) I would assume his uses of tranquilizers were used of anti depressant purposes. A small leadership group, comprised mainly of women, Jones focused on what he believed were conspiracies against the community, now called
Jimmy Jones is the name that I’ve kept for the sake of my life and what does it truly say about my legacy? The question is who am I? I’ve kept many aliases for myself throughout my life. James, Jim, and frequently Jim Jones. My uncle told me as a child when he was in college that one day your going to have people start calling you Jim and start shorting your name to Jim – Jones. I laughed, and this was year 1997. That was thirteen years until this day. But it has been almost three decades ago an unusual series of events led to the deaths of more than 900 people in the middle of a South American jungle. Through dubbed a massacre, what transpired Jonestown on November 18th, 1978, was to some extent done willingly, …show more content…
There members began to live and work communally, donating wages and income from outside jobs. The group sponsored several residential homes and outpatient services for the mentally ill and mentally retarded, which Mrs. Jones- administered. James “Jim” Jones continued to preach a socially through group gospel messages of service to the poor and encouraged expansion of the church to San Francisco, where membership grew with the actions of thousands of African Americans. The dynamic minister became a political force in San Francisco in the 1970s, a result of his delivering Peoples Temple members to demonstrations in support of freedom of the press, Native American rights, and antidevelopment efforts. (1) Local, state, and national politicians frequented the Temple, where they were warmly greeted. The Temple also opened a church in Los Angeles, and during the mid- 1970s Jones preached at all three California congregations, traveling the length of the state in a Temple- funded and owned bus. He also led several cross- country caravans, preaching in Philadelphia, New York, and Midwestern cities that would include Milwaukee, and Chicago, cities in which attracted members at every …show more content…
Temple volunteers had been developing the site for three years when critical reports about the powerful and over charismatic minister emerged in San Francisco. But as the saying goes living life so lavishly can catch up to you. Former members claimed that Jones forced irrational decisions by encouraging corporal punishment to disobedient members that had faked faith healing and miracles. Some even claimed that Jones had ordered ex-members to be killed. Negative publicity, coupled with a federal tax investigation prompted Jones and a thousand members to immigrate from San Francisco to Guyana in 1977. From the cultural standpoint Jones’s mental and physical health deteriorated in the tropical climate, and his leadership became more erratic and abusive, as an addiction to tranquilizers worsened. (1) I would assume his uses of tranquilizers were used of anti depressant purposes. A small leadership group, comprised mainly of women, Jones focused on what he believed were conspiracies against the community, now called