The People's Temple

Survivors claim that the great majority of the 910 people who died did so in an orderly wilful fashion. The critical question is how are we to account for this most astounding of compliant acts? Various explanations have been offered, some focusing on the quasi religious nature of the cult's leader. Other explanations point to the kind of people who were attracted to the people's temple. They were mostly poor and uneducated individuals who were willing to give up their freedoms of thought and action for the safety of a place where all decisions would be made for them.