Jonestown Massacre Essay

Religion has always had an impact on society. The Jonestown Massacre was a tragic example of religious control. Jim Jones demonstrates the control he had over many people through religious manipulation and physical torment, in an effort to gain dedicated followers, resulting in controversy.

“Jim” Warren Jones was raised in southern Indiana (Judge 7). His father was a diligent member of the KKK (Judge 7). Jones established a Christian-based congregation he called the People’s Temple (The 1970s Lifestyles 116). He moved his church to San Francisco, where he welcomed the poor, young. old, social activists, and all races (Judge 2). In 1965, Jim began showcasing his extremist beliefs of politics and religion (The 1970s Lifestyles 116). Members of the People’s Temple claimed he utilized organs of a chicken as a testimonial of “cancers” he was removing with his “divine powers” (Judge 7). Jones also claimed that he was God, himself (The 1970s Lifestyles 116). He preached that a time of chaos, race war and nuclear obliteration would come before the creation of a society he claimed would be

Additionally, the money associated with Jonestown was never recovered or fully examined (Judge 18). Newspapers all over read: “Cult Dies in South American Jungle: 400 Die in Mass Suicide, 700 Flee into Jungle” (Judge 3). This was proved inaccurate when the press revealed that by all accounts there were as little as 1,100 people in Jonestown when the massacre occurred (Judge 3). Consequently, the Jonestown Massacre was often referred to as a “revolutionary suicide” (Wessinger 1). The United States Army authorities agreed with the Guyanese on a body count of 408 (Judge 3). As the days passed, the number of reported deaths began to rise rapidly (Judge 3). The US Army made multiple inaccurate and deceitful statements about the miscalculation (Judge 3). Reports claimed that 16 survivors returned to the US (Judge