Dear Editor:
ABC’s 20/20 recently did a feature on Heaven’s Gate, the infamous Death Cult that encouraged its members to kill themselves for a greater reward – travelling the galaxy on Alien Ships!
The interviews were with some of the survivors as well as the loved ones of those that killed themselves, and as we can imagine all the talk was about how these Death Cults prey on & brainwash vulnerable people looking for hope, looking for something better than their current life, the founder of this Cult branded, rightly, as pure evil
But I can’t fail to ask, what is the difference between these Death Cults and the top Religions of the day?
BOTH promise a wonderful “life” AFTER Death! An endless “life” of pure joy & happiness, all waiting for them just after this crummy life!
NEITHER have any evidence! NONE! ZERO! All their cheap promises are based on belief! Which is why belief is stressed so much and why unbelievers are callously dumped into gas chambers in hell!
All the talk of signs – for Heaven’s gate it was a comet. For Religions it is “all the signs are there” and the creepy threats that the world is ending, we better hurry up and convert or else! If we convert, beg and pray, the knight in shining armor will come save us damsels in distress! Even uneducated sheep herders understood that the boy crying wolf was just playing with them, but even the best of educated keep being taken in by the promise of “He is coming any day now!”
For Heaven’s Gate, eternity would be spent in comfort, travelling the galaxy in Alien spaceships. For Religions it is living in comfort in Heaven. No one mentions any WORK being done, and more frightening no one even asks! Billions get to live the good retired life shamelessly sponging off God! Ah, the Grand Plan of God!
And these Religions are PRAISED for giving their followers hope for a better life! A life of endless joy, surrounded by their loved ones! No more talk of “Preying upon vulnerable people looking for a way out of their pain!”
And while Death Cults like Heaven’s Gate have harmed no one except their own members and their loved ones, we know very well the mass murders committed in the name of religion and continue to be committed! Try saying anything against religion or God in countries like Pakistan and one would fall under the sword of blasphemy laws with a mob gathering to kill and maim! From the likes of Giordano Bruno to Galileo to Native Americans to the Mayans to the present day Gays as well as Atheists have felt and continue to feel the threat of these Death Cults masquerading as Religions. Their death toll is in the Millions!
“Do not question our promises” and if we do, these Death Cults get to hide under, “Insulting Religious feelings”, to using brutal violence outright to suppress all free expression!
And so in this present day of ours, in the 21st century, cults like Heaven’s Gate get mocked, put down while those with billions of members get to OPENLY promote the very same cheap promises, with nary a dissent! Amazing!
The key, obviously, is the number of members! Too few in number, it is a Cult! Gain a lot of members, then it is a Respected Institution, a Religion!
Sometimes I have to pinch myself, am I really in the 21st century? Should we not be better than this? Even in this day and age, are our Morals and Values just a case of Might Makes Right?
Right On! Take personal responsibility for the here and now. Do good things to make the earth a better place for all people. Quit blindly following soothsayers.
What is amazing is how Religion or a Death Cult is able to brainwash even the best of minds
The life here that God gave us it completely different from the so-called “life” in Heaven
Here no one GIVES you anything, you have to WORK for a living, PAY for what you eat, where you live, EARN what you desire thru hard work
Leeches, prostitutes use a different method – they find a rich Sugar Daddy, sing his praises, tell him they “love” him & hope he throws them a bone
We are disgusted by such people & yet amazingly even the best of minds when it comes to religion have lowered themselves to such a disgusting level
Getting to Heaven is a matter of knowing the “right” God – sing his praises, tell him they “love” him and it is easy living for eternity! yay!
Down here we call that Corruption, Nepotism – how Oligarchs get ahead in Corrupt/Communist countries
What a sad commentary.
Yes, religion alone gives no hope.
But, Jesus Christ offers hope for both the present and the future.
In fact, for those who believe/ put their faith in Christ, the future has already begun through a personal relationship with the One who created the Heavens and Earth.
Strange that you think other religions are Cults but your own is the real deal. Any fool can make promises that they know can never be verified
So you think Jesus is like a Putin, a Saddam, a Dictator who will reward those who believe & support him?
You will get to live a life of ease & comfort all based on your support just like how Oligarchs live the rich life by supporting Putin?
If your wife or daughter were to get a promotion because of a “Relationship” with boss – you see that as an Insult?
But when it comes to religion, Corrupt ways are the Norm?
Morals, Values, who we are as people does not Matter?
It is whom you know, not what you know?
These ideas contradict ALL the values that God taught you thru life – No one GIVES you anything, you have to WORK for a honest living, PAY for what you eat, where you live, EARN what you desire
Heaven is the total opposite
Greed for the easy lazy life promised seems to have blinded you
Thank you for proving so clearly that atheists can be very bit as close-minded, dogmatic, annoying, and perhaps even evangelical as the worst bible-thumper who ever knocked on your door. There is no proof of the existence of a supreme being, and no proof of the non-existence, yet somehow those who believe other than you are equated with Death Cults. How close-minded and hidebound you are.
If you are happy in what you choose to believe, no problem. But when you want to ridicule someone else for making a different choice, with no more and no less proof that you have of your position, you just prove that your belief can only be bolstered by convincing someone else that what you think is true. And does convincing someone else REALLY satisfy, or do you return to the desperate need to convince someone else of your “truth?”
I feel sorry for you.
Did I not make a case? – with examples of SIMILARITIES
A Death Cult is one that says choosing Death is better than Life – Death is the gateway to a magic land of ease & comfort
Sugar Daddy Aliens or God – all they want to do is keep billions of lazy people in shameless comfort, happily sponging off them
That is not the life that God created for you – here no one GIVES you anything. Here you have to WORK for a living, PAY for what you eat, where you live, EARN what you desire
Prostitutes, leeches, oligarchs find a easier way to get a life of comfort, find a rich Sugar Daddy, sing his praises, tell him they “love” him and hope for a bone thrown their way
The easy lazy way to a life of ease & comfort
Do you not see you in them? The same idea of singing God’s praises, telling him that you “love” him and hoping for reward!
The sick thing is that these rich Sugar Daddies view their prostitutes, leeches with utter contempt and disgust for they know that all the high praises, talk of “love” is for their wallet, their money & not for them
God too is no Fool, neither is he a Sugar Daddy