I have chosen to look into Jim Jones’ apocalyptic cult. The Peoples Temple, religious community, and a new religious movement.
This project will encourage you to learn about new religious movements from an anthropological perspective while using the internet’s World Wide Web (the web) as a research tool. After choosing a new religious movement, you will find information about them on the web.
A new religious movement should be a specific community of faith and/or interest. It should be large enough to have a presence on the internet, yet small enough to be able to maintain a community identity. Ideally, you should focus on a movement or group at the local level or that form an identifiable subgroup of a larger religious tradition. For this project, you can consider religious movements/groups that are Western or non-Western. They should have an origin that is less than 75 years old.
Introduction:
The name of the religious group/movement and any alternative names associated with it as well as the website name and website address where you found most of the information about the group
the current number of followers (you can usually find this by googling or looking at the movement’s Wikipedia page if it’s not indicated on the group’s website).
the name of the founder(s) and the founding date as well as the original location(s) where the group was founded and current location(s), of headquartered as well as the established religion(s) that the movement or group is derived from or associated with
the dates of any important events, whether past or future, real or fictional, natural or supernatural that are an important context for understanding the movement’s founding
Body:
A The Present
What are some of the group’s distinctive beliefs?
What are some of the group’s distinctive practices?
Does the group promote or tolerate religious Violence? If yes, what is the rationale they provide for this violence?
Are there examples of violent acts perpetrated by the group that you can find on the web? (again, try the “Google” to help you find the answers to this question. You can also look at several “Religious Movements in the News” pages like those listed here: The Pluralism Project Archive (Links to an external site.), and The Conversation, (Links to an external site.)
B The Future
Does the movement or group believe in an apocalypse, doomsday or end times, the end of the world as we know it? If yes, briefly explain.
Does the movement or group believe in an Aquarian age, that humans are evolving to higher consciousness? If yes, briefly explain.:
What are the group’s beliefs about the future of humanity or the world? If you cannot find information on this (after searching), discuss the group’s view of the afterlife.
Discussion:
Bias: In a paragraph or two, describe how the sources you used may have influenced or biased the quality and reliability of the information. Hint: all sources have some bias or point of view. Address at least 2 web sources (not the religious tolerance or religious movements sites) and 1 non-internet source individually.
What have you learned about the movement or group? In a paragraph or two, describe how this project has increased your knowledge about the religious movement or group (or not) You may include any additional information you learned from the non-internet source here.
(Optional) Opinion/Vent/Rant: Use this opportunity to express any opinions about the movement or group you wish to provide (your honest opinion will not affect your grade).
