Heavens Gate was a cult founded by Marshall Applewhite referred to as "Do" by his members. He convinced 39 people that he was dying of cancer and he persuaded them that if they followed him to death, a spaceship in the tail of the comet "Hale-Bop" would come and take them to the New World. To enter the ship they needed to leave their bodies. Applewhite made the thirty-nine members of the cult dress, talk, and look the same. He made them all wear the same clothes, he shaved everyone's head, and made them refrain from using personal pronouns such as "he" and "she". They were also not permitted to marry, have sex, drink, and had to give all their possessions to the cult. They packed their bags with clothes and each person carried $5 bills, quarters and their passport for their trip to the New World. On March 26, 1997, thirty-nine men and women affiliated with Heavens Gate committed suicide by ingesting a combination of Phenobarbitals mixed with applesauce and alcohol. Their obedience is evid

ence, of course, that they put faith into what Applewhite said.

Piers, Clement. Heaven's Gate A Defence." GeoCities 13 Apr. 1997. 14 Jan. 2000 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/7187/defence.html

Milgram's experiments shows that people will follow a leader, if they believe in them. People with strong beliefs in an influential leader are usually condemned a sad fate chosen by the leader.

His experiment consisted of "teachers" who he recruited and "learners" who were students or actors. The teacher was asked to read a list of word pairs and to ask the learner to recite them back. If the learner got the correct answer, then they moved on to the next word. If the answer was incorrect, the teacher was supposed to shock the learner starting at 15 volts and going up to 450 volts, in 15 volt increments. Although the teacher thought they were shocking the learner, the learner was an actor and was never actually harmed.

" Autopsy results of Heaven's Gate cultists released." Chicago Tribune 13 Apr.1997.14 Jan. 2000 http://archives.chicago.tribune.com/cgibin/slwebchi.pl?DBQUERY=heavens+gate&DBLIST=ct97&NITEMS=100&SORT=r%3Ah&v1=http%3A

Some common words found in the essay are:
Yale University, Stanley Milgram, Hale-Bop World, Heavens Gate, Chicago Tribune, Apr199714 Jan, Heaven's Gate, Marshall Applewhite, John Applewhite, Herman Heaven's, jan 2000, 14 jan, heaven's gate, 14 jan 2000, chicago tribune, heavens gate, 1997 14, 1997 14 jan, jan 2000 http//archiveschicagotribunecom/cgibin/slwebchipl-dbquery=heavens+gate&dblist=ct97&nitems=100&sort=r%3ah&v1=http%3a%2f%2fchicagotribunecom%2f, apr199714 jan, 2000 http//archiveschicagotribunecom/cgibin/slwebchipl-dbquery=heavens+gate&dblist=ct97&nitems=100&sort=r%3ah&v1=http%3a%2f%2fchicagotribunecom%2f, apr 1997 14, apr199714 jan 2000, apr 1997, follow leader,
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