Jonestown yet another view
On November 19th, 1978, people around the country awoke to the news that in remote Jonestown, Guyana, 917 people were found dead-victims of a mass suicide. ... Around this time Jones added another method to keeping his followers faith: miracles. ... As reported by Gerald Lubenow in his article “Jonestown Guyana: Paradise Lost”, Jones went as far as staging his own death, and resurrection. ... However, reports of the lifestyle in Jonestown become muddled. ... Another story told by Layton mentioned children being dangled head first into wells for misbehaving (Knapp). Popular belief tends to be swayed more by the stories of abuse and torture then those of paradise, and many view Jonestown as more a concentration camp then a communal paradise. ... On November 18th, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan visited Jonestown to investigate rumors of abuse. ... Later that night the members of Jonestown died from drinking a mixture of cyanide and flavor-aide. All of this according to Don Knapp’s article “Jonestown Massacre +20: Questions Linger”. ... While others argue that Jonestown was the paradise Jones’ followers were looking for. ... Many people quote ex-members who left Jonestown before the members killed themselves, but one has to remember the fact that those who left are biased against Jones. Jonestown was not a vacation for its residents; hard work was needed to make the settlement survive. “All were required to work long days in the fields to grow the needed food… They justified the work as benefiting the whole community, and that’s what Jonestown was; a community… A community that made people work but gave it’s members something in return: a sense of belonging” (Sine). It’s more then possible that the ex-members who speak so strongly against Jonestown may have found the work too hard and left but felt that the public needed a stronger reason. ... I believe Jones’ decision to kill Jonestown’s inhabitants came when his paranoia told him that Ryan’s death would bring in the U.