Just to get this clear, I am NOT a fan of suicide.  I think it is weak and stupid, and an easy way out for those people who don't want to face life on this rock.  On the other hand, I'm a good John Stuart Mill^* liberal, so I think it's equally stupid to have laws against suicide, and while I would certainly try to keep someone I love from doing it to themselves, I can't say that for certain people it may be the best thing. 

First, the angry bit.  That has to do with the Internet.  The 'Net is quickly becoming the late 90s equivalent of the Boogie Man.  Anything that goes wrong, blame it on the 'Net.  We're all a bunch of horny, perverted, Star Trek geeks anyway, so we must be up to no good, right?  Once it was found out that these folks out in San Diego designed and had their own web pages, suspicion immediately shifted to the 'Net.  Did they use it to keep in touch with members from all over the world, or did they use it to suck in unsuspecting 'Netizens, probably misguided kids desperately trying to download Miss February? 

This, of course, is bullshit, to put it bluntly.  The 'Net is a form of communication, nothing more.  Did people feel this way when the first ancient man wrote down something on papyrus?  Probably.  Technological innovation always scares those who don't embrace it.  Of course, I'm probably preaching to the choir here, aren't I?  Say "yes."  Fact is, people who are drawn to just about anything can probably find a kindred spirit on the 'Net.  For some, it's fellow curling fans.  For others, it's fellow spiritual nuts. 

And speaking of nuts (how's that for a segue?), we now come to the second part of what I've been thinking about, which jumps back and forth from irony to plain humor.  Ever since the bodies were discovered, the natural question people have been asking is "why?".  Then came the reports from the web page, videos, and other sources about what these people believed.  By now you're aware that (it seems) they believed that a UFO was hiding out behind the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, that it was waiting to take them to a higher plain of being, and that they had to leave their "containers" by killing themselves. 

Initial reaction to this was about what I expected, which is the mainstream media and the person on the street immediately cast these folks as weirdoes, based soley on what they believed.  I thought that was funny.  You see, this came before the holiest three days of Christianity, the nation's major faith (for now at least), Good Friday through Easter.  People who very willingly believe in their heart of hearts that Jesus Christ was the son of God and was resurrected, but somehow seem to have a problem with UFOs.  Before you write me an angry Email, bear with me. 

There is something in all religions that can not be adequately explained either by logic or science.  For Christianity it's Christ's divinity and resurrection, for some eastern religious it's reincarnation.  And then there's the big one, the existence of God (or a god) itself.  No matter how hard you try, you really can't prove anything like that.  It is a matter of faith.  When it comes down to brass tacks, that's really what religion is: Faith. 

You see, we in the Western world, even an agnostic like me, are brought up in a Judeo-Christian society.  Not necessarily from a religious perspective per se, but that it forms very much the basis of our social structure.  That being true, a lot of people grow up and live their lives never really questioning those religious doctrines.  Most just take if for granted.  The ideas are ingrained in our conscience, even if we don't actively practice.  But if you do take a closer look, things get a little hazy. 

For the members of the Heaven's Gate group, they found a new set of beliefs.  And in the end, they are no more right or wrong than Billy Graham's or Madelaine Murray-O'hare's (I apologize, I probably spelled that wrong), just different.  To them, the idea of UFOs and a higher plain of existence made more sense than the mythology of the Bible or the Vedas.  And we should respect that.  Yes, it's different, but no more unusual than any other belief that requires faith. 

Finally, I want to address the world "cult."  This group is now being called a cult, and I think that is unfair.  Just what exactly is a cult is a sticky question.  My friend Chris came home from one of his psych classes while we were undergrads and we talked about this.  The psychological definition he was given made almost every group of people a cult.  Any group that shared a common interest, from a particular author to a favorite sports team, could be called a cult.  I think that definition is overbroad, and I think that's not what most people mean when they say cult. 

I think that when most people think of a cult the image that pops into their head is Jim Jones and his ilk.  Groups of people who have an uncanny loyalty to some personality.  Usually, but not always, they portray themselves as God or some reasonable facsimile, and gain a power over their followers that prevents them from not drinking the Cool-Aid or lighting the lamps at Waco.  In addition, many people use cult as a derisive term for people who hold any non-standard belief.  Heck, I've read fundamentalist Christian tracts that consider Mormons cultists for crying out loud! 

To my mind, this group doesn't deserve to be slurred as a cult any more than the local Methodist church does.  There was a leader, but he doesn't seem to exercise the kind of power over his followers that a Koresh or Jones did.  In fact, as I write this there are some people on "60 Minutes" who left the group.  That very fact seems to indicate a lack of coercive power.  Also, unlike other cults there are no children involved here.  As everyone was an adult, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt in terms of knowing what they were doing.  Finally, these people hurt no one but themselves.  They didn't stockpile weapons and prepare for some sort of Armageddon that they were willing to bring on.  They were self sufficient with their web design business, and I can almost guarantee they weren't tax exempt like mainstream religions. They didn't really recruit, just put their ideas in front of people to absorb and either accept or pass.  In fact, I've seen more fervor in terms of recruiting from the local Campus Crusade for Christ members, except they're trying to "save" you. 

What's the bottom line to this ramble?  I suppose it's just to not dismiss anything out of hand just because it is different.  Try and examine everything thru as neutral a lense as you can before criticising it.  After all, if you came to a different realization of what the universe is all about than the rest of us, would you want to be called a weirdo?