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9781479881062

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The glare of media attention has long since passed from Heaven's Gate and its group suicide in 1997, but Benjamin Zeller now brings a far more discerning light to the movement's history, beliefs, and practices. He carefully situates the group within the broader religious culture of the late twentieth century, including its substantial engagement with both Protestant Christianity and New Age currents. In the process, he turns Heaven's Gate, an idiosyncratic UFO religion, into one richly emblematic of America's questing, apocalyptic cultural landscape. -Leigh E. Schmidt, Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities, Washington University in St. Loui

A dramatic and engaging story. The writing is crisp and clear, and the argument, particularly about the indebtedness of Heaven's Gate to the Bible and Christianity, as well as to New Age and UFO milieux, is well-articulated and persuasive. Zeller effectively captures the particularity of the members of Heaven's Gate, why they thought and acted as they did, and what led them to the fateful decisions to take their own lives. In the process he rescues them from being dismissed as mindless 'cult members' and makes understanding them both more challenging and more rewarding. This volume should become the standard reference on Heaven's Gate. -Eugene V. Gallagher,author of Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America Despite the extensive media coverage of the Heaven's Gate suicides in 1997, no single-authored academic book has yet been written about this group. This volume thus fills an important gap. This is an extremely valuable book, which should be of interest not merely in academic circles, but more widely. Anyone who has an interest in new religions and wonders how a charismatic leader can persuade 39 people to commit collective suicide will find it a highly readable account of Marshall Herff Applewhite and his followers. -George Chryssides,University of Birmingham Zeller has written the most thorough work on the cult of Heaven's Gate that is presently available...Zeller provides a thorough presentation, and his 'Why Suicide' chapter is the most comprehensive in this fine publication. -Choice The glare of media attention has long since passed from Heaven's Gate and its group suicide in 1997, but Benjamin Zeller now brings a far more discerning light to the movement's history, beliefs, and practices. He carefully situates the group within the broader religious culture of the late twentieth century, including its substantial engagement with both Protestant Christianity and New Age currents. In the process, he turns Heaven's Gate, an idiosyncratic UFO religion, into one richly emblematic of America's questing, apocalyptic cultural landscape. -Leigh E. Schmidt,Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities, Washington University in St. Loui Zeller's prose is clear and attractive, and he has a great story to tell, making Heaven's Gate a sparkling read. This book is highly recommended to all interested in new religious movements, apocalypticism, and American religions. Its relevance extends far beyond the small group that became forever notorious in 1997. -Journal of Religious History

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Benjamin E. Zeller is Assistant Professor of Religion at Lake Forest College. Robert W. Balch is Professor of Sociology at the University of Montana.

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