Why would they commit suicide?

	The Heaven's Gate individuals (hereafter referred to as 'the Gaters') Seemingly had it made. They had good careers, were quite talented, supposedly intelligent people not too far removed from you or I. So, what happened here? Why did they all decide to die? Before one asks that question, one must understand the Gater's mindset. One, in general, must understand how cults operate in general, and how Heaven's Gate functioned in particular. Note that this information is drawn directly from the contents of their web site, coupled with my own understanding and personal experiences with cults. I very much see this from a philosophical point of view, not from so much an antiseptic psychological standpoint, so you will not see much 'psychobabble' in my analysis. I'm writing this largely from the heart. The Individual In the normal development of a person, an individual is exposed to many compelling, challenging and often conflicting influences. In the middle of it all lies the person and tis (I use 'tis' as the epicene for his/her in my writings) relationship with these influences. As a result, the person is strongly compelled to find an 'identity' for tisself which brings coherency with this relationship. The Cult When and individual cannot achieve closure with one's self-identity with respect to the rest of the world, unease sets in and the person is said to be "in search" of tis identity. Identity has many facets, many aspects, and many depths. One might be drawn to some organization or group that "brings closure" to some or all of those facets. This is something nearly all of us partake in, whether or not we recognize it as such. We all see out "those like ourselves" in some way, or those that can bring more closure to our lives. The most extreme case of this is when that group is isolated in its beliefs and practices and the leader of that group has a long-term ideological agenda to fulfill - one that is not necessarily congruent with the long-term welfare of the rest of the members. This comprises what most of us would label as 'a cult'. The truth of the matter is that 'cults' are not that far removed from what most of us engage in during our lives when we seek out association with others that help brings closure to our identities. But where does what we think of as 'the cult' diverge from 'normal' group associations? This is a difficult to answer succinctly, and each group must viewed on an individual basis. The Suicide Now that we are armed with some understanding, how do we apply this to the Gaters and see why they did what they did? Here's my thoughts on the matter. The mindset of the Gaters isolated itself from the mainstream to the point of seeing the mainstream as a threat to their collective identity. They choose to give themselves 'hope' of escape from this threat in a mixture of religion and wonderment of the universe, mixed in with UFOs. Three major facets that caused them to have strong feelings for themselves collectively. Internally, they were experiencing despair of the mainstream and their own internal identities. They felt that the mainstream might tear them apart at any point or at some point in the near future. With that pent-up anxiety Hale-Bopp was natural focal point that would serve their "deliverance" - comets are mysterious physical manifestations that can sometimes be plainly seen, and what better thing to use to support ones' hopes? It is easy to make the leap from the reality of Hale-Bopp hanging in the air to the fantasy that there is an alien spacecraft following behind it. That the alien craft is coming for them. But what is going on under the surface, inside of the minds of the Gaters? What they portray to each other as "a joy" is really a deep mix of depression and despair and fear. The origins of these powerful feelings are obscured by the doctrines and beliefs that they have as a group. What the Gaters really wanted was for someone from the outside to come in and tell them that they were wrong, that they had nothing to worry about from the mainstream, that they needed not to kill themselves. They cannot scream for this help directly because mainstream really would come in and destroy them as a group. That's not what they wanted -- they simply wanted someone to allay their fears, not tear them apart.