I recently watched Harper Hill's "What Really Happened" on Heaven's Gate religious group and the mass suicide back in 1997. I have always been intrigued by groups like this and the psychology behind cult- behavior. These were intelligent people, much like you and I. They were seeking a path of enlightenment, much like you and I. They truly believed they had found the Way, the Truth, and the Light, like many of us think we have. Were their beliefs absurd? I think most of us would think so. Do many people think what we believe is just as absurd? How is what we believe about "the next level" any less absurd than what Heaven's Gate believed?

 

Folks, the promise of eternal life is very seductive. In a video made by one of the Heaven's Gate members(victims), the man said what brought him to the group was the promise of being able to live forever. Were it not for that promise of eternal life would many of us cling to the things we belief about the afterlife ?

 

These people were willing to die for what they believed in. We see people everyday that are willing to die for their "religious" beliefs. Most of us see it as a perverse way of exhibiting one's loyalty to his religion. Yet, how far would we be willing to go if we thought it was part of God's plan? Would we die for what we believed in?

 

Speak about Heaven's Gate in this thread. What gives birth to this type of thought? How are we any different? Let's face it, we are all vulnerable human beings, with our fears, insecurities, and other human frailties. We are more than capable of being seduced by promises of immortality. Sometimes rational thought gets tossed aside when we hear promises of things that we so, so want to believe. Are we all being seduced by Heaven's Gate???

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Heaven's Gate 2

Are we all capable of being convinced of absurd things under the promise that said beliefs would bring us closer to God, or to a higher level of enlightenment ? Are we all capable of becoming whack jobs, as TAC described above?

Are we all capable of being convinced of absurd things under the promise that said beliefs would bring us closer to God, or to a higher level of enlightenment ? Are we all capable of becoming whack jobs, as TAC described above?

 

I don't think we are all capable of becoming whack jobs. I think there are places for leaders, loners and followers in life and in religion.

Are we all capable of being convinced of absurd things under the promise that said beliefs would bring us closer to God, or to a higher level of enlightenment ? Are we all capable of becoming whack jobs, as TAC described above?

Maybe I'm a whack job for believing this, but I do not believe we are all capable of becoming a whack job who would commit suicide. If you told me the only way I could get to heaven was to commit suicide, then I would say then heaven is not the place I thought it would be.

I find the "Exit Statements" fascinating. They seemed so happy and so excited to be moving on to the next level... Kinda like me if I knew I was heading to Mars tomorrow.

 

Some interesting quotes that I came across from people who watched the Exit Statements video :

 

"These people aren't deranged, delusional, crazy people being swayed by a mad man. A lot of these people appear generally of sound mind, clear thought, and almost surely would've succeeded in other aspects of life had they pursued them. And that's the terrifying part: these are not bad or crazy people, these are good people with bad and crazy ideas, which can be just as dangerous."

 

"They died happier and with more grace than 99.999 % of the rest of us. And we all are a bit crazy, we just don't see it in ourselves. We are all so convinced of our model of the world and so quick to judge. Did they get it wrong? Sure. Did the rest of us? Probably. I also noticed they all look like social outcasts and must have found great relief in being accepted into a loving and peaceful cult. They really believed."

 

"At least the crazy Christian people have the decency to ONLY kill themselves, Unlike the Islamic Fundamentalists who kill themselves AND everyone else for there imagery afterlife."