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Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple
Most people understand Peoples Temple through its violent end in Jonestown, Guyana in 1978, where more than 900 Americans committed murder and suicide in a jungle commune. Media coverage of the event sensationalized the group and obscured the background of those who died. The view that emerged thirty years ago continues to dominate understanding of Jonestown today, despite dozens of books, articles, and documentaries that have appeared. This book provides a fresh perspective on Peoples Temple and Jonestown, locating the group within the context of religion in America and offering a contemporary history that corrects the inaccuracies often associated with the group and its demise.
Although Peoples Temple has some of the characteristics many associate with cults, it also shares many characteristics of Black Religion in America. Moreover, it is crucial to understand the organization within the social and political movements of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Race, class, colonialism, gender, and other issues dominated the times, and so dominated the consciousness of the members of Peoples Temple. Here, Moore, who lost three family members in the events in Guyana, offers a framework of U.S. social, cultural, and political history that helps readers better understand Peoples Temple and its members.
Although Peoples Temple has some of the characteristics many associate with cults, it also shares many characteristics of Black Religion in America. Moreover, it is crucial to understand the organization within the social and political movements of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Race, class, colonialism, gender, and other issues dominated the times, and so dominated the consciousness of the members of Peoples Temple. Here, Moore, who lost three family members in the events in Guyana, offers a framework of U.S. social, cultural, and political history that helps readers better understand Peoples Temple and its members.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 9, 2020
this is the most balanced book I’ve read about jonestown. Author lost 2 sisters in Jonestown and has been actively engaged in making sure survivors have a voice in discussions of the events for a long time. definitely the best book on the subject that I’ve read
August 1, 2018
Moore, who lost family members at Jonestown, summarizes her years of research into and interaction with Peoples Temple and its survivors. This is a multi-faceted analytical approach that largely sidesteps, for better or worse, the lurid details of the final White Night.
Moore is concerned with how the mass suicide and murder in Guyana dominates popular understanding of community of people who were drawn to Jim Jones's social gospel. She discusses the systematic dehumanization of the dead and the survivors, particularly via the conformist "anti-cult narrative" for which Jonestown stands as the exemplar. It's tricky to make this argument, or even to summarize it, without appearing to offer apologia for the murder of children and elders.
But Moore's mastery of the historical record and her refusal to let Jonestown be swept aside as merely aberrant make this book worth reading. She insists on the relevance of Peoples Temple to American spiritual life, connecting it to African-American religious practice and to the millenialism of the Branch Davidians at Waco. And Moore is the only writer on Jonestown I've encountered who rigorously addresses the temptation to layer conspiracy theories onto an already grotesquely tragic story. She lays out Jones's hypocrisy in collaborating with the CIA-backed regime in Guyana that overthrew a Marxist-Leninist government, all while preaching "socialism" and ranting about CIA torturers coming to take the commune's children.
If you are looking for a Jonestown 101 book, this is not it. It is, instead, a very fine stepping off place for locating Jim Jones in the arc of American history and pop culture.
Moore is concerned with how the mass suicide and murder in Guyana dominates popular understanding of community of people who were drawn to Jim Jones's social gospel. She discusses the systematic dehumanization of the dead and the survivors, particularly via the conformist "anti-cult narrative" for which Jonestown stands as the exemplar. It's tricky to make this argument, or even to summarize it, without appearing to offer apologia for the murder of children and elders.
But Moore's mastery of the historical record and her refusal to let Jonestown be swept aside as merely aberrant make this book worth reading. She insists on the relevance of Peoples Temple to American spiritual life, connecting it to African-American religious practice and to the millenialism of the Branch Davidians at Waco. And Moore is the only writer on Jonestown I've encountered who rigorously addresses the temptation to layer conspiracy theories onto an already grotesquely tragic story. She lays out Jones's hypocrisy in collaborating with the CIA-backed regime in Guyana that overthrew a Marxist-Leninist government, all while preaching "socialism" and ranting about CIA torturers coming to take the commune's children.
If you are looking for a Jonestown 101 book, this is not it. It is, instead, a very fine stepping off place for locating Jim Jones in the arc of American history and pop culture.
April 17, 2023
The title of this book is quite astute, as what it very much ended up being was an exploration of the internal and external forces influencing Jonestown, its creation, and what went down there. Understanding truly was the prime focus of Moore's work, and it made for an interesting read.
While I didn't agree with all of Moore's propositions, which seemed to be influenced by her position as the relative of three Jonestown victims, her positionality also allowed a chance for some unique insight into the situation. Moore additionally maintained a clear, factual approach to the subject matter, reviewing the facts in a mostly unbiased way.
Still, I feel that much of what was discussed could have been further expounded upon, and other angles examined. For a short overview, though, Moore did a great job. This book was well-researched, and brought up some serious and interesting questions.
While I didn't agree with all of Moore's propositions, which seemed to be influenced by her position as the relative of three Jonestown victims, her positionality also allowed a chance for some unique insight into the situation. Moore additionally maintained a clear, factual approach to the subject matter, reviewing the facts in a mostly unbiased way.
Still, I feel that much of what was discussed could have been further expounded upon, and other angles examined. For a short overview, though, Moore did a great job. This book was well-researched, and brought up some serious and interesting questions.
May 2, 2022
A fantastic and short scholarly review of Jonestown. Very thorough and researched.
October 19, 2016
I like the book .I just think someones life must be really emipty of meaning to believe the ravings of that crazy person
I sorry so many suffered because of him
I sorry so many suffered because of him
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews