He then did a brief stint in the US army corps from 1954 to '56. Born Marshall Herff APPLEWHITE American religious leader who founded what became known as the Heaven's Gate religious group and organized their mass suicide in 1997 Born on May 17, 1931 in Spur, Texas, USA , United States Died on March 26, 1997 in Rancho Santa Fe, California, USA Born on May 17 38 Deceased on March 26 44 Family tree Report an error [184] Medical examiners determined that his fears of cancer had been unfounded, but that he suffered from coronary atherosclerosis. [162] Lifton notes that Applewhite's active leadership of the group probably led to severe fatigue in his last years. [149][150] This series echoed many of the teachings of the 1988 update, although it introduced a "universal mind" of which its hearers could partake. [3] He had three siblings. [45] While traveling, they had little money and occasionally resorted to selling their blood or working odd jobs for much-needed funds. [28][c] The two quickly became close friends;[29] he later recalled that he felt like he had known her for a long time and concluded that they had met in a past life. [165][166] He also cited a verse in the New Testament that said there would not be marriage in heaven. [111] In 1982, the pair allowed their disciples to call their families. [21], After his termination, Applewhite returned to Alabama as an analyst. document.getElementById("ak_js_1").setAttribute("value",(new Date()).getTime()). In 1952 he graudated from Austin College. [93][94] Applewhite also sought to prevent close friendships among his followers, fearing that this could lead to insubordination. By Steven Godfrey Updated Dec 30, 2018, 1:24pm EST A self-proclaimed prophet and messiah, he died in the group's mass suicide of 1997. He was birthing students into the next level., Marshall Applewhite, the leader of the Heaven's Gate cult, was a former music instructor at the University of Alabama. [193] Richard Hecht of the University of California, Santa Barbara, echoes this sentiment, arguing that members of the group killed themselves because they believed the narrative that he had constructed, rather than because he psychologically controlled them. [43] Most were well versed in New Age teachings, allowing Applewhite and Nettles to convert them easily. (AL.com file photo). Please try again. [44][61] At this meeting, they persuaded about half of the 50 attendees to follow them. [44][52] At the time, Applewhite maintained that he had been "divinely authorized" to keep the car. [142] He specifically cited sexual urges as the work of Lucifer. [100] Applewhite organized seemingly arbitrary rituals that were intended to instill a sense of discipline in his followers; he referred to these tasks as "games". [67][68] Most of their disciples were young and interested in occultism or otherwise lived outside of mainstream society. These ideas were expressed with language drawn from Christian eschatology, the New Age movement and American popular culture. [105] They were only allowed short stays and were instructed to tell their families that they were studying computers at a monastery. Cult", "Cult Leader's Son Apologizes to Families Who Lost Loved Ones", INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements), Academic study of new religious movements, Religious discrimination against Neopagans, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshall_Applewhite&oldid=1128076623, American members of the clergy convicted of crimes, Converts to new religious movements from Christianity, People extradited within the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Use shortened footnotes from November 2022, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 December 2022, at 07:12. They believed they would abandon their human containers and their souls would be transported via comet Hale-Bopp, soaring through space to a better and more enlightened place. [39] They concluded that they had been chosen to fulfill biblical prophecies, and that they had been given higher-level minds than other people. [12], In 1954, Applewhite was drafted by the United States Army and served in Austria and New Mexico as a member of the Army Signal Corps. [129], Applewhite taught that he was a walk-in, a concept that had gained popularity in the New Age movement during the late 1970s. [196] Urban posits that Applewhite found no way other than suicide to escape the society that surrounded him and states that death offered him a way to escape its "endless circle of seduction and consumption". Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the South Alabama Jaguars. Is Marshall Applewhite still alive or dead? [139] In accordance with the garden metaphor, he stated that the Earth would be "spaded under". Religious Figure. He previously held the record for career yards (8,353) and consecutive passes without an interception (156). Heaven's Gate was an American new religious movement (often described as a cult), founded in 1974 and led by Bonnie Nettles (1927-1985) and Marshall Applewhite (1931-1997), known within the movement as Ti and Do, respectively. [105][f], In late March 1997, the group isolated themselves and recorded farewell statements. Ti and Do said that the Next Level was adopting us into their family, explains Sawyer, a longtime cult member known as SWYODY(pronounced soy-oh-dee). [13] Applewhite lost his position there after pursuing a sexual relationship with a male student;[14] his religious education was likely not supportive of same-sex relationships and he was subsequently frustrated by his sexual desires. Prior to Texas, Applewhite served as offensive coordinator at Rice University under Todd Graham in 2006 and at Alabama under Nick Saban in 2007. Referring to their house as a "craft", they regimented the lives of their disciples down to the minute. [63] The coverage was negative; commentators and some former members mocked the group and leveled accusations of brainwashing against Applewhite and Nettles. [111] Applewhite now believed that Nettles was aboard a spaceship trailing the comet, and that she planned to rendezvous with them. Likewise, the importance of personal choice was also emphasized. [103] Rather than issue direct commands, he attempted to express his preferences and nominally offer his disciples a choice. [111] In 1982, the pair allowed their disciples to call their families. Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr., better known as Do, was a religious figure in the United States who lived from May 17, 1931, to March 26, 1997. Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr. was born in Spur, Texas,[2] on May17, 1931, to Marshall Herff Applewhite Sr. (19011971) and his wife Louise (ne Winfield; 19011988). [176] Lewis speculates that Applewhite settled on suicide because he had said that the group would ascend during his lifetime, so appointing a successor was unfeasible. [111][112] His attempt to explain her death in the terms of the group's doctrine was successful, preventing the departure of all but one member. [62], By 1975, Applewhite and Nettles had taken the names "Bo" and "Peep". [98] Members were encouraged to constantly seek Applewhite's advice and often ask themselves what their leaders would do when making a decision. Applewhite, however, officially announced on December 4, 2006, that he would not leave Rice for Iowa State. [106], Applewhite and Nettles sometimes made sudden, drastic changes to the group. Applewhite went 15-11 in two-plus seasons at the helm, succeeding Tom Herman, who was 22-4 at Houston before taking the head coaching job at Texas. He was popular with customers but decided to return to Texas later that year. Last season, Applewhite was instrumental in helping Jalen Tolbert earn the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors, the first for a Jag, as Tolbert led the conference in catches, receiving yards, receiving yards per game and yards per reception - ranking third in . 0:00. Now, a new documentary series on HBO Max takes another look at the origins, development and shocking culmination of Heavens Gate. It was that journey that apparently led to what happened inside a million-dollar house in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., where the bodies of 39 cult members, who had committed suicide, were found on Wednesday. harlingen, tx distance to mexican border . Posted in . These vacations were intended to placate families by demonstrating that the disciples remained with the group of their own accord. [101] In his 2000 study of the group, Winston Davis states that Applewhite mastered the "fine art of religious entertainment", noting that many of his disciples seemed to enjoy their service. [29] They usually stayed at remote campgrounds and did not speak about their beliefs. [56] The two seldom personally spoke with attendees, only taking phone numbers with which they could contact them. 19 Ocak 2023 . [46], While traveling, Applewhite and Nettles pondered the life of Francis of Assisi and read works by authors including Helena Blavatsky, R.D. Laing, and Richard Bach. With 1:49 left in the game, Applewhite engineered a 7-play, 80-yard touchdown drive with passes of 25 and 37 yards to win the game. Vancouver, Bc Apartments For Rent Under $1000, [164] In Applewhite's view, sexuality was one of the most powerful forces that bound humans to their bodies and thus hindered their efforts to evolve to the Next Level; he taught that Next Level beings had no reproductive organs, but that Luciferian beings had genders. Applewhite was enlisted in the Army in 1954 and served in the Army Signal Corps in New Mexico and Austria. Applewhite led Texas to two Big 12 Championship games, to victory in 2 Bowl games, and set 48 school records along the way. [26] In a public statement Applewhite commented on the affair: "Several years ago, I made a regretful decision resulting in behavior that was totally inappropriate. These ideas were expressed with language drawn from Christian eschatology, the New Age movement and American popular culture. To please Applewhite, Heavens Gate members sang their own version of Do-Re-Mi, altering the lyrics to suit cult lore. [88] On one occasion in Texas, they told their followers of a forthcoming visitation from extraterrestrials and instructed them to wait outside all night, at which point they informed them that this had been merely a test. [41] In February 1973, Applewhite and Nettles resolved to travel to teach others about their beliefs and drove throughout the Western U.S.;[42][43][44] Lifton describes their travels as a "restless, intense, often confused, peripatetic spiritual journey". They gained only one convert. Balch and Taylor state that Applewhite and Nettles eschewed pressure tactics, seeking only devoted followers. is major applewhite related to marshall applewhite. Marshall Applewhite didnt like his homosexuality, so he created a myth around that piece that he didnt like, a former cult member says in the docuseries. itsleeps (feat. [64], Benjamin E.Zeller, an academic who studies new religions, notes that Applewhite and Nettles' teachings focused on salvation through individual growth and sees this as similar to currents in the era's New Age movement. They told their followers that they would be visited by extraterrestrials who would provide them with new bodies. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. [118] Applewhite maintained some aspects of their scientific teachings, but in the 1980s the group became more like a religion in its focus on faith and submission to authority. Despite their stance against suicide, he and 38 followers were found dead dressed identically, wearing arm bands that read "Heaven's Gate Away Team." Three assistants helped him commit suicide, then killed themselves. Thirty-nine people, including cult leader Marshall Herff Applewhite, participated in a mass suicide in 1997, convinced that their souls would leave their human containers and be transformed into enlightened alien beings. [99] Students who were not committed to this lifestyle were encouraged to leave; departing members were given financial assistance. [154] By this time, Applewhite did not regiment his disciples' lives as strictly as he had and spent less time with them. In 1972, Applewhite developed a close friendship with Bonnie Nettles, a nurse; together, they discussed mysticism at length and concluded that they were called as divine messengers. "[73][74] He emphasized to his early followers that he was not speaking metaphorically, often using the words "biology" and "chemistry" in his statements. [116][117], Applewhite began to emphasize a strict hierarchy, teaching that his students needed his guidance, as he needed the guidance of the Next Level. At this point, members of Heavens Gate were living in a large house in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Some commentators attributed his followers' willingness to commit suicide to his skill as a manipulator, while others argued that their willingness was due to their faith in the narrative that he constructed. [77] Members were consequently instructed to renounce: friends, family, media, drugs, alcohol, jewelry, facial hair, and sexuality. [11] He was a baritone singer and enjoyed spirituals and the music of Handel. Referring to their house as a "craft", they regimented the lives of their disciples down to the minute. [57] They initially named their organization the Anonymous Sexaholics Celibate Church, but it soon became known as the Human Individual Metamorphosis. Is Ziggy From Home And Away Pregnant In Real Life, Qashqai Exports Pvt. His close partner, Bonnie Lu Nettles, decided they were "The Two" mentioned in the Book . [163] The winter was very cold, and they abandoned the plan. Applewhite in an initiation video for Heaven's Gate in 1996, Introduction to Nettles and first travels, Other names used by Applewhite include "Guinea", "Tiddly", and "Nincom". [70] He contended that most humans had been brainwashed by Lucifer but that his followers could break free of this control. [111][112] His attempt to explain her death in the terms of the group's doctrine was successful, preventing the departure of all but one member. [102] He also watched science fiction television programs with the rest of the group. Florida. herculoids gloop and gleep sounds RELATED: College Football . . [105] Applewhite and Nettles had about 40followers then and lived in two or three houses; the leaders usually had their own house. They gained only one convert. Applewhite and Nettles soon told them to adopt two-syllable names that ended in "ody" and had three consonants in the first syllable,[78] such as Rkkody, Jmmody, and Lvvody;[79] Applewhite stated that these names emphasized that his followers were spiritual children. The blond paint balanced the walnut . [173] Many members praised Applewhite in their final messages;[174] Davis describes their remarks as "regurgitations of Do's gospel". [60], Applewhite and Nettles sent advertisements to groups in California and were invited to speak to New Age devotees there in April 1975. is major applewhite related to marshall applewhite. Nettles had left her body behind and was waiting for them. [186] His final message was widely broadcast; Hugh Urban of Ohio State University describes his appearance in the video as "wild-eyed [and] rather alarming". [127] Applewhite then decided that an opportunity existed for humans to reach the Next Level "every two millennia", and the early 1990s would therefore provide the first opportunity to reach the Kingdom of Heaven since the time of Jesus. [47][48] They kept a King James Version of the Bible with them and studied several passages from the New Testament, focusing on teachings about Christology, asceticism, and eschatology. The university froze Applewhite's salary from Feb. 5, 2009 -- almost immediately upon learning of the behavior and discussing it with Applewhite -- until Jan. 1, 2010. [70] Applewhite thought that his followers would reach a higher level of being, changing like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly;[71] this example was used in almost all of the group's early literature. [78] He emphasized that students were free to disobey if they chose, in what Lalich dubs the "illusion of choice". [91] They typically communicated with their disciples in writing or through assistants. Applewhite briefly enrolled to study as a Minister but changed his mind and went into Music. Marshall Applewhite Children/Kids. A native of Texas, Applewhite attended . [172] How he learned of the comet or why he believed that it was accompanied by extraterrestrials or why he should have believed the dead Nettles would be with them is not known. [157], From June to October 1995, the group lived in a rural part of New Mexico. Rcw Felony Harassment Threats To Kill, [72] He contended that this would be a "biological change into a different species, casting his teachings as scientific truth in line with secular naturalism. The son of Marshall Herff Applewhite Sr. (1901-1971) and his wife Louise (1901-1988) was born . On January 8, 2015, Applewhite was hired by the University of Houston to be the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under new head coach Tom Herman for the Houston Cougars football program. [44][52] At the time, Applewhite maintained that he had been "divinely authorized" to keep the car. He graduated from high school in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1948. As founder of the California-based Heaven's Gate cult, Marshall Applewhite and 38 of his followers died by suicide in March 1997 to ascend to an Earth-saving spaceship. [66] Janja Lalich, a sociologist who studies cults, attributes their recruitment success to their eclectic mix of beliefs and the way that they deviated from typical New Age teachings: discussing literal spaceships while retaining familiar language. [184] Medical examiners determined that his fears of cancer had been unfounded, but that he suffered from coronary atherosclerosis. At this point, the docuseries indicates, Applewhite had his fateful encounter with Nettles. [195] He notes that Applewhite's condemnations of contemporary culture bear similarities to those of Jean Baudrillard at times, particularly their shared nihilist views. [70] He contended that most humans had been brainwashed by Lucifer but that his followers could break free of this control. New bodies, they regimented the lives of their disciples to call their families but that he been..., that he had been brainwashed by Lucifer but that he would not be marriage heaven. 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