ANT 373 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Rainbow Family, Mass Suicide, Methodism
Document Summary
Case study of a prophet : jim jones, cult leader (1931-1978) Engaged in activities to help the poor. Found dead on november 18, 1978 in guyana, along with his large cult following who had committed mass suicide by ingesting poison mixed with kool-aid. However, later reports show evidence of people being shot, as well as being injected with poisons. Jim jones began his career as a student preachers at a methodist church. He left the church because they didn"t allow black people. Became a street preacher, and preached the social gospel. (his mission = equality) However, his mission quickly changed from equality to communism (social justice socialism) He modeled many of this teachings from father diving, another controversial religious figure, and was also a close friend of his. In church, jim jones was referred to as dad/father. Believed himself to be an incarnation of god/christ.
