Two of the last Heaven’s Gate followers “Telah” and “we” keep the Heaven’s Gate website online and promptly respond to any questions through email. March 23, 1997 was when the mass suicide known as Heaven’s Gate occurred in Rancho Santa Fe community of San Diego, California. Thirty-nine members were found dead neatly in bunk beds wearing Nike shoes, black sweat pants, and covered with a purple cloth. The cult started in 1997, when founders Marshall Applewhite, and Bonnie Nettles became “the Two”
Heaven’s Gate was founded by Marshall Applewhite, alongside Bonnie Lu Nettles. Applewhite was an American cult leader, self-Proclaimed prophet and God. Many believed that these two individuals were disciples of the “Next Level” (such as heaven) and were brought to earth on quest to acquire members to prepare a spaceship to take them to Heaven where they claim to reside. This cult started to arose when more and more followers started to enter it. The brainwashing of its members began when the
A cult is a group of people that may follow a figure of authority, a god, or an object in an extreme, typically secretive, and radicalized way. Followers of cults are usually subject to groupthink in that they irrationally and unconditionally follow the thoughts and interpretations of one or many figures of authority, with most pledging complete loyalty and obedience to the cult through persuasive coercion. Cults differ to religious sects, as followers of cults are forced into the belief system of
Cults are the groups that exhibit intense and unquestioning devotion to a single cause. All the group members have a same goal or mission, and the group thinking helps the group members to stick on the same goal. For the Heaven Gate, their goal is to enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom level above human. The documentary of “Heaven Gate Cult” perfectly shows the four ways for the cult to promote their group thinking. First, Heaven Gate have a persuasive leader-Do, who foster loyalty. Do said
Heaven’s Gate or known in the public eye to be a “cult” was begun in 1972 and led by Marshall Applewhite, a former music professor. He was recruited by one of his nurses, Bonnie Lu Nettles, after a near-death experience. In 1975 the two persuaded a group of 20 people from Oregon to abandon their families and all their possessions and move to eastern Colorado, where they preached that suicide would allow them to leave their body and enter an alien aircraft hidden behind a comet. Applewhite and
In 1974 there was a cult that started called Heaven’s Gate, by Marshall Applewhite (1931-1997) and Bonnie Nettles (1927-1997). Their cult was considered to be an UFO religious Millenarian Group located in San Diego, California. In 1972 Marshall met Bonnie discovering that she shared a common interest with Applewhite in theosophy and biblical prophecy. The two soon became great friends shortly after finding this commons interest. By June of 1984 they both decided that they were chosen to fulfill
the way the world works, and can affect the entire population. While the year 1997 has many different life-changing events, three of the biggest events from my birth year are the Heaven’s Gate Cult Suicide, the death of Mother Teresa, and the successful landing of the Pathfinder on Mars. The Heaven’s Gate Cult Suicide was a long time in the making; Centered in California, Marshall
specific ideology and persuade many to commit horrific acts to themselves and others. Although each of these provides ample fodder for analysis, the leader I have chosen for this analysis is Marshall Applewhite, the former head of the cult known as Heaven’s Gate. During the 1990’a Marshall Applewhite, who called himself “Do” taught individuals that they were souls which had been seeded by extraterrestrials and that in order to separate from the world to the “the kingdom level above human” one
language throughout history. The use of manipulation has directly caused the sprouting of cults due to the use of language and how it is conveyed. Cults use language to persuade their audience to place their faith in the belief of the cult. One of these cults that forces one to believe in their beliefs is the Heaven’s Gate cult. This cult is known due the mass amount of suicides that took place as a result. This cult was first created in 1972 when Applewhite and Nettle, the 2 founders, witnessed a revelation
Emiliano Diaz CW- 5th hour Argument Essay By definition religions can be considered cults. “Great devotion to a person, idea, object or work” (Merriam-Webster). But regardless of definitions, the media has made the word “cult” become surrounded by a negative connotation. A few famous examples of cults that have made headlines in America, especially in the 1980’s and 90’s include The Manson Family, Heaven’s Gate, and Scientology. Only Scientology is still active today and they have 25,000 followers