The Heaven’s Gate cult followed a syncretistic religion, combining elements of Christianity with rare beliefs about the nature of UFOs. They believed that everything on Earth was about to be destroyed, after which the planet would be refurbished or recycled. The only chance for survival was to leave. Heaven's Gate members believed that Hale-Bopp, a rare bright comet, was the sign that they were supposed to shed their earthly bodies or containers and join a spacecraft traveling behind the comet that would take them to a higher plane of existence.Marshall Herff Applewhite or the “DO“ as he was referred to, the leader of the cult, recruited members through the internet and newspaper ads, and maintained members by brain-washing them about the end of the world and the only chance of survival.
The Heaven’s Gate members gave up all their belongings and lived communally in an austere lifestyle. They earned money by working as professional website developers, and three of them worked for Advanced Development Group, which created computer-based instruction for the United States Army.Marshall Herff Applewhite was a music teacher with an extraordinary orientation for that time, he was a homosexual. He tried to cure and get rid of his homosexual orientation by checking into the hospital, but it did not happen.
That supposedly was the reason why he revoked any sexual rights and activities from his group and had a castration performed for him and other male cult members.Heaven’s Gate cult members were strongly against suicide, but they devoted to it in late March 1997. They died in shifts, with some members helping others take a lethal cocktail of Phenobarbital and vodka before downing their own doses of the fatal mixture. Police found an eerily placid and orderly scene on March 26.On the other hand is the Unification Church. They believe in universal God and in pushing toward the creation of a literal Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
They believed in the universal salvation of all people, good and evil, living and dead, and that a man born in Korea in the early 20th century received from Jesus the mission to be realized as the second coming of Christ. Members of the Unification Church believe this Messiah is Sun Myung Moon.The group is still active; it is estimated to have several hundred thousand to a few million members, and they are found all over the world in South Korea, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, etc.Indeed, Sun Myung Moon recruited and maintained members by propagandizing his religion in a very effective way. He seized public attention by conducting public weddings.
This made the statement that he is the same as every other person: is a believer of a complete family, faithfulness, etc. Besides that, he gave a lot of big, public speeches, as well as published his books, like “Divine Principal,” which helped to recruit a huge number of members as well. Moon became more popular when he was arrested for many illegal activities, such as income tax evasion (failing to report interest) and fraud, and in 1982 was sentenced to serve 18 months in federal prison in Danbury, CT.Pursuing this further, Sun Myung Moon and Marshall Herff Applewhite were like white and black, or total opposites.
Moon knew how to talk, act and to make people believe in him for extended periods of time. He was very smart, perhaps that’s why his religion was so very closely related to Christianity. Moon concentrated on recruiting a large amount of people, and making them believe in Unification church and “donate” everything they can or they have. Every step was thought on so many times. Perhaps, Moon used the main purposes of life and propagandized with them, like the mass weddings.
Many people believe in one time, faithful and truthful marriage, that Moon considered this fact and relied on it in his bad intentions creating the “mass wedding” ceremony. It wasn‘t the actual formal wedding but a smart way of gathering people together and recruiting them. Probably, the main reasons for all these actions is money. Mr.
Moon made financial stability for himself, his kids, grandkids and probably some more generations forward.On the other hand, Mr. Applewhite was also very smart but a sick maniac. He had major issues with his personality and his sexuality, and he found a way how to make it everyone’s else problem. He monitored every group member very closely.
The whole house was wired, everything was labeled, and every light switch or even the smallest jar, which seems just odd for me. Mr. Applewhite tried to make cult member’s brains degrade. Besides that, he made the group abstinent, which proves the selfishness factor. Some of his tactics are still unclear for me. Applewhite brainwashed people and used them in different ways.
He obviously didn’t know how to keep the cult on track for a long time, and it explains Applewhites disappearance in 1976. However, the cult didn’t believe in suicide. Then why did Applewhite make the cult commit it? To make himself famous? Or he was just insane, or tired of life? Maybe he did not know how to finish what he started, or some illegal activities took place. It still remains a question for me and many other people.
