I thought this podcast was extremely interesting. It delves into jones town and Jim Jones as a leader. A very interesting point that was made was that Jones was a very good charismatic person and had really encouraged his followers to make an impact on racial inequality. Being able to learn and take in what he had accomplished before the peoples temple had gone crazy out of control and that’s what caught my attention during the podcast. I thought it was extremely interesting how people would join the church not for religious reasons but instead for Jones thoughts. This explicitly shows his charisma and how he could really command his followers.
It was really sad to hear about how Jones was turned negatively with all of his great ideas and charisma. He was going in a really solid direction and then went south very quickly and was very interesting to see how that spiraled down.
I think Jones is a very interesting example of a charismatic leader. When we see charismatic leaders, we often are able to characterize them as toxic or not from the beginning but his transition to a toxic charismatic leader is something I haven’t thought about before.
I think that sometimes we have to remember that leaders are people, and people sometimes choose the wrong path. I think that this is a prime example of this turn in decisions.
I agree that this was a movement that could have achieved greatness and temporarily did in some sense in terms of the victim’s views on racial equality . Like you said “he was going in a solid direction and then went south very quickly”; this quick change in events is tragic and interesting as it shows how groupthink can lead people to abandon their own beliefs, even the good, healthy ones.
This podcast made me curious what other leaders have done obscure things once they have gained followers. What religions are most prone to it?