Cults: In Too Deep From Jonestown to Scientology

I ordered this tiny little book online.  I thought it would be a nice little read.  Aside from the countless punctuation errors, there’s really little actually wrong with the book.  It didn’t necessarily give ME any new information but for someone who was just starting out and looking for some overall introductory information on cults, I suppose this could be a good start.  Maybe.  (Maybe not. Read on.)
 
However, if you are going to read this book there are a few things you should know.  First, this person (or these people, I don’t even know because there is no author or authors listed on the book) didn’t even have the wherewithal to use the easy access advent of spellcheck, which is on almost every single word processing program out there…almost.  I mean, even if you’re self-publishing, which I fully support, there really is no reason to not hit spellcheck.  Even the internet checks spelling for you!  Moving on…
 
I think this author also got confused between socialism and communism when talking about Jim Jones.  Both can cause widespread destruction and poverty of epidemic proportions, not to mention bring down the morale of anyone included in such circumstances.  Then again, so can capitalism.  But while Jones was fascinated BY Hitler and his Communist views, he himself preached socialism which, while very similar to communism, is different because the working public aren’t the ones who own everything.  Long and short is, communism is where everyone “owns” everything so, (in theory) everyone has a reason to work.  Everyone is equal and working toward one communal goal and things are only distributed on a need by need basis.  In socialism, things needed for survival are provided by the government (or whoever is in charge) and the workers get wages they can spend on what they choose. 
 
The author of this book uses the word communism instead of socialism for an entire chapter and it’s just ridiculous.  Jim Jones was the first to have a fully integrated church in Indiana.  (I think it’s pretty safe to say Hitler wasn’t preaching social equality for ALL when he was shaking his fist and shouting at his followers.)  But never once did Jones preach of a communist lifestyle.  He went on about how he never bought a new pair of shoes or a new car, he wasn’t materialistic, that kind of palaver.  Yet you never saw him in meager clothes or scuffed, old shoes, shabby, old robes.  Oh no, not Jim Jones. 
 
The author also seems to think that making money for profit and the free market is communism when in fact, that’s capitalism.  In capitalism, it’s every man for himself, no limits, if it’s possible and within the bounds of the law (and apparently, sometimes not) and you can make money at it, go for it.  (Unless, it's changed since I woke up this morning???)  Part of me REALLY wants to find this author (or authors) and urge them to go back to school...high school...college...hell, at this point, I'd just let them look it up on the internet like they did everything else.
 
Furthermore, on the title page of a section on David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, they have a picture of Koresh.  It is a mugshot from an arrest in 1989.  They have it listed as “1998, Branch Davidian leader, David Koresh, in a police line-up following a gun battle with former Davidians.”  The problem with that is that Koresh died in 1993 AND it was a mugshot, not a line-up.  So, he looks very healthy for having been dead fo five years.  Especially since I know he died after having been shot twice and left in a burning buiding.  Yes, I understand that it could be a simple transposition of numbers but, that’s what proofreading is for.  And if you can’t pay someone to do it, DO IT YOURSELF.  It's what I do.
 
After a while of reading, I started to just kind of wonder who wrote this and where they got their information.  Well, lucky for me at the back of the book they list where they found all their information.  The majority of it was found in newspaper articles online, some books (of which some I have read myself), video clips, YouTube, and other random places.  A little along the lines of how I do my research.  I don’t trust newspapers or news clips and such so much, the media tends to skew the facts and chop up the details to present the juiciest story, not the truth.  I found a little of that in this person’s writing as well.  While the gist of what they were writing was true, the REAL definition and/or implication of what they were actually putting into print meant something completely different or something outside of what was originally intended.
 
I am not knocking the research technique.  There are people all over that do the same kind of research.  We used to call it going to the public library (for you younger folks, they do still have those and they aren't just to get free air conditioning and free movies on DVD).  Anyways, I don’t care if you look stuff up online.  And I don’t even care if you have 100 sources for your information.  I think it was even more awesome that they listed all of their sources and IF I were writing an actual book and not on a blog, I would do the same thing.  
 
HOWEVER, I tend to lend a lot more weight to the sites with higher integrity reputations rather than, oh, how popular they are.  So, let’s say The Washington Post versus National Enquirer.  Both are read incredibly often by thousands upon  thousands of people.  But one of them prints facts that are checked and verified and one prints stories for money and no verification.  It’s not that it’s ACTUALLY a lie, but it’s definitely easier to not have to fact-check and get people to go on-record and such.  SO, who’s more reputable?
 
But, I get sidetracked. As you all know.
 
Again, it’s not that this book is telling WRONG information as it is I think relaying misunderstood information in a few areas.  I found it on thriftbooks.com for $4.  So, it’s not like it was a huge investment OR loss.  But, it’s cover price is $8.99 and I would NEVER have been okay paying that. And that's if I didn't have the knowledge I have already about the topic and then with the mistakes that are inside.  This is marketed as an overall introduction to cults with summaries of the most common ones.  So, if I were looking for the basic information I would definitely have purchased this book and I would have gotten wrong information in spots.  That’s messed up.  Any time someone gets material to learn something and they get wrong information, it’s messed up.
 
I don’t know, I guess I’m on the fence about this one.  It’s certainly not at the top of my list.  But, it’s not a no-go/don’t read.  I guess, just be aware that there are mistakes and don’t take all the information in it as complete fact.
 
RATINGS
2.5/5 Stars  

Note: I'm sure there are punctuation and typo mistakes in this and other posts of mine.  However, I'm not paying for it to be printed and published.  More importantly, I'm not making people pay to read it.
Happy Reading!!!!