The cultural and religious origins of heaven's gate -- The spiritual quest and self-transformation: why people joined heaven's gate -- The religious worldview of heaven's gate -- Understanding heaven's gate's theology -- Religious practices in heaven's gate -- Why suicide?: closing heaven's gate -- Heaven's gate as an American religion
Summary
In March 1997, thirty-nine people in Rancho Santa Fe, California, ritually terminated their lives. To outsiders, it was a mass suicide. To insiders, it was a graduation. The author explores the question of why the members of Heaven's Gate committed ritual suicides, and examines the origin and evolution of the religion, its appeal, and practices
