Jim Jones was the founder and leader of the People Temple group, which became synonymous with murder/suicide after he forced people to drink cyanide as the only way to escape the potential threat brought to the group after Jim Jones ordered his men to kill visiting Congressman Leo Ryan and numerous members of his entourage. They all lived in an isolated community named "Jonestown", which Jones named after himself. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Buddha, Lenin, Father Devine, and Akhenaten.
Basically, he was another crazy cult leader, but I think what distinguishes him is that he actually stood for a lot of good things, one of them being racial equality. Though he was also manipulative and controlling, and he moved his followers from San Francisco to Guyana. He later forced them to commit a cult suicide...type "Jim Jones" into Google and look him up, it's pretty interesting.
I think this song is a further outlet of the lead singer's obsession with serial killers, though I don't see many references to Jones in this song besides the "I prayed to Allah, to Buddha and Jim". I like this song a lot though and if you like it, I suggest "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." by Sufjan Stevens, which is a song about the famous serial killer.
Most cults have some ostensibly admirable beliefs. That's part of how normally rational people become involved in cults to begin with. The New Age cults of the 1970s and 80s were particularly bad in this regard since they pretty much all sold themselves as a path to a better, happier world free of violence or cruelty.
Most cults have some ostensibly admirable beliefs. That's part of how normally rational people become involved in cults to begin with. The New Age cults of the 1970s and 80s were particularly bad in this regard since they pretty much all sold themselves as a path to a better, happier world free of violence or cruelty.
Jim Jones was the founder and leader of the People Temple group, which became synonymous with murder/suicide after he forced people to drink cyanide as the only way to escape the potential threat brought to the group after Jim Jones ordered his men to kill visiting Congressman Leo Ryan and numerous members of his entourage. They all lived in an isolated community named "Jonestown", which Jones named after himself. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus, Buddha, Lenin, Father Devine, and Akhenaten.
Basically, he was another crazy cult leader, but I think what distinguishes him is that he actually stood for a lot of good things, one of them being racial equality. Though he was also manipulative and controlling, and he moved his followers from San Francisco to Guyana. He later forced them to commit a cult suicide...type "Jim Jones" into Google and look him up, it's pretty interesting.
I think this song is a further outlet of the lead singer's obsession with serial killers, though I don't see many references to Jones in this song besides the "I prayed to Allah, to Buddha and Jim". I like this song a lot though and if you like it, I suggest "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." by Sufjan Stevens, which is a song about the famous serial killer.
Most cults have some ostensibly admirable beliefs. That's part of how normally rational people become involved in cults to begin with. The New Age cults of the 1970s and 80s were particularly bad in this regard since they pretty much all sold themselves as a path to a better, happier world free of violence or cruelty.
Most cults have some ostensibly admirable beliefs. That's part of how normally rational people become involved in cults to begin with. The New Age cults of the 1970s and 80s were particularly bad in this regard since they pretty much all sold themselves as a path to a better, happier world free of violence or cruelty.