Suicide Testimonials

The first step being the mental preparation and physical reenactment, also known as the “white nights”. The second and third step can be considered the investigation by the US government through congressman Leo Ryan and the Jonestown defects that tried to escape with Ryan. The last and final step would be the final speech given by Jones in the center pavilion where he encouraged his people to drink the poison, which seemed to be a way out of the inevitable government prosecution Jones would receive after assassinating Ryan and his party. After his convincing speech, about 900 people, including 276 children, took their lives by drinking poison. However, this “suicide” can be considered a murder because many of the people who died (the children) did not have a say and/or did not fully understand what was happening and why they were doing what they were doing. The future of Peoples Temple does not look prosperous at all, considering almost a thousand members took their life in Guyana and after the tragedy, the existing members in the United States formally disbanded and continued to live their life, but faced prejudice and

Jones is the man that investigators suspected of murdering Ophelia who was already serving a sentence for assaulting another woman in 2001. Preston’s case was similar to the case that convicted Jones which made him an even bigger suspect. In a series of other

The theory also goes that the United states Government had no involvement and that the Reason he moved to Guyana was because he was fearful of the Rising Nuclear threat. Not to mention that the main Lure of being a Religious leader at the time was the money. In fact after Jones death he left Millions of dollars and many argue if he had taken advantage of his Group (The Peoples Temple). To add to the theory, Jones mostly integrated African Americans into his Congregation (Mass Suicide at Jonestown 2). Which at the time Many Blacks did not have a Church to take them in so Jones would have had some easy followers to add to his Group which meant more money.

The relationship with his parents was disconnected, making church and religion help Jones receive the “emotional warmth and acceptance he never got” (Chidester 2). Neighbors and residents of the town stated they remembered Jones at a young age preaching to children, taking stray animals into the garage for healing and preaching events, and even baptizing children in the river. Jones disagreed with many pastors because he

Jones ideas of equality in the form of socialism attracted many to the congregation. But as his following grew so did the criticism for his socialist beliefs. In 1965, with an increasing number of threats, Jones moved his following to Redwood Valley, California. Jones created a whole society with every level of work a commune needs to sustain itself. By the 1970s, The Peoples Temple had opened up branches all throughout California setting up its headquarters in San Francisco. But a then amphetamine addict, jones began to go crazy. Defectors of the congregation went public telling stories of fake mass suicides and other mistreatment of his members. With even more criticism than before, Jones leased 3,800 acres of land in Guyana and brought over 900 of his followers with

Jonestown was supposed to be a paradise and perfect miniature society for Reverend Jim Jones and his loyal followers, but after only one year of a working civilization, horror would strike ending the lives of nearly one thousand of Jones’s hopeful followers. The Jonestown tragedy has been compared to Adolf Hilter’s inhumane Holocaust and even the gruesome massacres of Charles Manson because all three of these catastrophes were due to one person’s need for dominance.

Even during the night Jones found a way to agitate his members by speaking in the loudspeaker endlessly through the night. Through out the night Jones would talk about nonsense things which he knew none of the members wanted to hear because after a long day of work, wanted to get their

The People’s Temple attempted to create an agricultural utopia where everyone was considered equal known as Jonestown. However, Jim Jones quickly became mad with power and paranoid of the US government and media. He convinced his followers that they should kill themselves if there was a chance the government would take them away from him. He performed several suicide drills known as“white nights” with his followers. He gave beverages that he claimed were poisoned to the entire population of Jonestown and told them to drink.

Jim Jones, a nobody to some and a crazy religious cult leader to others. Jim Jones was born on May 13th, 1931 and passed away on Novemeber 18th, 1978. Jones was an american cult and religious leader, who was responsible for a mass murder/suicide of himself and his followers in Jonestown, Guyana. Jones belived deeply in communism. He belived that communism was the only correct way for social order, in compliance with god’s will.

Despite what other arguments might think, I believe the description in this book was exceptional, in how it hooked me right in. for example, in the text, the way the author effectively describes the way the guardian stabbed Andy, and the blood flowing from the wound. for example in the text it states,`` The knife entered just below his rib cage and had been drawn across his body violently, tearing a wide gap in his flesh. He lay on the side-walk with the March rain drilling his jacket and drilling his body and washing away the blood that poured from his open wound. He had known excruciating pain when the knife had torn across his body, and then sudden comparative relief when the blade was pulled away.`` when I read this I pictured Andy being

It happened so fast. When you die, there's no silent moment of clarity, where your life flashes before your eyes. No one sits down next to you and swaddles your head with their arms in their lap. You simply just bleed out, lying there in pain unnoticed. You're probably asking me in your head, well how did you, Clara? Well, actually I didn't. I'm more like 'a survivor'.

In the last several months of Peoples Temple before the massacre Congressmen Ryan, his aid, and a few others made a trip to Jonestown. Their first impression of the community was positive, until they received a couple notes saying, “help us get out of Jonestown”. At that time Jones’ paranoia increased, he believed that all of his followers we going to leave with the

"Did the hit you received yesterday knock out all of your brain cells?" She snaps, "You don't give patients false hope, not when it's a bad case like that."

By the time of the final ritual, opposition or escape had become almost impossible for most of the members. Yet even then, it is doubtful that many wanted to resist or leave. Most had come to believe in Jones -- one woman's body was found with a message scribbled on her arm during the final hours: "Jim Jones is the only one" (Cahill, 1979). They seemed to have accepted the necessity, and even the beauty, of dying -- just before the ritual began, a guard approached Charles Garry, one of the Temples hired attorneys, and exclaimed, "Its a great moment... we all die" (Lifton, 1979). A survivor of Jonestown, who happened to be away at the dentist, was interviewed a year following the deaths:

Have you ever known someone who’s committed or tried to commit suicide and thought, “I wish I would’ve done something, said something, to stop it from happening?” I know I would ask myself that question everyday if I hadn’t. A few years ago, a good friend of mine thought her life was so bad she wanted to end it. I did the only thing I could think, and told the nearest teacher. It may sound so childish or stupid, but it worked. Luckily, she’s still alive and well. I’m here to make sure you can make the difference and help a person who might be, or is suicidal. Just think of what would happen if you didn’t try to help.