The "Heaven's Gate" movement was a religious sect (in the absence of a better descriptive word) whose myth (narrative with a plot that involves the supernaturals, a fundamental story that forms worldview) vaguely resembled that of Christianity... but with some very prominent differences.
The main beliefs of the movement were that human bodies are containers for souls and that Jesus' body was inhabited by the soul of a member of the Kingdom of Heaven at his baptism (found in Luke 3:22), and that "the sole task that was given to this member from the Kingdom of Heaven was to offer the way leading to membership into the Kingdom of Heaven to those who recognized Him for who He was and chose to follow Him."* They seem to have thought that the man Jesus at his baptism was "upgraded" or something, from human to "Level Above Human," and that because of this metamorphic transition he "was qualified to take others through that same discipline and transition."*
Though their website is difficult to understand (the grammar isn't exactly the best or easiest to follow), I think that they believed that since Jesus' death there were other humans that had been "upgraded" to "Level Above Human" able to train and disciple new believers. The writer of the website, Do, claimed to be "The Present Representative."
The movement began in the 1970's, with a group of people identified as the UFO cult, and resurfaced in the 1990's when they began to spread their message once again. They wrote books and articles to try and gather more people to their movement. In 1994 a group of followers sold all they had and went on a cross country "tour" to gather people, "holding free public meetings from coast to coast for 9 months." In 1995 they submitted their final plea to the people of the world on the World Wide Web, hoping that the broader public audience would hear their message, and prepared to leave the earth for "home." ** (this timeline was put together in April of 1996)
Their doctrine (direct and formalized statements about religious beliefs), can be found on their website under Last Chance to Advance Beyond Human. These seem to have been the three most general and dominant features of their beliefs:
- The Earth's present "civilization" is about to be recycled - "spaded under" - in order that the planet might be refurbished. The human "weeds" have taken over the garden and disturbed its usefulness beyond repair.
- The human kingdom was designed (created) as a stepping stone between the animal kingdom and the Evolutionary Kingdom Level Above Human (the true Kingdom of God).
- It is the soul that can progress from the human kingdom to the Kingdom Level Above Human. Both kingdom levels have their own unique physical "containers" (bodies) for the souls that reside in that kingdom level. ***
The followers of this movement believed that real suicide was "to turn against the Next Level when it is being offered,"**** and that deciding with ones own freewill to leave this earth was to accept the "Next Level." On March 26, 1997, when the comet Hale-Bopp was at it's brightest, a group of 39 followers of Heaven's Gate committed suicide^ to finally enter into "The Next Level."
The following video is from March 19, 1997. It is the movements leader and some followers explaining why they were going to do what they did. One week after this tape was filmed, they were dead.
(Video from YouTube - heaven's gate)
While this can be categorized under Religion for the purposes of this blog, I don't think that this movement can be really considered a religion of a culture... I think it created (or targeted) a sub-culture. Most (if not all) of the followers of this movement were Caucasian Americans, and they formed their own community through these beliefs. I almost wonder if this signifies a need that each of the members felt before this movement started... perhaps American culture was not satisfying for them, and they clung to something that would satisfy.
It's interesting/sad/odd from an anthropological point of view, because this group of people, this culture, only lasted about 20 years. So where does that put it? Would it be considered a distinct culture/sub-culture, or simply a fad?
I honestly don't know how to react to something like this, the whole thing is a science fiction novel come to life...
Maybe that's apart of it. Question: do you think that people can be influenced by media genres to the point of radical belief and life changing decisions? And can that alter sub-cultures? Or what about larger context cultures?
key concepts used: myth, doctrine
*information and quotes from http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/hg/intro.htm
**information and quotes from http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/hg/ovrview.htm
*** taken directly from http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/hg/lastchnc.htm
^ Wikipedia entry, Heaven's Gate (religious group)
Wow I've never heard of this group before. Reminds me of the Jonestown mass suicide incident. I think from both of these cases we can see it is entirely possible for people to make life changing decisions based on what someone tells them. Sad.
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