Social Behaviors and Heaven's Gate Cult Suicides

Heaven’s Gate Cult

To what extent can conformity, obedience, and pluralistic ignorance be observed in the events involving Heaven’s Gate cult?

The Heaven’s Gate cult was one most of the prominent cults in the world because of the events involving it. On March 26, 1997, 39 bodies of people who committed mass-suicide were found in a house belonging to the cult in San Diego, California, in the U.S. The leader, Marshall Applewhite, who was suffering from mental problems at the time, convinced his people that the earth was about to recycled with the arrival of the Haley Comet.

He stated that the the only way to reach Heaven would be to ride the spaceship trailing that comet, whom Jesus and Mary ride. When the comet arrived and they “missed” it, Applewhite has already instilled the belief that ridding themselves of their bodies, in other words, committing suicide, would be necessary to escape this planet.

First of all, some elements of conformity can be observed in the people within the cult.

In order for the members to “reach the Next level”, they would have to adapt to new lifestyles. Despite the lack of physical violence, if any members went against any of the acts, they would be frowned upon by the cult leader and other cult members. They would also be warned that they will not be allowed to transcend. As such, members conformed to the rules as they did not want

seem as outcasts, and wanted to fit in. It is also important to note, that like many other cults, they all lived together and thus, were related through a special bond.

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By giving those practices, despite disagreeing with them or not wishing to do them, they would be considered traitors, in a way, and will be asked to leave. Another important point is that the adaptation to the new lifestyle took place prior to the mass suicide. As such, it may have been much easier for the members to conform to the suicide considering they have gone so far already with their new lifestyles, which could of been the leader’s plan all along.

Second of all, obedience to authority may of been observed in the cult. The leader, Marshall Applewhite, also known as “Do” may of been a great contributing factor to the mass suicide. To the other members, Applewhite might of been seen as a divine figure. As all of them wished to go the level beyond human, they all believed that they had to adhere to what he says. As he was the cult leader, he was regarded as knowledgeable in regards of spiritual matters. His charismatic way of speech, which tends to come along with leadership, was another reason for the member’s obedience. From the beginning, Applewhite has instilled the belief that the members might have to forfeit their physical bodies in order to reach the next level. When the Haley comet arrived, there was no spaceship trailing it. Applewhite was able to easily convince the members that suicide may be the only other viable option to transcend to the next level. Therefor, it’s clear that Applewhite’s authoritative status and charismatic approach, which is a common trait of leadership, was able to drive the group as a whole to conform to his ideals and beliefs.

Pluralistic ignorance can also be one of the major factors contributing to the event regarding the cult. Just like many others, cults exert control on their members by isolating them from society and depriving them financially, socially, and emotionally. In the case of Heaven’s Gate, no money was requested from the members, however, the belief system was instilled very deeply in their minds. As such, when doubtful thoughts began to pop up in members’ heads, they would quickly dismiss it and even get angry at themselves for thinking of such thoughts. Likely, doubtful thoughts in members would also be frowned upon by other members who would quickly lead them back on to the “path”. Because of that, members would be very self conflicted and would lack a solid opinion on whether they truly support the cult. With the lack of social support as well, they would become heavily reliant on what they believe to be the opinion of others. Because of the fear of being accused of being doubtful, they would simply assume, despite not knowing, that everyone else is content and supportive of the cult’s belief system.

Another reason the members in the cult were able to conform so easily was due to the prevalence of the lack of personal identities. One of the possible explanations is that all members of the cult have felt detached from society or simply did not want to be categorized by society. Because of that, their social identity might of gradually weakened over time. By the time they joined the cult, they could have possibly found the doctrine laid out by Applewhite to be much more relatable, and thus, aimed to fit within the new social identity, “the level beyond human”. From there, all the members wanted to fit into this new social category, and therefore, conformed into whatever they were instructed to do in order not to appear as outcasts. One of the main evidences of such behaviour is how everyone cut their hair, wore androgynous clothes, and abstained from sexual intercourse, all in order to appear as a unified group of asexual and genderless people.

Another reason of the mass-suicide was the presence of an external threat. The leader was able to get everyone to conform and follow his lead through fear. Despite the idea of the earth being recycled sounding completely abnormal, the members had no reason to doubt their leader. The concept was that everyone was going to die in the end, however, death through suicide would be the key to salvation, while choosing to remain on earth would result in damnation. As such, all the members were possibly afraid to leave the cult because of the idea of an afterlife with punishment has been heavily instilled in their minds. The idea to die of suicide by drinking the poison seemed like a better option, rather than refusing to do so and betray the loyalty that has been established in the cult.

An interesting point to note is that it’s suspected that one of the reasons Marshall Applewhite had mental issues was because of his homosexuality. He grew up in a time in which homosexuality was frowned upon. As such, the homophobia has instilled itself in him and therefore, he sought to seek treatment to change his sexuality. Because the treatment was unsuccessful, it has caused him some personal damage. This is believed to be one of the reasons he has established the cult, in the hopes that the members will live a celibate life.

In conclusion, this research question has attempted to explain how various forms of social behaviours has led the cult’s members to commit mass suicide. The mass-suicide of the members can be tied to various social behaviours which include conformity, pluralistic ignorance, and obedience to authority. It can also be tied to how charismatic leadership and the presence of external threats can influence the behaviour of members in relation to the cult. Cults are usually built on creating an entire belief system in order to fulfil its goals. Because of this event, the study of social behaviours has increased drastically to observe how powerful the influence of cults and religion can be. This has also increased the need to study social behaviour especially in groups, and possibly to study how people can think collectively in groups rather than individually.