“What you need to believe in is what you can see … If you see me as your friend, I’ll be your friend. If you see me as your father, I’ll be your father, for those of you that don’t have a father … If you see me as your savior, I’ll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I’ll be your God.”
-Jim Jones, leader of the People’s Temple which became infamous after the 1978 mass suicide/murder in Guyana.
918 people died at the mass suicide and killings at Jonestown— the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster, prior to the events of September 11, 2001. Casualties at the airstrip included, among others, Congressman Leo Ryan.