American Politics Journal

Gate to Nowhere
by Jeff Koopersmith

Graphic from the now-defunct Heaven's Gate home page.

Friday, March 28th, 1997 -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- Yesterday, 39 men and women were found dead in Rancho Santa Fe, California -- a very upscale neighborhood. They were members of "Heaven's Gate", a group that believed that Jesus Christ was "occupied" by a member of "The Kingdom" -- sort of the next level of creation.

It turns out that at least one leader of the group was an ex-psychiatric patient who bragged, years ago, about starting such a group.

Why these39 human beings, of fairly high intelligence, would choose to assist each other to death is beyond my understanding. But in order to try, I visited the Heaven's Gate website and read a great deal of the material contained therein (there were hundreds of pages).

It became clear to me that this mass suicide was well thought out. The material, clearly assembled over a period of years, laid out the plan. I came away from my reading feeling less sorrow for these men and women -- not because I thought they were a group of weirdos or psychopaths, but because they must have died content that they would be traveling to a some wonderful place, "home", as one of them called it in the following:

A Farewell Message to Those Who Remain Behind

How they saw "The Father"
"We have just about completed our task here. We feel that the time we have remaining is short. I cannot express how pleased I am to be returning home soon. It seems as if we have been here for a long time. Yet I know that from the Next Level perspective it's been about a half hour. I only hope that my performance and effort on this mission will be found pleasing to my Older Members and their Older Members. This is all that really matters to me; even more important than receiving a Next Level body.
If you know you're ready to act upon this information, then I hope you will choose wisely and ask frequently for help from the Next Level on how to best proceed. As long as we're here, we will try to assist you in whatever capacity we're shown is appropriate. Once we leave, then base your decisions using the criteria of the information we've left behind for you. You will be carefully watched after and nurtured in response to your asking and desire. Bear in mind, true growth comes in many forms - often what you might least expect - and always requires effort on your part. Maintaining an overview of the situation, along with a sense of humor, will greatly aid you in pushing through any test that comes your way. I wish you the best and hope to see you back home someday."
April 8, 1996 By "Drrody"

Of course, there is little to be learned here. Throughout recent decades, we've learned the power that the few can have over the many. Jim Jones's Guyana killing field, Ruby Ridge, Waco, and now Rancho Santa Fe haunt us.

How can so many feel so betrayed?

As the facts begin to unfold, I think we'll see that the majority of those found dead -- dressed in black with purple cloth covering their plastic-bag encased faces -- will be found to have been marginalized. Perhaps our goal should be to "know thy neighbor" and to reach out before they slip away.