Revolutionary Suicide
Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life; it is not one being forced to die. Prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the horrendous event at Jonestown marked the single largest loss of U.S. civilian lives in a non-natural disaster. On November 18, 1978 a total of 909 Americans died under the direction of People’s Temple leader Jim Jones. Not every member of the People’s Temple willingly gave up their lives many were shot if they were not willingly participating. Why was Jim Jones able to influence almost a thousand people to such a tragic end? Was he truly mentally deranged or was he truly their savoir?
The man behind the disaster, James Warren "Jim" Jones, was born on May 13, 1931, in Crete, Indiana. His father was a World War 1 veteran and was gassed in the trenches during the War and suffered ill health the rest of his life. He married his nurse and third cousin Lynette who had thought she had given birth to the messiah, ended up moving to Jonestown and was one of the eight people that died there prior to the massacre. He married his wife Marceline Jones in 1949 and they had nine children that they called the “rainbow family” because most of there children were adopted.
It takes a pretty controlling and …show more content…
Footage from a service shows a young college student testifying that Jim Jones and the church helped her kick her drug habit and essentially saved her life. At this time in America drug use for young adults was a common thing in the social scene so when other young people witnessed this they were captivated. Temple member would call him father or dad if they chose to and one temple member stated that Jones would say “If you see me as your friend, I’ll be your friend. If you see me as your father, I’ll be your father. If you see me as your God, I’ll be your God”(Life and Death
Suicide is the intentional taking of one's own life; it is not one being forced to die. Prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the horrendous event at Jonestown marked the single largest loss of U.S. civilian lives in a non-natural disaster. On November 18, 1978 a total of 909 Americans died under the direction of People’s Temple leader Jim Jones. Not every member of the People’s Temple willingly gave up their lives many were shot if they were not willingly participating. Why was Jim Jones able to influence almost a thousand people to such a tragic end? Was he truly mentally deranged or was he truly their savoir?
The man behind the disaster, James Warren "Jim" Jones, was born on May 13, 1931, in Crete, Indiana. His father was a World War 1 veteran and was gassed in the trenches during the War and suffered ill health the rest of his life. He married his nurse and third cousin Lynette who had thought she had given birth to the messiah, ended up moving to Jonestown and was one of the eight people that died there prior to the massacre. He married his wife Marceline Jones in 1949 and they had nine children that they called the “rainbow family” because most of there children were adopted.
It takes a pretty controlling and …show more content…
Footage from a service shows a young college student testifying that Jim Jones and the church helped her kick her drug habit and essentially saved her life. At this time in America drug use for young adults was a common thing in the social scene so when other young people witnessed this they were captivated. Temple member would call him father or dad if they chose to and one temple member stated that Jones would say “If you see me as your friend, I’ll be your friend. If you see me as your father, I’ll be your father. If you see me as your God, I’ll be your God”(Life and Death