Synanon

So many different communes we have learned about this semester have failed due to similar reasons. Would these communes succeeded if they did not have as strict lifestyles. Both The Peoples Temple and Synanon did not make it due to founders going insane and certain lifestyles not working for all members. In the two articles I found, the Paul Morantz and the Jonestown. I compared the major differences/similarities in both The Peoples Temple and Synanon and the differences/similarities in the founders, Jim Jones and Charles Dederich.

Some of the main differences between Jones and Dederich is their educational background. Jim Jones went to college and Dederich dropped out. They also had very different family backgrounds. Dederich lost both his father and brother and his mother re-married, were her began to turn to alcohol. Although they both ended up founding a religion they did not both intend for that. Jones always had the idea of starting a religion but Dederich started of with an AA program, but became greedy, he wanted more money so he invested and started the Synanon religion.

In both articles it mentions how both Jones and Dederich has an overall idea that worked well for a religion but shortly after drugs and power corrupted them making both their religions crash. Major similarities between the founder is they both has a huge amount of founders, both has physiological issues that basically made them go crazy and social media! Social media was the turning point for both Jones and Dederich. On November 18, 1978, the day of the mass suicide, the congressman and  view reporters were there to come and view what Jim Jones, The People's Temple was all about. Shortly after being there both the reporters and congressmen noticed people were being forced to stay. The congressmen and reporters left with a handful of people asking to leave and that is when Jones ordered his people to report to the airport to kill anyone trying to leave including the congressmen. When social media got involved in The People's Temple, Jones got paranoid. Which made him conduct a mass murder/suicide. More than 900 members of an American cult called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the direction of their leader Jim Jones. As for Synanon, when social media got involved Dederich like Jones got paranoid. Diedrich started threatening people. He killed and hung people because they were not following the lifestyle her created. Along with threatening and killing people abused animals. “Don’t mess with us-- you can get killed dead, physically dead.” Another huge similarity between the two is they both had a huge issue with drugs and alcohol making them incapable to run a religion.

As for the actually religion overall, both The Peoples Temple and Synanon had some ideas in common and some differences. They both became very greedy, wanted more members and more income. The main “way of life” that stood out to me was the sexual life between the two religions, which were very different. Jim jones basically slept with everyone in the commune both male and females and Dederich forced members to get abortions and vasectomies.

As for the similarity that stood out the most to me was the idea of personal integrity. Both Jones and Dederich had a way with dealing with this idea. Jim jones, when he felt threatened by someone he developed a need to compromise the sexually or humiliate them in public or sometimes would do both. Which is similar to Dederich idea of “The Game” where it is suppose to make people feel better about himself after being humiliated. “The Game” encouraged all the players to be honest with one another, it was suppose to led towards the delay of impulsive actions, excellence in work and a sense of social responsibilities. “The Game” focused on interpersonal issues, work patterns and individual emotions and idiosyncrasies.

Both these articles were very interesting, it was amazing comparing both and see how similar two founders/communes can be.