Jim Jones; The People's Temple

There are six ways to check if a group will become dangerous or violent. This checklist was created by Eileen Barker. The first check is if the group moves to separate from society, geographically or socially. The second is if adherentents, or believers, become increasingly dependent on the movement for their preception of reality.The third is that important decisions of the adherents are made by others. The fourth is when sharp distinctions between "us" and "them" are made, and the distinctions are not open for discussion. The fifth is that the leader claims divine authority for their deeds and for orders to the followers. The sixth is that the leaders of the movement are focused unmovingly on a certain goal. A cult also has novel religious beliefs.

The People's Temple was led by Jim Jones. The People's Temple meets all of the checks for a dangerous group, cult. Here are some examples. Jim Jones Claims that he will be your God if you see him that way. The People's Temple seperated to Guyana. Jones began to make decisions for his followers. The People's Temple was interacial, which was a novel religious belief at the time. It challenged norms. Jones was not allowed to be challenged, if you did you were killed. Jones claimed that "society was evil." Jones claimed divine power by healing his secretary (who pretended to be sick). Jim Jones had a speaker system that was on for 24 hours 7 days a week that provided all the believers with false information/ news. Jim Jones and some members were distrusting of outsiders.

Jim Jones claims that all the reportes are liars and not to listem to them. Jim Jones gets famiies to turn on one another. Members had to give everything up to the church, they were made to feel guilty if they didn't. The ultimate goal of the People's Temple was to commit revolutionary suicide. There were constant services held as a control mechanism. Members began to surrender their rights and power to Jones. Leaving the church was considered the greatest sin of all. They had a new belief in creating a Utopian society. There were many loyalty tests.

Many members were forced to take cyanide. Jim Jones made members believe that they were against the U.S. People Temple's church caught on fire led to higher tension with society. Everyone to be socially and economically equal. Everyone is givenan allowance from the church.