Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America by Rebecca Moore


Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America
Title : Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0253216559
ISBN-10 : 9780253216557
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : -
Publication : First published November 1, 2003

The Peoples Temple movement ended on November 18, 1978, when more than 900 men, women, and children died in a ritual of murder and suicide in their utopianist community of Jonestown, Guyana. Only a handful lived to tell their story. As is well known, Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, was white, but most of his followers were black. Despite that, little has been written about Peoples Temple in the context of black religion in America. In 10 essays, writers from various disciplines address this gap in the scholarship. Twenty-five years after the tragedy at Jonestown, they assess the impact of the black religious experience on Peoples Temple.

Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America Reviews

  • Jennifer

    This collection of essays examines Peoples Temple from the point of view of the black experience in America. The authors assess the effects of the black religious experience on Peoples Temple. These articles vary in content as much as they do quality. Many of them are unreadable. Moore also contributes an article that attempts to argue that African- Americans held key leadership positions in Jonestown. Her organizational chart evidence is slim at best. Little new scholarship is offered in this volume considering most of the articles were previously published elsewhere. This book attempts to show that Peoples Temple represented one of many examples of the black American religious tradition; it falls short of its purpose. Each essay has a notes section and an index is included at the end.