I am sure most of you know the story about the heavens gate followers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavens_Gate
Now my question is "Why would these people die for something that wasn't true?" I mean willingly give thier lives for a lie?
I would really like to hear Christian opionions on this.
Note: I am in no way saying they were Christian
2007-08-20 01:29:17 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Darwin from the Grave: Send me an Email to Rnwbman@yahoo.com and I will explain why I posted this question.
2007-08-20 01:37:17 · update #1
It was charismatic leadership coupled with a group of people who desperately wanted to feel part of something special and were easily led along. It's sad.
2007-08-20 01:38:37 · answer #1 · answered by RealRachel 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
They believed that it was true. Just because you believe something is true doesn't mean that it is. But if you truly believe that it's true, you're probably willing to operate based on the presumption that it is true. That's where the Heaven's Gate cult stood. Marshall Applewhite had them convinced that their spaceship was actually behind the Hale-Bopp comet, and that they, and they alone, were ascending to another level by leaving their human bodies.
As a Christian, I'm called to be ready to die for something that I believe is true. I don't know that I'd live up to that expectation, I'm sorry to say. I'd like to think that I would, but I really don't know. If I had a radical muslim extremist that was holding a machette to my throat and told me to renounce Christianity and my life would be spared, I suspect that I might verbally renounce it even if I wasn't going to renounce it in my heart. I know that's not how a Christian SHOULD act, but that's sometimes how I feel.
As a Christian, I would analyze the Heaven's Gate teachings and see pretty quickly that they're not consistent with the Word of God, and would pretty quickly reject them. But I suppose there are some people who will believe anything.
2007-08-20 08:42:06 · answer #2 · answered by Scotty Doesnt Know 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
they were very lost and empty; searching for something....Applewhite was a nut case for many years and his "tall tale" had years of development....many people have an interest in the UFO, other spirit thing realm of things...so a weird off the wall group /community at first did not seem very dangerous...just weird...
It can be compared to the frog in hot water scenario ...start out cool water and turn the heat up slowly, the frog doesn't notice.....
These people were empty spiritually and that allowed the deception and lies from satan that had control of Applewhite and the group until they killed themselves...
we have all seen the pictures....looking at his eyes, etc. there was something else in control there.....
It was not a faith issue... it was not a religion issue...it was not a "prophet" thing either.....
there was nothing of christianity there so people can not use that as a finger to point....
That was an example of what happens to people who are empty spiritualy....you have nothing to defend yourself with....
we are warned about the many false prophets and false teachers that will come...and no one seems to listen until something really bad happens.....
then we have all these scoffers that finger point , condemn the Bible, mock the churches and the TV evengelists, (many are good but are painted with the same paint brush as the bad ones), the scoffers think they are above the law of God and don't need or want to believe or accept the idea that a bunch of old books and Bible thumpers have always been right....
And those are the very people Applewhite and others like him can encourage in to their strange groups.....they weren't going to die...they were evolving into a higher spiritual being...they were becomeing like gods....
the same lie told in the garden of eden......
2007-08-20 08:46:44 · answer #3 · answered by coffee_pot12 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because they didn't KNOW it wasn't true. Simple as that.
But we ARE talking about a really small group of people. The Heaven's Gate cult never had more than a few hundred members at any given time, and only thirty-eight were extreme enough to die for it.
Are you trying to compare the cult to those who were willing to die for Christian beliefs in the 1st and 2nd century? There is no comparison.
2007-08-20 09:32:20 · answer #4 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That`s what happens when people follow "religions" where a human takes the place of God . TV evangelists , and other quacks are no different . They insidiously and knowingly lead you away from God and Jesus rather than to him .
They lie about the Bible , and God`s true purposes for humans . All they want from you is your money .......... nothing else !
The bulk of the money is used to support their lavish and luxurious lifestyle , and I`m sure you can recall "evangelists" that were prosecuted and jailed when the law caught up to them .
In some cases , these human "leaders" are just plain nuts , and actually believe their demented hallucinations while on a variety of drugs . The worst part is they get their followers to believe these hair-brained stories also .
2007-08-20 08:45:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
I suspect I know your reasoning behind this question.
People will generally not die for something that they KNOW to be a lie. On the other hand, if they fervently believe something is true, they may die for it, even if in actual fact it isn't true.
2007-08-20 08:53:11 · answer #6 · answered by Tom :: Athier than Thou 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because they followed a man's teachings instead of those of Jesus Christ.
A group of people known as the Boroeans are praised in scripture because even though they were being taught by the Apostle Paul himself and Barnabas, they examined the SCRIPTURES to make sure what they were being taught was true. If they had, they would have known that neither Christ nor his father would have asked them to take their own lives.
2007-08-20 08:36:45 · answer #7 · answered by Q&A Queen 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
It was due to a mistaken eschatology that this comet was the end of the world. And a doctrine of suicide in order to join it.
2007-08-20 08:50:06 · answer #8 · answered by great gig in the sky 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they either a) felt it was true, or b) they just wanted to be accepted and the cult gave them that state of being. Its just like Jones town
2007-08-20 08:37:48 · answer #9 · answered by John C 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
People commit suicide for all kindsa weird reasons.
Remember when that movie star Rudolph Valentino died? Women were killing themselves in the streets....
It was hysteria, I tell ya...:)
Doesn't mean that what they did was right.
2007-08-20 08:35:41 · answer #10 · answered by Adam G 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋