Jim Jonestown

11/14/13 In the film “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple”, eyewitnesses take us back in time to share their vivid and chilling experiences that led up to the mass suicide-murder that took place in the Guyana jungle settlement of Jonestown. “An examination of Peoples Temple will reveal that, although it was sold as a Christian religious group, Jim Jones was leading a political, more specifically socialist-based, movement.”(Peschman). Jim Jones was a man who took advantage of those who were poverty- stricken and spiritually lost by creating this idea of a utopian society of “total equality a society where all people own all things in common where there is no rich or poor, where there are no races” where everyone was equal
“Jim jones represented the people temple as a progressive movement that was threatened that there was outside forces who didn’t want us to do what we were doing and it was the government. The government was infiltrating and wiretapping and trying to kill people or assassinate people that what was happening. There were always threats. Always always always always threats, they were they were there just about to try to destroy us if we weren’t always vigilant about our movement.” (Peoples’ Temple Member, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple”). Jim Jones became paranoid in the 70s. He constantly believed there were people out to get him and to stop what he had been working so hard to create. Jones would test Peoples’ Temple members on their loyalty. He inflicted fear in his members by telling them that the government wanted to put an end to their movement. Peoples’ Temple was then convinced to move to the jungles of Guyana to begin to create their ideal utopian society. After moving his members there, Jim Jones gave Peoples’ Temple the impression that leaving Guyana was betrayal. When time came, Peoples’ Temple had devoted their trust in Jones; many of them would have laid down their lives to protect what they believed in. when a visit from congressman Ryan and a few reporters did not go as planned, Jones panicked and asked his community to sacrifice themselves to save what they believed in. “If we can’t live in peace, let us die in peace.” (Jim Jones, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple.) “ That’s when I noticed that there were armed guards that kinda taken positions around the pavilion.” (Tim Carter, “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples’ Temple.) “ Jones came down off the podium and he said hey, we gotta do this, we gotta go, that if we don’t go this way [ drinking the cyanide filled Kool-Aid] we’re