Heaven's Gate Psychology

Great Essays
The reasons why people joined Heaven’s Gate was out of choice and not being brainwashed. According to Zeller, the members of Heaven’s Gate were religious seekers who found everything about Heaven’s Gate appealing and did not consider the idea of death as something they needed to experience to transcend from their humanly form. A lot of those beliefs and theologies involved many concepts, theories, and beliefs from Christianity. Members of Heaven’s Gate believed in soteriology, Christology, cosmology, demonology, and eschatology. Soteriology is a belief about salvation and giving up all worldly possessions. Christology is a belied about Jesus Christ. Demonology is the belief in the devil, demons, and evil spirits. Cosmology is a belief about …show more content…
137, 2016). Situational contingencies consist of a person’s turning point in life, a person’s close intragroup affective bonds, their weakening of extra-group affective bonds, and a person’s intensive interactions. The people who became members of Heaven’s Gate are dissatisfied with the world’s current religions and their practices. The first theme or characteristic of situational contingency is the turning point is one’s life. The turning point or points in one’s life can be in the form of them losing a job, dropping out of college, lost someone close, and/or recently being informed that they have an illness. Lofland points out that “Some types of turning points stimulate the meaning and belonging needs more profoundly than do others” (Roberts & Yamane pg. 137, 2016), Applewhite and Nettles started to proselytize new members by telling them to drop everything and come with them. Zeller inform use that “They targeted groups and individuals associated with new and alternative religions and holistic living in their mailing” (Zeller pg. 33, 2014), they introduced themselves as charismatic leaders with a new spiritual message to share with the world. They were able to recruit Clarence Klug with their approach. The second theme or characteristic of situational contingency is one’s close intragroup affective bonds with members in Heaven’s Gate. Lofland explains that for new members to be committed, recruits had to “Learn that affective levels of commitment precede moral levels of commitment” (Roberts & Yamane pg. 137, 2014), this was the best way to recruit because members traveled all over the country to recruit people they did not have a relationship with prior to their first encounters. The third theme or characteristic of situational contingency is individuals weakening of

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