Jim Jones’ followers enthralled by his skills as a speaker

“…CNN) — The key to understanding the tragedy that was Jonestown lies in the oratory skills of the Peoples Temple founder, Jim Jones.

With the cadence and fervor of a Baptist preacher, the charm and folksiness of a country storyteller and the zeal and fury of a maniacal dictator, Jones exhorted his followers to a fever pitch, audiotapes recovered from Jonestown reveal.

As he spoke, they applauded, shouted, cheered. One follower who survived the “revolutionary suicide” at Jonestown on November 18, 1978, said that Jones was the most dynamic speaker he had ever heard.

Like all powerful speakers, Jones’ greatest asset was his ability to determine what listeners wanted to hear and give it to them in simple language that appealed to them on an almost instinctual level.

“He was very charismatic, very charismatic,” said Leslie Wilson, who survived that fateful day in Jonestown by walking away from the settlement before the cyanide that killed more than 900 Peoples Temple members was distributed. She was one of 33 people who began the day in Jonestown and lived to tell the tale.

“He could quote scripture and turn around and preach socialism,” she said. “He appealed to anyone on any level at any time.” 

Many of his followers were elderly African-Americans drawn to his cause by his soulful delivery and Pentecostal preaching style, including at times speaking in tongues. That hair-raising fervor was perhaps only overshadowed by what he said. …”

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/13/jonestown.jim.jones/index.html

Jonestown: Massacre News Reel

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 1

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 2

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 3

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 4

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 5

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 6

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 7

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 8

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Part 9

Background Articles and Videos

 Cult

“Cult typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notably positive or negative popular perception. In common or populist usage, “cult” has a positive connotation for groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees,^[1] but a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups.^[2] For this reason, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult

Political Cult

“Political cult is a term used to describe some groups on what is generally considered to be the political fringe. Although the majority of groups to which the term “cult” (currently often used as a pejorative term according to some comparative religion scholars^{[1] [2]}) is sometimes applied are religious in nature, a number are non-religious and focus either on secular self-improvement^{[3] [4] [5] [6]} or on political action and ideology.^[7] 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_cult

Cult of Personality

 ”A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country’s leader uses mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships but can be found in some democracies as well.

A cult of personality is similar to general hero worship except that it is created specifically for political leaders. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of non-political leaders. …”

“…Generally, personality cults are most common in regimes with totalitarian systems of government, that seek to radically alter or transform society according to revolutionary new ideas. Often, a single leader becomes associated with this revolutionary transformation, and he becomes treated as a benevolent “guide” for the nation, without whom the transformation to a better future cannot occur. This has been generally the justification for personality cults that arose in totalitarian societies of the 20th Century, such as that of Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality 

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