The temple seems to be another example of the oddities of the others.

The losties have had several of their group die and so they have a very conventional graveyard where they bury their dead.
BUT Ben's group deal with their dead in different ways.
They just left Goodwin in the jungle.
They apparently dumped all the Dharma purge victims in an open pit.
They had some kinda ceremony for Colleen Pickett during which all of the mourners wore loose white clothes. Brenda Lee's "I Wonder" played on a speaker system while Colleen's body was released to the ocean on a funeral pyre, and was set on fire.

I think that Ben's group are following the traditions of some ancient civilization that once inhabited the island. On the one hand they are very much people of the 21st century, and use alot of technology. But they also mark Juliet, take orders from Jacob, (whatever Jacob is), have burial ceremonies (sometimes), and now have a sanctuary that is the temple where they do..... something.

Charlotte is a Cultural Anthropologist so maybe she will be able to give some information about the islands history. That is if she can stay alive to actually get to the temple or one of the other ancient ruins on the island, like the foot statue.

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Doctor playing golf. Woo, boy howdy, now I've heard everything. What's next, cop eating a donut?