Jim Jones and Peoples Temple have interested me for years. Perhaps it started out because of the way the Jonestown massacre has become embedded into mainstream pop culture in the Western world. Every few decades, it seems, there is some sort of tragedy or event of such epic proportions that it permanently hammers its place into history. There\u2019s no doubt that for the 1970\u2019s, that event was the Jonestown massacre.<\/p>\n
Another interesting aspect of Peoples Temple history for me is the ideology. Statements regarding any sort of Peoples Temple theology seem to be contradictory to say the least. Sometimes Peoples Temple is talked about as being entirely atheistic and other times it\u2019s portrayed as being a legitimate \u2013 although very unorthodox \u2013 Christian church. The difference may have something to do with time period, with Jim Jones presenting Peoples Temple as a Christian church and then later dropping all the religious talk in favour of a purely socialist ideology. In reality, I think it was likely a very complex mixture of the two, with religious and atheistic people alike.<\/p>\n
Similar topics arise in discussions about Jones\u2019 \u201cgift,\u201d that is, his supposed healing powers. Even Jonestown survivors can\u2019t seem to agree as to whether or not Jim Jones had the ability to heal, or whether he even really believed that he possessed such a power.<\/p>\n
Whatever sparked my interest in Jim Jones and Peoples Temple, that interest is what produced the following poem.<\/p>\n
Under jungle sun and Guyanese breeze
\nA man-god that you must appease
\nHe puffed his chest and stood so tall
\nBut then and now everyman knows, the pride precedes the fall
\nSo then shouted the mighty king who lost his crown
\nNo man takes my life from me, I lay my life down<\/p><\/blockquote>\n