Reflective Essay: Heaven's Gate Mass Suicide

When I was a little girl, my grandma and grandpa drove my sibling and me to church every Sunday. I was taught the ins and out of being a member of the Church of God, how Christ is the truth, the light and the only way to Heaven. Heaven was taught to be a place to look forward to, a place away from the terrible earth with all the evils that live among us. Where were taught that it is by faith we believe, then we need to follow the rules and we will be saved from hell. Everyone in the church had this simple loving yet serious voice every time they would speak the important choices that I had to make to ensure my salvation. I believe that anyone that is a part of a religious group of people demonstrate the act of willing themselves to believe
in God. I know that when I was in the mist of religious group, going to church every Sunday, being a part of the community, I was able to will myself to believe and engage in the purpose of the church, God and salvation. When I left the church my world changed, because the church community was not in my day to day life, will became not enough to believe. I started questioning the religious rules the church taught me. This leads me to believe that it depends on your environment and relationships whether or not people can will themselves to believe which would impact whether or not will is sufficient to counter religious doubt. People influence on each other everyday.
I believe that many human beings need and desire closeness with others. This is why humans can be lured into a religious group, be given a purpose and community resulting in them willing to believe without evidence. We see this throughout history; take the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide. The people in the group willed themselves in belief that aliens would take them to a better place without any real evidence. It is my observation that this was group did not just randomly belief this theory but took the time to learn from the founders, built relationships with the other members and choice to belief without logical realistic evidence. They belief because the people in their life believed, they believed because there was purpose and a plan for their
lives. James Williams argues, “When an option is live, forced and momentous and cannot be intellectual means, one may and must let one’s non-rational nature make the choice” (The Will to be Believe pg3). First, Williams refers to living option by inquiring about a belief and then believing the person(s) that end up engaging you with knowledge (The Will to Believe pg3). Second, Williams asserts the option of forced by believing in ones mind they need to make a choice(The Will to Believe pg3). Third, William argues momentous option is about relationship, when someone engages you to walk with them in the journey of their belief or action The Will to Believe pg3).. This ties in with the notion that your environment and relationships around you will influence you to believe that will is enough or if there are tangible answer you need to the upraising religious questions that flood your mind. Along with myself, I have known people where will is sufficient in the rules of their religion and belief whiling they are connect to the community of believers and will is all they need until they become disconnected from the community of believers. People are going to use will before evidence when it makes them the happiest, when they feel purpose and are in community with like-minded people. When that is broken and the happiness, purpose, and community is gone their options may change. I believe that James Williams’s thesis is relevant to the journey one engages when they are inquiry, choose or following a religious group.
Williams clearly understand that the environment and the relationships around a person influence their will to believe with or without evidence. I believe that therea re many spiritual journey a person takes in their life time with different levels of will to believe without so much evidence and many times it depends on the people around them and there trust level to will themselves to believe. I also feel this is a means for self-survival, some people survive in an environment where there is life, choice and momentum to ensure they have meaning in
life.