Reading response - Essay Example

Reading Response The article is based on the story of an agriculture project formed by people’s temple. The projectwas referred to as the Jonestown. An organization was formed by a religion in America which was led by Jim Jones and was situated in the north west of Guyana. The religious movement also known as the people’s temple was formed in the year 1955. The story best describes the religious movement and the act that happened in 1978, 18th of November. The religious movement became tarnished and 913 people lost their lives in the isolated community.

The article describes the feel freedom using the article and the act of massacre that happened in 1978. The 913 people who died in the town were all members of the religious movement. However, two of those who died were killed by poison known as cyanide. The massacre event was named the revolutionary suicide event by Jones and several members of the religious group (Moore & Rebecca 314). The death of this members extended to appoint the act was seen as mass suicide even by the government of the United States.

This story is fascinating because of the event that happened in Jonestown. The story talks about murder and suicide of many people who are the members of the religious group. The most interesting part in the story is the fact that the deaths of this people could not be justified and also the causes of their deaths were not valid. The death of many people at a time and from the same place could also attract attention to the story. Interestingly, the diseased die without knowing the reasons of their deaths.

Another interesting part of the story is the way people died from cyanide, there are several symptoms that are observed when a person is poisoned using cyanide. Those who were said to have died from cyanide, should have displayed the signs and the symptoms appropriately. On religious tradition, the article talks about the religious movement and the visit of its members to the divine. According to the article, the members of the religious group often went to the divine for the religious activities.

Jones’ speech attracted more members to the group, he delivered sermons that relieved the members and gave many people the feeling of freedom. From the religion activities explored in the article, it is clear that the traditions of religion depends on the belief of the individual. However, the sermon and the speech given by the religious leaders appear to attract and influence most of the non-believers into joining a certain religion movement (Moore & Rebecca 317). For instance, the article shows the tradition of religion in Jonestown.

The religious group formed has different practices which are normally caused by the pressure and force in the religion.In conclusion, reading this article left so many unanswered question in my mind. For instance, it would be my wish to know what caused the deaths of those who died during the act of 1978. From the same, I cannot help but ask myself again and again, the reason this people died around the same duration of time, also the reason they died from the same place. If the act of massacre was considered as mass suicide, then it remains questionable why the victims were killing themselves and what motive drive them to take their own life.

The article generally talked about the act of mass suicide that took place in Jonestown during the year 1978. The article relates the religious activities and the practices to the town as well as the movement formed in the town. Work CitedMoore, Rebecca. "Rhetoric, Revolution and Resistance in Jonestown, Guyana." Journal of Religion and Violence 1.3 (2013): 303-321.