Cults free essay sample

A persons thoughts, behaviors and emotions will be manipulated once they have joined a cult; the dangers of cults have become severe over the past years and have caused thousands of deaths due to the influence of cults members and leaders. Cults are able to gain members, due the fact that people in actuality do not know it is a cult they are joining. After joining a cult, some people still do not even understand that they are actually in a cult. Cults are something a person may read about or see on W, but to have the actuality of knowing that a person has joined a group is shocking.It is meeting that an individual would think, that could not happen to them. Over the past decades there have been several horrific events that have caused deaths to hundreds of Americans. The causes of their deaths were the effects of their leaders, who the followers once trusted. In return Jones provided everything necessary to live, even budding nursing homes.Other church members that still worked outside of the church would immediately sign over paychecks to Jones and in return were given a $5 allowance and provided with the needed necessities. The Move In 1 973 an article was published further criticizing Jones actions after 8 members defected and the hunt for their Caribbean missionary post began. Ultimately Jones settled on 3800 acres of jungle in an area of northwestern Guyana. Jones felt Guyana with a government considering mostly black leaders in an area that was small and poor could be easily influenced which would provide him with protection. After 500 members constructed Jamestown a mass migration followed. Most of the members felt in the beginning Jamestown resembled paradise. Of course it wasnt. Once again rumors circulated about the abuse taking place t Jamestown. Capital punishment, children being kept in ply-wood boxes, upside down, and overnight in the torture hole, drugs like sodium pentathlon, vellum, and Demeter being used to control unruly members and possible defectors long-term, and armed guards patrolling the Jamestown boundaries day and night.The beginning of the end- White Nights Jones began taking drugs and preaching paranoid rambling sermons warning his members that agencies like the CIA were conspiring with capitalist pigs to destroy Jamestown and harm them. He started asking members to vote on 4 possible contingency plans 1 . Attempt to flee the Soviet Union 2. Revolutionary suicide 3. Stay and fight or 4. Flee into the jungle. At least twice during the white nights the members chose revolutionary suicide.After the stolen custody dispute in September of 1977 Jones began broadcasting his sermons over loudspeakers placed around the encampment reminding members to hold strong when the time came. One of the many things that stick out for me after watching the documentary is hearing the surviving members of Jamestown talking about is the sound of Jones voice being played 24/7. He even recorded tapes so that the eradication never ceased. Meanwhile a group of concerned family members began campaigning to the US Secretary of State and the Guyana government their concerns.Finally Leo Ryan who represented Californians 1 lath district announced he was planning a visit to Jamestown. Ryan and a group of 18 flew to Jamestown but were initially refused entry. On November 17th Jones succumbed to the pressure and gave Ryan a tour. During the tour a member slipped a note to the party asking for help. After the note and defector were brought to light several members spoke up and voiced their desire to leave as well. Jones roll was begging to crumble. By November 18 the number of defectors had grown so that an additional aircraft was needed.Amongst the group loading on the first plane was a member pretending to be a defector. Larry Layton boarded the plane, pulled a gun from his clothing and began firing. A person aboard the plane was able to disarm him. Within minutes the group standing on the tarmac (including Congressman Ryan) noticed a truck with a group of men pull up. The men jumped from the truck and walked circles around the plane constantly firing their weapons. Several were killed including Ryan who was shot 20 times. The beginning of a nightmare Back at the encampment Jones received and spread work of the Congressmans death.A meeting began which produced a 44 minute tape called the death tape. Before the meeting aides were instructed to prepare Flavor-Aid in a large bin and to lace the drink With cyanide, vellum and Phenomena. On the tape Jones can be heard telling his members die with some dignity and telling mothers not to make their children suffer, to release them and lay next to them with dignity. The 1st to take the poison was Roulette Paul and her 1 year old infant. They seed syringes with the needles removed to squirt the drink into their mouths.Jones himself however chose to die by a self-inflicted gun-shot to the temple. Jones and many of the members were found with handwritten notes next to them. In Jones note he instructed over million dollars be left to the communist party of the USSR. In conclusion Jones Was a very manipulative and evil man who somehow was able to control and destroy thousands of lives. The sheer scale of this even speaks volumes to just how dangerous and controlling cults can be. I cant help to wonder how this many people followed his lead that far, and hope to never find out.