The Branch Davidians, the Peoples Temple, and Heaven’s Gate: The History of 20th Century America’s Most Notorious Cults
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Michelle Humphries
()
About this audiobook
The United States has never had a shortage of cults based on religious teachings and charismatic leaders, but perhaps none are as infamous as Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, which remain notorious for the mass murder-suicide event in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978, during which nearly 900 people drank cyanide-laced Flavor Aid, including nearly 300 children. To this day, “drinking the Kool-Aid” is a popular phrase in America to refer to people who blindly follow a person or idea without thought, and the event at Jonestown was the deadliest deliberate act involving Americans in history until the 9/11 attacks. In addition to those deaths, Peoples Temple members also murdered a handful of others on the same day, including journalists, a member trying to leave Jonestown, and Congressman Leo Ryan.
David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians, had deep convictions based on the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, and his sect believed the world was in the power of Satan and that the nations were merging to form a new Babylon. David hoped to establish the kingdom in Jerusalem, where, according to him, he would suffer martyrdom. The headquarters of the sect was a complex called Mount Carmel Center located in Waco, Texas. Koresh claimed to be the mysterious Lamb of Revelation who opens the sealed scroll, as well as the figure who rides the White Horse when the first seal is opened.
On paper, the extraordinarily unorthodox ideology spouted by Heaven's Gate ranks near the top of the list of most outlandish end-of-the-world prophecies, and it was built on a blend of Christian, Gnostic, supernatural, New Age, and extraterrestrial lore. Although the cult did not speak in Christian terms, it was clearly apocalyptic, and its belief system was a strange mix between science fiction and the basic message of Revelation.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vandals: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Barbarians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cambrian Period: The History and Legacy of the Start of Complex Life on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patrice Lumumba: The Life and Legacy of the Pan-African Politician Who Became Congo's First Prime Minister Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Medieval England: The History of England from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Tudor Dynasty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSigmund Freud and Carl Jung: The Pioneering Lives and Works of History’s Most Influential Psychologists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Branch Davidians, the Peoples Temple, and Heaven’s Gate
Related audiobooks
The Waco Siege: An American Tragedy: An American Tragedy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doomsday Cults : The Devil's Hostages Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cult of the Great Eleven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Public Confessions: The Religious Conversions That Changed American Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: the Story of a Town in Terror Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Criminals: Gangsters, Serial Killers, Necrophiles, and Drug Lords Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Murder Business: How the Media Turns Crime into Entertainment and Subverts Justice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1992 Los Angeles Riots: The History of the Civil Disturbances across LA after the Beating of Rodney King Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cops' True Stories of the Paranormal: Ghosts, UFOs, and Other Shivers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCharles Manson: The Man Who Murdered the Sixties Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder City: Cuidad Juárez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Heaven’s Gate: The History and Legacy of Marshall Applewhite’s Notorious Doomsday Cult Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best New True Crime Stories: Crimes of Passion, Obsession & Revenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCharles Manson: Coming Down Fast Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Catch a Predator Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ice Cold Killers - The Rituals of Murderers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Flying Dutchman: World Famous Sea Mysteries: Mary Celeste: Bermuda Triangle: Eilean Mor: Buster Crabb: US Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe True Story Behind Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCarnage: A succulent Chinese meal, Mr Rent-a-Kill and the Australian Manson murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Year of Fear: Machine Gun Kelly and the Manhunt That Changed the Nation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mystery of the Lone Wolf Killer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBindon: Fighter, Gangster, Actor, Lover - the True Story of John Bindon, a Modern Legend Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shepherd's Bush Murders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAssassins: Cold-blooded and Pre-meditated Killings that Shook the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Monk: The Life and Crimes of Ireland's Most Enigmatic Gang Boss Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jonestown Death Tape: (FBI No. Q 042) (November 18, 1978) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
United States History For You
Land of Delusion: Out on the edge with the crackpots and conspiracy-mongers remaking our shared reality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51776 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fourth Turning Is Here: What the Seasons of History Tell Us about How and When This Crisis Will End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragonfire: Four Days That (Almost) Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Charlie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cuba (Winner of the Pulitzer Prize): An American History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House of Hidden Meanings: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies My Teacher Told Me: 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Adams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lafayette in the Somewhat United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letter from Birmingham Jail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis Thomas Jefferson And The Opening Of The American West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Branch Davidians, the Peoples Temple, and Heaven’s Gate
0 ratings0 reviews