Heaven's Gate Cult Analysis

On March 26, 1997, the bodies of 38 members of a religious cult that would come to be known as “Heaven’s Gate” were found decomposing on a large San Diego estate.1 Heaven’s Gate was a millenarian cult that operated from 1974 -1997 under the leadership of Marshall Applewhite and his wife, Bonnie Nettles. At its peak, this group recruited over one-hundred members who all believed in Applewhite’s theory that the world was going to be “recycled,” ending all human life on Earth.2 The cause that drove these members to commit suicide was Applewhite’s promise of the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, but the basis for this promise was a lot more complicated. In fact, this basis was a result of the leader’s own guilt— his sexuality. Marshall Applewhite’s insistent denial of his

This paper will lay the foundations of the infamous cult through discussing Applewhite’s backstory and how he encountered the inspirations that would later prompt him to form and develop the cult that would become Heaven’s Gate.
To understand the purpose of the cult, it is necessary to understand the creator’s motives and background. Son of a former soldier and Presbyterian minister, Marshall Herff Applewhite grew up in an extremely religious household. He was born on May 17, 1931, in Spur, Texas and seemed to have led a fairly normal life before founding the religious cult.3 He was a man who had many talents: he was an opera singer, an actor, a public speaker, an academic.4 In addition, the co-leader of the Heaven’s Gate cult was described by his family to have a charismatic character and a caring soul. In a 1997 interview with CNN, his sister recalls that “[Applewhite] was always a born leader and very charismatic. He could get people to believe anything."5 She also says about his personality that "He was quite the