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November 18, 2009
Retrohump - You're going to hell
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Going To Hell
Today marks 31 years since the infamous tragedy of the Peoples Temple cult in Guyana. This American cult, led by Jim Jones became internationally known following the mass suicide of nearly one thousand people on November 18, 1978. The tragedy is known as the Jonestown massacre.
Another act of notoriety coupled with the Jonestown story is the rock band Brian Jonestown Massacre, a portmanteau of late Rolling Stones’ guitarist Brian Jones and the mass cult suicide at Jonestown. They have a song called “Going To Hell” that I like and the video is pretty rad. So let's review. Mass suicide, a dead Rockstar at 27 and eternal damnation. Happy Wednesday!
909 Temple members died in Jonestown, all but two from apparent cyanide poisoning, in an event termed "revolutionary suicide" by Jones and some members on an audio tape of the event and in prior discussions. The poisonings in Jonestown followed the murder of five others by Temple members at a nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. The victims included Congressman Leo Ryan, the first and only Congressman murdered in the line of duty in the history of the United States. Four other Temple members died in Georgetown at Jones' command. To the extent the actions in Jonestown were viewed as a mass suicide, it is the largest such event in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001. (Wikipedia)
Posted by Merry Swankster at November 18, 2009 04:17 PM
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