Jonestown, the Peoples Temple - Research Paper Example

Jim Jones, the founder of the People’s Temple, convinced his followers to go to Guyana in the pretext of visiting the Jonestown Agricultural Project. People’s Temple was based on the belief that it was fighting against social segregation. The believers thought that the organization was dedicated to bettering their lives. In the 1970s, Jones began mistreating his followers and many changes occurred. For instance, field notes and progress reports replaced sermons. Those who violated his rules were eliminated by being sentenced to death, which raised concerns among government officials. In 17 November, 1978, Jones men killed Ryan and his party after they came to investigate the allegations. After the killings, Jones initiated a revolutionary mass suicide in which 918 people died. He was found dead with a gunshot wound. The survivors are coming into terms with the incident and they have found means such as art to bring out something good out of the tragedy. Jonestown, the People’s Temple Introduction Jim Jones was the founder of the People’s Temple, which was composed of a congregation dedicated to the fight against racial segregation. Jones being the leader of the People’s Temple declared himself the Almighty God or the incarnation of Jesus. Jones was a good person until he began to mistreat the people he brought to Guyana. His character was further revealed in the eventual mass suicide in 1978 which claimed 918 lives (O’shea, 2011). The paper will highlight the history of Jonestown and how the community of Jonestown got to the point of mass suicide. The paper will further outline the effects of the Jonestown massacre on the survivors with special emphasis on Eugene Smith and Jones’ son, Stephan Jones. History of Jonestown Jim Jones established the People’s Temple, a congregation dedicated to the fight against racial segregation, in the 1950s in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both working class blacks and whites congregated to hear the gospel of social justice and racial equality. Going beyond societal barriers and their own prejudices, they worshipped and worked together in the core of Ku Klux Klan region in Indiana. Eighty people (black and white, young and old) left Indiana and went with Jones to California when he made prophesy that the entire Chicago would be wiped out by a nuclear holocaust (O’shea, 2011). However, when the group arrived in California, the organization changed and began to be more involved in local progressive politics. The group also became more socially active. Jones requested his followers to call him Dad or Father. He motivated members to live in communal harmony, to pool their resources, and donate them to various church projects. Jones began to view himself as a divine being by declaring to the congregation that he was the God Almighty or the incarnation of God or Jesus. He also claimed to raise the dead and heal the sick. Temple life in San Francisco was characterized by long hours of musical entertainment, corporal punishment, political activism, belly laughs, and self-criticism (O’shea, 2011). The group developed a new and non-racist collection of values; black meant goodness and white indicated bad, and this was in contrast to the outside view of blackness. Catharsis (mutual criticism sessions) expressed all the infractions that the members had committed. These violations included sexist remarks made by the members, being irresponsible in the workplace, stealing, being in possession of drugs, and being disloyal, (this was the worst of all the violations). The main purpose of catharsis was to let the group change the person without the need to use the society’s system of justice. The infractions had severe consequences on the physical and emotional well-being of the individuals (O’shea, 2011). In response to several events happening in the United States, the Temple started looking for an outpost abroad. In 1974, the Temple started clearing land in Guyana. Guyana was at that time the only country in South America with English as a common languge. In 1976, the community or the group had already signed a lease with the Guyana government and it had already cleared thousands of acres. The pioneers of the People’s Temple constructed shelters, cottages, dorms and all the components of a small town. However, in 1977, there was an influx of approximately 1000 members of the People’s Temple. This overwhelmed the community leading to several problems in the development of the infrastructure. Housing, electricity, health, education, agriculture, and sanitation became major issues. The move to Jonestown, an agricultural project named after its pioneer Jim Jones, witnessed the desertion of nearly all the expressions of traditional religion. Field notes and progress reports replaced sermons, gospel music was replaced by Jonestown Express (a town jazz band), and a collection of dark paranoid fears and high communal spirits infused the jungle community (O’shea, 2011). How Jonestown Got To the Point Of Mass Suicide Jones was capable of distorting the people’s perceptions. Jones was a master of mind control and due to his personality, and the ways in which he was capable of controlling the minds and behaviors of the people, he made them commit suicide at the end. For instance, Jones often gave blurred or conflicting messages about the truth of the situation. In some cases, Jones ordered his followers to thank him for the work and food, but in reality the people were working for six and a half days in a week. All this time they were almost starving to death (Holmes and Holmes, 2005). Thus, his abilities were well manifested on the 17 of November 1978 when the U.S. congressional representative Leo Bryan came to investigate alleged human violations in Jonestown. External opposition resulted in increased repression in the community of Jonestown. During that period, dissent was regarded as disloyalty. Each day and every hour, Jones cautioned his followers of the enemies, and they were encouraged to work harder (O’shea, 2011). Loyalty tests happened in Jonestown in the nature of White Nights (suicide drills) in which individual lined up to drink poison. The individuals also practiced child poisoning before they took the poison themselves. Those who survived the poison were considered to have passed the test of their loyalty (American Experience, 2010). Ryan came to investigate these allegations in Jonestown. The visit went on well until several people were asked to leave with the party that came with the congressman. Ryan, reporters and other fifteen people left for the airstrip six miles away from Jonestown. A truck loaded with young men from Jonestown followed the party and on arrival at the airstrip after which they opened fire killing three reporters, Ryan and defectors of the People’s Temple (O’shea, 2011; Gomez, 2009). The young men returned to Jonestown where they found the community members listening to Jones’ instructions in the central pavilion. The medical personnel of Jonestown “surrounded a vat of fruit punch, laced with cyanide and tranquilizers” (O’shea, 2011). Jones demanded that the mothers make their children take the poison and they did so. Those who protested were shouted down by the rest. When the killings started, they could not be prevented. Parents killed their children and eventually killed themselves. The airstrip shooters killed one another and Jones was shot to death. On that day, 918 people died, 304 of them were children (O’shea, 2011). Prior to the shooting, Jones had informed his followers that Ryan and his people would be killed, and that would bring agents from the federal government to Jonestown. He also told them that they would all be killed, and the only means to escape was to commit suicide alongside their Father (Holmes and Holmes, 2005). Effects on the Survivors The effects of the Jonestown mass suicide on the survivors are numerous. Some of the survivors faced criticism and hatred, and they could not associate well with other people. At the workplace, some of them experienced rejection, and most of them could not find meaningful jobs. Rejection and hatred made others to keep to themselves what had happened in Jonestown. Some could not even share what happened with their family members. However, some survivors like Stephan and Eugene Smith have opted to make something worthwhile of what happened. According to Paddock (1993) and Hein (2006), only 85 individuals managed to escape the mass suicide. A few managed to escape into the jungle and the rest like the three sons of Jones survived because they were not present at Jonestown on the fateful day. After Jonestown mass suicide, the People’s Temple members were regarded as kooks. Survivors, including those who were left in California, often felt hated and could not find any meaningful jobs. Some of the jurisdictions such as the Marin County, rejected the remains of the Jonestown victims for proper burial. Because of the rejection by the society, the members of the People’s Temple want the society to realize that the People’s Temple was one among the numerous cults that have existed over the centuries that have led people to self destruction (Paddock, 1993). Some of the survivors, like the son of Jones, Stephan Jones, are trying to make something worthwhile out of the fateful event. He argues that the idea of composing a piece of theatre out of the oral testimonies has created a chance in which something useful can be made out of the tragedy. He further argues that the meaning of the death of Jonestown’s people can be changed through art. Eugene Smith is another survivor of Jonestown’s mass suicide. He has spent most of his adult life attempting to shut off his memories and denying his past. Smith was a teenager when he first went to Jonestown. Four of his close family members, his mother, wife, and two children, died in the Guyana incident (The Guardian, 2005). In all his adult life, Smith chose not to share what happened because there was nothing to share. His decision not to talk was because of the reception he received when they arrived in US from Guyana. People were beating the walls and screaming at them which made him not want to talk about the incident. He concluded that people did not like him. He went to an extent of refusing to share anything about Jonestown with his family. However, in 2004, he was able to share the Jonestown incident with Hall and Fondakowski. Smith survived the incident because at the time he was not in Jonestown. This is because he was sent to Georgetown (the nearest town) to assist in unloading supplies. He has learnt to live with what happened through participation in plays (The Guardian, 2005). Conclusion The People’s Temple was based on the notion that it was fighting against social segregation. After moving to Guyana, its founder Jim Jones began mistreating his followers. Investigations initiated by the Congressman Ryan did not end well. Jones men killed Ryan and his party. After the killings, 918 people of Jonestown committed suicide after consuming a fruit flavored poison; Jones was found dead with a gunshot wound. The mass suicide happened after Jones convinced the people of Jonestown that they would all be killed by the federal agents because of the death of Ryan. Survivors of the incident are still coming into terms with what happened and they have found better ways such as art to deal with the situation. References American Experience (2010). The People’s Temple in Guyana. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/jonestown-guyana/ Gomez, G. (2009, October 11). Jim Jones and the Jonestown massacre still echoes in mind almost after 30 years. Thaindian News. Retrieved from http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world/jim-jones-and-the-jonestown-massacre-still-echoes-in-mind-almost-after-30-years_100259147.html Hein, A. (2006). People’s temple: Jim Jones, People’s Temple, Jonestown. Retrieved from http://www.apologeticsindex.org/p21.html Holmes, R. M. & Holmes, S. T. (2005). Suicide: Theory, practice, and investigation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. O’shea, T. B. (2011). Jonestown lullaby: Poems and pictures. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse. Paddock, R. C. (1993, November 19). Jonestown lives on as a reminder of cults’ dangers: Religion: After 15 years of grieving, victims’ relatives plant to erect a memorial to the hundreds who died. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/1993-11-19/news/mn-58513_1_jonestown-victims The Guardian. (2005, May 26). ‘I feel freed of the past now.’ The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2005/may/26/art.theatre Read More