ABSTRACT
Explaining the deaths in the Solar Temple is problematic, since the extent of the participants' voluntariness is unclear. Indeed, although the Solar Temple attracted some opposition and faced these problems in 1994, a proposed solution entailing either collective suicide or mass murder seems seriously disproportionate. The Solar Temple was not a "typical cult": it did not attract the vulnerable or the dispossessed. Instead, supporters tended to be drawn from the higher echelons of society, and included successful business people, an orchestral conductor, and a mayor. However, although natural and social environment have some bearing on the outcome of human events, it seems likely that the Solar Temple's worldview had a much greater role in these events, and that the group's key ideas resulted in their "exit". The original Knights Templar were formally established by Pope Innocent II who gave them exemption from all earthly authority.
