Heaven's Gate Cult

Heaven’s Gate was a cult founded in 1972 by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. The beliefs behind the Heaven’s Gate cult was based around unidentified foreign objects (UFO). Members of this cult believed the Earth was about to be “recycled” and that the only way to survive was to leave Earth. The members commit suicide with the belief it was the only way they could make it to the “Next Level”.

Marshall Applewhite was born on May 17, 1931 in Spur, Texas. Applewhite grew up very religious, as his father was a Presbyterian minister. Applewhite enrolled at the Union Presbyterian Seminary in the hopes of becoming a minister, however, he later decided to pursue a music career instead. Later, Applewater began teaching at the University

of Alabama but eventually quit after having a sexual relationship with a male student. It is likely his religious upbringing as well as the time period went against a same-sex relationship, and so Applewater may have had conflicting feelings towards his sexuality.

Bonnie Nettles was born on August 29, 1927 in Houston, Texas.

Nettles was raised in a Baptist family but as an adult she distanced herself from the religion. Nettles marriage was mostly stable until 1972 when she claimed a 19th century monk spoke to her and gave her instructions. Additionally, Nettles went to fortune tellers who said she would meet a tall man with a fair complexion and light hair; this description matched Applewhite whom she later met in March, 1972. Nettles introduced Applewhite to her “spiritual” practices and the pair quickly become inseparable, both believing they had met before in a previous life. The pair came to the agreement that they were the two witnesses mentioned in the Book of Revelation; this was one of the first steps they made towards starting Heaven’s

Gate.

Among other events going on at the time of the creation of Heaven’s Gate, the newly created internet aided the cult’s growth. Heaven’s Gate became the first well-known cult of the Internet era, and so the founders and members were able to spread their beliefs to a larger number of people through technology in the early 1990s. The sales pitch Heaven’s Gate gave was that Applewhite was the second coming of Jesus Christ, God is an alien, and that they were living near the end of time. The cult targeted those who believed in UFOs and fans of sci-fi movies and tv shows like Star Wars and Star Trek. These influences were prevalent in Nettles and Applewhite’s teachings, as they were both fans of those sorts of movies and tv shows. The cult also targeted people seeking spiritual enlightenment.

The worried families of cult members oftentimes went looking for their relatives, but it was hard to find them as they moved often and discreetly in an attempt to stay hidden from their loved ones. To ensure the members would stay in the cult and follow the rules of not living as a human would, Applewhite enforced many strict rules. Members had to sign out before retrieving their driver’s licence and car keys, and the were assigned a partner to do everything with them to ensure no one got romantically revolve or too friendly like a human would. Unlikely many other cults, Applewhite was fairly understanding and let certain members bend rules. He would allow members to leave if they wanted to and he even let a few of them stay in touch with their families.

Many aspects of conformity can be found in this cult. The size of the following of Heaven’s Gate played a large factor in the complete conformity of most members of the cult. With such a large number of people mindlessly following their leaders, it became much easier for an individual to follow their peers due to the pressure of a group setting. Unanimity is one of the major factors of conformity which can be seen when members of Heaven’s Gate unanimously followed the practice of abstinence of alcohol, drugs, and sex. As previously mentioned, Applewhite enforced many strict rules and kept a close eye on all of the members to make sure they were not participating in any human activities. Being watched constantly by the leaders of the cult as well as an assigned partner contributed to the conformity of individuals.

Other factors which affected members of Heaven’s Gate were the factors of obedience.

The members of Heaven’s Gate lived in close proximity to each other, always living in the same towns and oftentimes sharing houses or campers. Because all of the members were so close to one another, individual members were more likely to be obedient because of other members who may be watching them and who have possibly set a standard in the cult. Depersonalization was a major factor of obedience in Heaven’s Gate. Members has to disassociate with their friends, family, employers, employees, and any other aspect Applewhite deemed “humanlike”. By taking away the main factors which make a person unique and “humanlike”, Applewhite effectively depersonalizes his followers, which makes obedience from these people much easier to

obtain.

Heaven’s Gate was not overly strict about not allowing members to leave the cult, so there is little material on if there were any dissenters from the cult, however, there was a sole survivor following the mass suicide in March, 1997. In an article published by Daily Mail on March 26, 2012, author Michael Zennie retells the events leading up to the mass suicide and then mentions the group’s only survivor, Rio DiAngelo. DiAngelo was chosen to be the only member of Heaven’s Gate to stay on Earth to continue preaching the message of the cult. Applewhite had recorded a series of messages which he later left with DiAngelo explaining why he and 38 other members commit suicide, stating they would be beamed up to a spaceship that was following the Hale-Bopp Comet. The article goes on to mention how the mass suicide was a wakeup call for the government, as they acknowledged an increased danger in cults after the incident. Many who study cults have noted violence does not come from internal pressure, but instead it comes from external pressure from communities who try to impede on the cults.

Heaven’s Gate was a complex and confusing cult which has kept people curious for decades. The ideology behind the beliefs of the members have its roots in sci-fi and spiritual exploration. Factors of conformity and obedience played a large role in the cult and were the main reason Applewhite and Nettles had a following.