The Jonestown Massacre was a cult-related mass suicide taking place during the 1970s, revealing the darker side of fringe social groups taking root in US society.

Please address the following questions in your short essay.

1. How do you think Jim Jones was able to manipulate so many individuals and eventually lead them to commit mass suicide?

2. Do you think such groups are inevitable in a free society or are there ways to reduce the number of such cults? If so, how?