Cults and New Religious Movements Cults and New Religious Movements Case Study #1: Jonestown

The Biography of Jim Jones Born on May 13, 1931 in a small Indiana town He was an only child Came from a poor family His father was emotionally distant –Young Jim grew up feeling unloved and alienated

He moved to Richmond, IN where he attended college and preached on street corners –He preached a message of brotherhood to racially mixed working class audiences Moved to Indianapolis in 1951 where he attended communist rallies and meetings –The McCarthy hearings strengthened his communist resolve –He decided to infiltrate the church to preach his view of communism

Jones became a “faith healer” for a time merging this with his preaching of the social gospel –Social Gospel = focuses on ministering to the poor and disenfranchised –His healings were staged –His preaching, however, did not reveal his communistic views By the late 1960s, however, Jones was openly preaching his version of communism which he called “apostolic socialism” –He stressed helping the poor and working toward racial equality and justice

–Jones felt that a cataclysmic period of race war, genocide, and nuclear war were inevitable –Felt that Nazi fascists and Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacists would put minorities in refuge camps –Believed that American capitalist culture was evil and irredeemable Felt that the elect had to withdraw from society and wait until after the coming cataclysm after which, they would establish the perfect communist society

Attributes Of The Peoples Temple Mary McCormick Maaga identified 3 populations within the church –People who joined primarily in family groups when Peoples Temple was a Christian sect in Indiana They were mostly white –Young, college educated whites who joined beginning in 1968 in California –Blacks who joined in the early 1970s when the group began urban ministries in San Francisco and LA Constituted the majority

Pressures on the group in California caused them to relocate to Guyana, South America in 1973 –Prompted by negative news reports, etc. –Church was fire bombed by white racists

Beliefs of the Group Socialism was the key –He wanted to liberate all people, especially the poor, minorities, and women Jones derided traditional Christianity as “fly away religion” –Rejected the Bible as being written by men to justify subordination of women and the oppression of minorities Jones felt that he was a messiah sent by the true God, the principle of socialism, to rescue humans Felt he was a highly evolved black soul incarnated in a white body –He also felt that he was previously incarnated as Moses, Jesus, and Lenin

The Persecution By 1977 the group was under attack by ex- members and relatives of members –Led by Tim Stoen and Al and Jeannie Mills Called themselves “Concerned Relatives” They enrolled reporters and federal agents to investigate The Stoens were involved in a custody battle for their son, John Victor, with Jones –Prompted several investigations including: the Treasury Department, U.S. Customs Service, The Social Security Administration, and the FCC

The Response Jones instituted draconian measures to keep residents from defecting –Some were drugged, others confined to small boxes, etc. –Jones was taking medication to control his psychological problems and had become addicted His power decreased when he got to Jonestown –Young predominately white women from his inner circle had most of the power –Jones and his followers were paranoid that the U.S. or Guyana Govt. would attempt to infiltrate or take over Jonestown

The Decision to Commit Violence Prompted by the visit of Congressman Leo Ryan from California as well as the other pressures put on them –Concerned Relatives had asked him to visit –Jones initially refused Ryan’s request to visit Congressman Leo was attacked by a man with a knife as he left Leo and his party left with 16 defectors –They were killed as they reached the planes that had brought them by members of Jonestown

Jones then ordered his followers to commit suicide by drinking Fla-Vor-Aid laced with cyanide The ultimate concern (Wessinger) for the group was to preserve their community –This had been undermined –The events that led to this process is what led to the decision to commit violence