It was such a harbinger of good fortune that a group of thirty nine men and women thought their key to heaven's gate was behind it. One astronomer believed a UFO was hidden there, for a strange blur showed in his pictures. The thirty nine people, wanting to evolve into higher beings, became certain this UFO was an alien spacecraft waiting for them. All they had to do to board this vehicle was to leave the vehicles they were in. Convinced their souls were separate from the body, they believed that leaving the earthen containers would allow their souls to join the superior aliens. They thought that this was a life-saving gesture, for those of us remaining on earth would be "recycled and spaded" over.

What led the head of the group and his followers to this conclusion? What caused them to become so disillusioned with this present world? Investigative journalists are now digging the facts out. Through the internet, their words remained after they left. Their main page promised the hope that while the comet was near, you, too, could join them.

The UFO proved to be a smudge on the camera lens. An article about the leader, Marshall Applewhite, showed it was his initial crisis over his homosexuality that was the origin of his strange evolution. He had tried to be a good Christian. But he was fired from a position as music director at a university when it was discovered he had had an affair with a male student. Deep shame filled him so intensely that he ended up in the psych ward. He met a nurse there, Bonnie Lu Trusdale Nettles, who befriended him. Together, they developed a UFO cult. She convinced him he had a special mission. He could help humankind evolve into a higher species.

This is the cornerstone of most New Age beliefs. But it developed into something quite different. Marshall, needing to have a VERY special mission, became convinced he was Christ come again. The first coming of Christ was also an alien taking over a human body. And so, he, like Christ, could lead a remnant of humanity through the gate of heaven. Through the aid of aliens, humans could overcome their base "mammalian" sexual desires. Many of the males in the group were castrated to help them do this.

I grieve so for the loss of these thirty-nine people. I think of another leader, Troy Perry, and how his life paralleled Applewhite's. Like Applewhite, Troy Perry was also homosexual, and was fired from a preaching position because of it.

It caused him a great crisis as well. But healing came to him. The pain of being rejected by Christian officials was great. But in him, this pain became a catalyst which led him to truly help people. Research convinced him of the error of the Church officials. Homosexuality, per se, was NOT sin, not evil.

And so he began a haven of spirituality for a people long despised and rejected. It began with one church in 1968 in Los Angeles. The Metropolitan Community Church is now a worldwide organization, with more than two hundred affiliated churches. These churches give thousands of gay people a spiritual home to come to. One served for me as just such a home.

I cry to think of this one lost angel. I wish that the beauty of sexuality had been revealed to him. But he was never to learn that. And now thirty nine people are dead.

Joan.. The beauty of sexuality?

By Figarro

That is what you think would have saved these people. Guess a bit of common sense would have helped a bit, just for a second? Let's see, we'll all drink lethal drugs and go fly to a comet spaceship. Yeah, right! And why do I believe in this comet spaceship, because I'm gay?

Sorry I can't buy that as this man's thoughts or repressions. This guy was on his way out from liver cancer. He was not an angel, but messenger of doom and confusion. I see him as more evil, from satan, bringing with him nothing but mistruths, confusion and misguidance for the weak to find and follow. He was more like a mistletoe or leech, hooking on to a weak victim, and taking him with him to death, for he wasn't even strong enough to do that alone. He found a way to take those of weak minds with him. If one leads mentally incompetent people to do acts that harm them and they die, he's a murderer, not a lost angel. Or maybe you're right, he was the angel of death, the death not only of their bodies, but some of their souls. And I would bet his was first in line. Well at death plus five days, they are now finding the next higher level for them... a heap of compost... and the worms are having a party.

He certainly has a way of earthing the whole thing!

Devil or misguided lost angel? Was Applewhite a devil who did that which he consciously knew to be evil? Or was he a man driven nuts? When he was fired from the university, did his life lose its meaning? And in a form of insanity, did he create a meaning for his life? Did he sincerely believe in what he taught? And were his followers desperately seeking meaning in their own lives, at any cost? I have now read their various papers. They say they are against religion, but their beliefs take on the worst aspects of some extreme religious sects. The leader has an undeniable power over the followers. Applewhite, consciously or unconsciously had to be aware of that power. Perhaps cults are an odd symbiotic relationship of those who "need" to lead and those who "need" to follow. The following quote from a disciple known only as `Srrody' gives a view of their world:

Myth suddenly became reality in the Fall of '75. After 2 to 3 years of slowly losing its motivation to succeed in the world, wanting something more and finding no satisfaction even in offbeat circles, the vehicle (body) that had been prepped for my use heard "mere" words over a radio - words that would change its existence forever...

Thousands may have recognized the opportunity, but ultimately only a few dozen endured the practical application of weaning from the human family (kingdom), fended off the attacks/allures of alien outcasts and other external influences, and ultimately received adoption by the true Caretakers of the garden - members of a non-mammalian family. This transition goes beyond just dropping all human vices (coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc.), mammalian behavior (sexuality, socializing, etc.), even to how one thinks - learning to relinquish self-trust and working instead as an active part of the whole. All through the transition, Ti and Do worked harder than we did, made sacrifices, put up with indignities, suffered mental anguish, solely out of their compassion and understanding of what we children were up against. No mother's travail could have been worse. They didn't have to do that, but they chose to because of who they are.

And the music I ordered arrived today! Capercaillie's To The Moon is another stellar top-notch album. The Celtic group Open House are a refreshing folk group. Mark Graham's song "Oedipus Rex" is the Greek classic condensed and updated with a wry sense of humor.