Citation

Raine S. Religion 2005; 35(2): 98-117.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.religion.2005.06.003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The mass suicide of the members of Heaven's Gate in 1997 stimulated much debate about the causes of so extreme an end to a new religious movement. Using primary source materials in conjunction with existing research, I present in this article an in-depth analysis of both the belief system and the behaviours of the members of the group. By using the sociology of the body and a psychobiography of the group leader, Marshall Applewhite, I show how ideas about the human body derived from individual psychopathology were translated into group belief and action. I argue that the relationship among these variables created the circumstances that led thirty-nine persons to believe that they were leaving this planet for a better existence in a parallel dimension. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en