The Heaven's Gate religion: killing your body so that your soul will ascend to the Next Level

People with strong religious faith will do anything that their religion requires. They will even kill in the name of God.  Abraham took action in obedience to God's command to kill his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  After Isaac was bound to the altar, Abraham took the knife to kill Isaac.  An angel of God stopped Abraham at the last minute, saying "Now I know that you are a God-fearing man in that you have not withheld your only son."  Abraham then saw a ram caught in the bushes and sacrificed the ram instead of Isaac. See chapter 22 of Genesis.  Abraham was blessed by God for his obedience.  Genesis 22:15-17.

In March 1997 thirty-nine people, members of the Heaven's Gate cult, killed themselves in obedience to their religion.  Their leader was Marshall Applewhite, the son of a Presbyterian minister.  He created a new religion based on Christian concepts and also on a belief in superior alien beings from other worlds.  In destroying their earthly bodies, Applewhite's disciples believed their souls would be liberated and would ascend to a spaceship near the Hale-Bopp comet.   They would subsequently be transported to the Next Level, which is similar to Heaven or the Kingdom of God in Christianity. 

Marshall Applewhite recruited young people who were seeking spiritual enlightenment. They lived together in houses and had minimal contact with the outside world.  There were rules for every activity, including pancake making and shaving.  Strict obedience to the rules was required, as is also the case for monks or nuns living together.  Applewhite's disciples were ordered not to have any contact with members of their families (exceptions were sometimes made).  They were taught that they could not ascend to the Next Level unless they renounced their old way of life and their old ways of thinking.  They had to abandon attachments to family members, friends, and careers.  Applewhite taught his disciples of their need to be reborn, which mirrors the Christian concept of being "born again."  They had to renounce the pleasures of this sinful world, including sexual activity and even sexual thoughts.  

Of the 39 people who died, Applewhite and seven others had been castrated. They believed that castration would enable them to avoid lustful thoughts.  In the video included in this blog, Applewhite quotes Jesus in support of castration.  "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."  Matthew 5:29.  The video contains interviews with former members of this cult, including one member whose friend tossed a coin to determine which of the two would be castrated first. They wanted to be castrated because of their strong religious belief.  People will do anything their religion requires even if it involves death, castration, or handling poisonous snakes.