This Has to Stop

[Harry Nevis]

No kidding.

I've said my piece and have nothing further to add. He can find someone else to tussle with. I always have better things to do than follow Huggy down the rabbit hole.

More like the bung hole

[Succubus]

You want a name? How about Jim Jones?

This Jim Jones???

James Warren Jones was an American religious and cult leader, who initiated, and was responsible for a mass suicide and mass murder in Jonestown, Guyana. He believed communism was the correct social order, in compliance with God's will.

[Huggy Bear]

Yes, that Jim Jones.

[Losty]

Umm... what part of name an atheist didn't you get?

[KevinM1]

Hint: atheists don't believe in a god, thus would not do something in accordance to its will.

[Crossless2.0]

He'll hit you with quotes attributed to Jones in which he identifies as agnostic/atheist.

Meh. Doesn't matter to me in the least, which is why I was happy enough to agree that Jones was an atheist in sheep's wool.

Just another 'look at the atrocities that atheists have committed' derail. As if anyone here advocated the actions of Jones/Stalin/Mao/Pol Pot/whomever. Fantasists will cling to every reed they can clutch.

[LastPoet]

James Warren Jones. Dude preached the bible.

Oh, he was an atheist in disguise to fleece the flock. With exception to the murders he is like any preacher/apologist.

Shot in the foot Huggy? Do facts make you dizzy?

[KevinM1]

He'll hit you with quotes attributed to Jones in which he identifies as agnostic/atheist.

Meh. Doesn't matter to me in the least, which is why I was happy enough to agree that Jones was an atheist in sheep's wool.

Just another 'look at the atrocities that atheists have committed' derail. As if anyone here advocated the actions of Jones/Stalin/Mao/Pol Pot/whomever. Fantasists will cling to every reed they can clutch.

Oh, I'm sure. I honestly don't know much about Jones. From what I can see, he started off as a Christian, and then became a weird pastiche of Christian and hardline communist. He still, apparently, engaged in woo (there were 'healings' and whatnot), but his message turned into creating a communist utopia here on earth. Seems like he latched onto the old "god helps those who help themselves" adage, to the nth degree.

The thing is, however, is that the massacre wasn't done in the name of atheism. He wanted to flee with his cult to the Soviet Union. They denied his request, and the Feds were closing in due to the allegations of abuse. The mass suicide (and struggle with the Feds) was in response to getting cornered/caught.

So, everything he did - even if the rhetoric touched on atheistic themes - was done to create a literal cult of personality, and then to deny the Feds the satisfaction of his/their capture.

---

I would also say that "some atheists do bad things, too" isn't much of an argument.

[Crossless2.0]

On a side note, it amuses me no end that Jones was assisted in getting his ministry off the ground by none other than Huggy's beloved William Branham (he of the "Holy Spirit floating over his head" picture):

From the Wikipedia article on Jones:

In 1951, Jones began attending gatherings of the Communist Party USA in Indianapolis.[1] He became flustered with harassment he received during the McCarthy Hearings,[1] particularly regarding an event he attended with his mother focusing on Paul Robeson, after which she was harassed by the FBI in front of her co-workers for attending.[2] He also became frustrated with ostracism of open communists in the United States, especially during the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.[16] This frustration, among other things, provoked a seminal moment for Jones in which he asked himself, "How can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church."[1][2]

Jones was surprised when a Methodist superintendent helped him get a start in the church even though he knew Jones to be a communist and Jones did not meet him through the Communist Party USA.[16] In 1952, he became a student pastor in Sommerset Southside Methodist Church, but claimed he left that church because its leaders barred him from integrating blacks into his congregation.[1] Around this time, Jones witnessed a faith-healing service at a Seventh Day Baptist Church.[1] He observed that it attracted people and their money and concluded that, with financial resources from such healings, he could help accomplish his social goals.[1]

Jones organized a mammoth religious convention to take place on June 11 through June 15, 1956, in a cavernous Indianapolis hall called Cadle Tabernacle. To draw the crowds, Jim needed a religious headliner, and so he arranged to share the pulpit with Rev. William M. Branham, a healing evangelist and religious author who at the time was as highly revered as Oral Roberts.[6] Following the convention, Jones was able to launch his own church, which changed names until it became the Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel.[1] The Peoples Temple was initially made as an inter-racial mission.

[KevinM1]

Oh shit, it was Jim Jones who stole Marilyn Hickey's uterus! It all makes sense now!