Marshall Applewhite - Obscurity and Evangelism

Obscurity and Evangelism

In the late 1980s, the group kept a low profile; few people knew it still existed. In 1988, they mailed a document that detailed their beliefs to a variety of New Age organizations. The mailing contained information about their history and advised people to read several books, which primarily focused on Christian history and UFOs. With the exception the 1988 document, Applewhite's group remained inconspicuous until 1992, when they recorded a 12-part video series which was broadcast via satellite. This series echoed many of the teachings of the 1988 update, although it introduced a "universal mind" of which its hearers could partake.

Over the course of the group's existence, several hundred people joined and left. In the early 1990s, their membership dwindled, numbering as few as 26; these defections gave Applewhite a sense of urgency. In May 1993, the group took the name "Total Overcomers Anonymous". They then spent $30,000 to publish a full-page advertisement in USA Today that warned of catastrophic judgment to befall the Earth. Its publication led about 20 former members to rejoin the group. This, along with a series of public lectures in 1994, caused membership to double from its nadir at the beginning of the decade. By this time, Applewhite did not regiment his disciples' lives as strictly as he had and spent less time with them.

In the early 1990s, Applewhite posted some of his teachings on the Internet, but he was stung by the resulting criticism. That year, he first spoke of the possibility of suicide as a way to reach the Next Level. He explained that everything "human" had to be forsaken, including the human body, before one could ascend. The organization was then renamed "Heaven's Gate". Davis speculates that this rejection may have encouraged him to attempt to leave Earth.

From June to October 1995, the group lived in a rural part of New Mexico. They purchased 40 acres (0.16 km2) and built a compound—which they referred to as the "Earth ship"—using tires and lumber; Applewhite hoped to establish a monastery. This proved to be a difficult endeavor, particularly for the aging Applewhite: he was in poor health and, at one point, feared that he had cancer. Lifton notes that Applewhite's active leadership of the group probably led to severe fatigue in his last years. The winter was very cold, and they abandoned the plan. Afterwards, they lived in several houses in the San Diego area.

The group increasingly focused on the suppression of sexual desire; Applewhite and seven others opted for surgical castration. They initially had difficulty finding a willing surgeon, but eventually found one in Mexico. In his 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. He also cited a verse in the New Testament that said there would not be marriage in heaven. In addition, he required members to adopt similar clothing and haircuts, possibly to reinforce that they were a non-sexual family.