Heaven’s Gate Religion There are many types of religions that have been formed known as new religious movements and Heaven’s Gate Religion is one that fascinates me. Heaven's Gate was an American UFO religious Millenarian group based in San Diego, California, founded in the early 1970s and led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. On March 26, 1997, police discovered the bodies of 39 members of the group who had committed suicide in order to reach what they believed was an alien space craft following Comet Hale–Bopp. The new religious movement sounds crazy when first reading about it and after writing this essay I hope to learn subjects such as, what are the forms of salvation within the religion and how does the religion address the problem of evil. When looki

ng at different websites the first thing that popped up when searching for Heaven’s Gate was the word cult and that’s exactly what I thought about for the group because it reminded me of exactly that. I find it really hard to think of the group as a serious religion since many of them took their own life when I am a Christian and believe strongly against suicide.

The first Subject that I would like to talk to you about is what the forms of salvation are when it comes to the new religious movement known as the Heaven’s Gate religion. The group led by Marshall Applewhite had a very interesting way of thinking and it showed when they became convinced that the appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet masked a spacecraft that would enable the members of Heaven’s Gate to ascend to heaven. The group lived in a house in California and with Applewhite’s and Nettle’s interpretation of bible scriptures they added their belief of UFO’s into the mix. The two founders believed that they were the witnesses for the bibles book of revelations. In the final judgement they would have the task of selecting 144,000 that deserved to be saved in the afterlife. In order to make themselves worthy of being saved Applewhite insisted that the members of the cult give up drinking, drugs, and sex. This wasn’t enough because some of the male members including Applewhite castrated themselves. I could not see myself following this religion and even if I did I would put on the brakes if I was asked to castrate myself. Applewhite used the internet to bring on new people and never exceeded more than 200 members at a time. After reading they only had 200 members at a time I immediately was drawn to the conclusion that Heaven’s Gate was a cult because that’s what cults like to do is to stay small enough so members can be manipulated easier. The house the cult lived in had a monthly rent of $6,792, and in order to pay the rent the cult started a business, Higher Source Contract Enterprises, to design Web sites for local businesses. Applewhite was very convincing when it came to getting people to believe him and became convinced that the appearance of the Hale-Bopp comet masked a spacecraft that would enable the members of Heaven’s Gate to ascend to heaven. Beginning on March 22, 1997, the group took sleeping pills and put plastic bags over their heads to commit suicide and ultimately took the lives of 39 members. The second topic I would like to discuss about the Heaven’s Gate religion is the way the religion addressed the problem of evil. I mentioned before that Applewhite and other members of the group castrated themselves. The reason for the castration was that he wanted there to be no sexual activity and the group would also be free from gender. This seems to have been a form of preparation for their next level of existence. Before the group was formed Applewhite went to a doctor in order to address his sexual feelings he had towards men and the attempt was unsuccessful. Many people believe that the group was started because he was unable to accept his sexual orientation because of the homophobia that he had adsorbed during his youth. This motivated him to live a celibate life and to create a group which also suppressed their sexual behavior. They look upon earth as being in the control of evil forces, and perceived themselves as being among the elite who would attain heaven. According to Applewhite, “bodies were only the temporary containers of the soul...The final act of metamorphosis or separation from the human kingdom is the 'disconnect' or separation from the human physical container or body in order to be released from the human environment." The group dressed in unisex black garments and called themselves brothers and sisters and looked at each other as monks and nuns.
It is hard to believe that any two people could have such an impact over so many lives like Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles did when they formed the group known as Heaven’s Gate. Cults have been around for a very long time and that’s exactly what this group is to me. Thankfully after the suicides that happened on March 22, 1997 there haven’t been any more big instances like these. I tried to research this topic with an open mind because I respect many different religions and came to the conclusion that this group should not be listed as a religious group and as merely a cult.