Question

Define religion and cult
Research Jonestown (The Peoples Temple). Summarize the events.

Describe if you feel that the Peoples Temple was a religion or a cult.

Apply one of the three sociological perspectives to religion (Conflict Theory, Functionalism, or Symbolic Interactionism)

Answer 1

Religion is:

1.     belief in god
2.     conviction in supernatural realities relevant to human well being
3.      all of life
4. whatever gives meaning to life

A Cult is:

1) Exclusive. They may say, "We're the only ones with the truth; everyone else is wrong; and if you leave our group your salvation is in danger."

2) Secretive. Certain teachings are not available to outsiders or they're presented only to certain members, sometimes after taking vows of confidentiality.

3) Authoritarian. A human leader expects total loyalty and unquestioned obedience.

Members of a San Francisco-based religious group called the Peoples Temple – died after drinking poison at the urging of their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, in a secluded South American jungle settlement. Peoples Temple was a religious-based organization under the leadership of Jim Jones.The church believed in equality among all and was based on communalist and socialist ideals. Ryan and those accompanying him were murdered when they reached the airport to return to the United States. Shortly thereafter, most of the residents joined together in a mass rite of murder-suicide in which they were either shot or took poison.

As per me, Peoples Temple was a cult. This is because the followed a human leader, nd all they did was based on his wish/command.

Functionalism focuses on the purpose (or function) of the human conciousness and how it leads to adaptive behaviour. It is an attempt to apply empirical methods in studying the conciousness. Functionalism plays an important role in religion. When a person tries or decides to belong to a particular religion, as the human conscience adapts to the different ideas and rules. This is a gradual process, in which the human mind tries to adapt as per the religion.