{"id":5344,"date":"2017-03-27T12:34:23","date_gmt":"2017-03-27T18:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/?p=5344"},"modified":"2017-03-27T12:34:23","modified_gmt":"2017-03-27T18:34:23","slug":"37-jonestown-theology-lenten-explorations-valley-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jeffhood\/37-jonestown-theology-lenten-explorations-valley-death\/","title":{"rendered":"#37 \/ Jonestown Theology: Lenten Explorations in the Valley of Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Wikimedia
Wikimedia \/ Nancy Wong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 this is revolutionary suicide\u2026\u201d -Jim Jones<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Can suicide ever be revolutionary? There are many who have given their lives in revolutionary ways. Jesus comes to mind. What is the definition of revolutionary suicide? I suspect that a revolutionary suicide must be revolutionary. I\u2019m not certain that the deaths at Jonestown were revolutionary. There is no way to refer to the children as having committed suicide. The actions taken against them were murder. There were also people who were coerced or forced to commit suicide. I would call such actions murder. So, did the people who actually committed suicide commit revolutionary suicide? I do think that many people thought they were dying for the revolution. It\u2019s so sad they were duped. I believe that Jim Jones committed suicide because he was paranoid and dying anyway. I think Jones knew or should have known the whole time that there wasn\u2019t much revolutionary about their actions. Deep in my soul, I believe that suicide can be revolutionary. There is no question for me that God often calls us to give our lives. In the midst of our passion, we just need to make sure that we choose the right revolution.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amen.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 this is revolutionary suicide\u2026\u201d -Jim Jones \u00a0 Can suicide ever be revolutionary? There are many who have given their lives in revolutionary ways. Jesus comes to mind. What is the definition of revolutionary suicide? I suspect that a revolutionary suicide must be revolutionary. I\u2019m not certain that the deaths at Jonestown were revolutionary. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2509,"featured_media":5227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4264,4265,4303,2363,4295,3390],"class_list":["post-5344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freshwritings","tag-jim-jones","tag-jonestown","tag-jonestown-theology","tag-murder","tag-revolutionary-suicide","tag-suicide"],"yoast_head":"\n#37 \/ Jonestown Theology: Lenten Explorations in the Valley of Death<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  "\u2026 this is revolutionary suicide..." -Jim Jones   Can suicide ever be revolutionary? 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