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Added Author

Eli Ewing

Abstract

The bodies of Heaven’s Gate were found by a former member in a mansion in California, each lying on a mattress with a five dollar bill and three quarters in their pockets, plastic bags over their heads, and for most, a purple shroud covering their bodies. Many things led up to this movement, and one of them was their use of the internet. Their knowledge of technology was highly advanced at the time, although it may seem “retro” and dated today. The web was a vital piece of Heaven’s Gate; from earning income to proselytizing and documenting, the internet was key in how we remember them today and the impact they left upon the world. Within my paper, I explore how the Heaven’s Gate website is not only literal technology, but also a religious technology that mediates almost everything we know about the beliefs of Heaven’s Gate at the moment. I use this to reflect on how technology is an inevitable part of religion in society, and the constant societal changes make religion a growing force today. Technology gives religion an emphasis that acts upon the viewer and acts as a mediator for religion, specifically Heaven’s Gate, and assists it in becoming conjoined as one concept, instead of two separate ideas (religion and technology).

Subject

Religions; Religions -- Philosophy; Religions -- History

Journal

Relics, Remnants, and Religion: an Undergraduate Journal in Religious Studies

Publication Date

1-31-2018

Language

English

Publication Place

Tacoma, Washington

Publisher

The University of Puget Sound

Type

article

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