As you know, the serial killer thing didn’t work out too well. You live, you learn. Moving on…to cults! When I think of Heaven’s Gate, the first thing that comes to mind is the failed attempt by Michael Cimino at creating a cinematic masterpiece. The second thing that comes to mind is the cult and their mass suicide. (Note: I chose not to post a picture of the suicide because of the interior decoration of the mansion. It was ugly and I don’t want ugly pictures on my blog.)
- Heaven’s Gate was a UFO religion based in good ol’ San Diego.
- Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles led the group. What names!
- Heaven’s Gate funded itself by running a website development company called Higher Source.
- Cult members gave up their material possessions and led an ascetic, communal life.
- They added the suffix -ody to the end of their first names. In doing this, they were defining themselves as “children of the Next Level.”
- In 1997, Comet Mmm-Bopp made an appearance. Kidding! It was Hale-Bopp.
- Members believed that Earth was soon going to be wiped clean and to escape this destruction they had to board a spaceship that hid behind the comet.
- The only way for their souls to board that ship was to commit suicide.
- The group opposed the idea of suicide, but justified what they were about to do by redefining the term to mean “to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered.” Thus, staying on Earth and not boarding the spaceship, to them, would be suicide.
- Furthermore, their souls would survive this act - it was only their bodies that would “die,” and they, after all, were only vessels for the soul.
- On March 26, 1997, Applewhite and 38 of his followers retreated to a rented mansion in San Diego’s upscale Rancho Santa Fe neighborhood.
- There, they drank citrus juices to cleanse the body and purge it of impurities.
- The suicide was to be performed as follows: members would drink vodka mixed with the barbituate phenobarbital and place a plastic bag over each of their heads.
- Dressed in black T-shirts, sweatpants (the pockets of each pair filled with a $5 bill and 3 quarters), brand new black and white Nikes, and armbands that read “Heaven’s Gate Away Team,” they committed suicide in shifts.
- Each subsequent shift cleaned up after those who had just died. As the lot of them were found lying neatly in bunk beds, covered with a square of purple cloth, I’m assuming this is what was meant by “cleaning up.”
That doesn’t sound so bad - honestly! Heaven’s Gate didn’t kill anyone that wasn’t involved with the cult, they didn’t commit any crimes, no violence whatsoever. They were just a group of people (a small group, to boot) that held certain beliefs. Who’s to say if they were true or not! If believing in those things made them happy and if suicide was something they were absolutely sure of, who are we to criticize? They weren’t out to brainwash people or molest children or anything like that. I say, “Ok!” I wouldn’t join or anything, but I think Heaven’s Gate is just fine.
Alright, let’s back it up here. Was what I just said so not-well-thought-out? Are we to believe/ assume that Marshall Applewhite brainwashed 38 gullible people? I’m going to look a little further into how these people came to be followers, but I don’t see why he should be made out to be the bad guy. If people thought he was “so crazy,” they didn’t have to follow him! He wasn’t taking their money (like L. Ron) - he had a legit business! He didn’t steal people - they were just catching what he was throwing! They were picking up what he was putting down, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Another post will follow shortly and I will focus on Marshall Applewhite. He’s not as good a guy as I just made him out to be and perhaps I was too hasty in defending him with such fervor.
Editor’s Note: Two “paragraphs” up, I said that what the cult believed in may have been true. I realize now that the belief that the earth would destroy itself in 1997 was not true, as it is still here and we are all still here as well. That being said, I retract the statement.
