Why did people follow Jim Jones to their death ?

Question

What was the lure of the Peoples Temple ?

Answer 1

I'm not an expert on Jim Jones or on cults, but when people become so alienated from their lives, they search for anything that can possibly help them.  Committing suicide with a slim chance of salvation (or whatever cults offer) is thought to be better than continuing living an empty, meaningless life where the only thing that occurs is the constant exploitation of one's humanity and the treatment of that human being as an object, instead of as a person.

Answer 2

It's the insidious effect religion has on people.

It takes away their ability to think for themselves

Answer 3

I'm no cult expert but I have seen some shows and read a book or two on the subject, and I think one of the original things is that some people were tired of the racism in the United States. IIRC, Jonestown had a policy of racial equality, and I remember one of the survivors being reluctant to take his son with him because he was white and his son was black, which would've caused a big stir in 1978.

Also, people who feel hopeless or direction-less often look to authority figures, and Jim Jones was definitely an authority figure-type. Once a person realizes they can really control these people, because their followers believe that they won't cause them harm, they tend to use their powers for evil.