[158] He explained that everything "human" had to be forsaken, including the human body, before one could ascend. [201] Lifton compares Applewhite to Shoko Asahara, the founder of Aum Shinrikyo, describing him as "equally controlling, his paranoia and megalomania gentler yet ever present". is major applewhite related to marshall applewhite. [143] In addition, he stated that evil extraterrestrials, whom he referred to as "Luciferians", sought to thwart his mission. [49] Applewhite also read science fiction, including works by Robert A.Heinlein and Arthur C. Houston will owe Applewhite a $1.95 million buyout. [70] Applewhite thought that his followers would reach a higher level of being, changing like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly;[71] this example was used in almost all of the group's early literature. Since we are moving into a world that is genderless, we are doing everything that we can do to not identify with gender, Applewhite said in a training video. [66] Janja Lalich, a sociologist who studies cults, attributes their recruitment success to their eclectic mix of beliefs and the way that they deviated from typical New Age teachings: discussing literal spaceships while retaining familiar language. [111] Applewhite now believed that Nettles was aboard a spaceship trailing the comet, and that she planned to rendezvous with them. [86][87] He only lectured about a small number of verses and never tried to develop a system of theology. Electro (Classic / Detroit / Modern) $1.29. Houston offensive coordinator Major Applewhite was named the school's next football coach, the school announced Friday.. After former Texas defensive coordinator Gene Chizik was hired as head coach at Iowa State University in December 2006, Applewhite was rumored to be joining his coaching staff. At various points in cult history, Applewhite and Nettles were known as the Two, Bo and Peep, and Do and Ti. The names Do and Ti were linked to their fondness for musical theater and in particular, Nettles admiration for The Sound of Music. The show includes the song Do-Re-Mi, performed as the main character, the free-spirited governess Maria, teaches her young charges about the musical scale. The project, directed by Clay Tweel, relies on the testimony of former cult members -- some of whom still believe in the concepts Heavens Gate espoused -- as well as family members and friends of those who died, sociologists, researchers who specialize in alternative religious movements and more. "Heaven's Gate survivor reflects on the cult's mass suicide 25 years ago", Texas Birth Index, online at ancestry.com, "Family tree of Marshall Herff Applewhite", "Heaven's Gate cult members record farewell messages: 20/20 'The Cult Next Door' Preview", Zeller, "Extraterrestrial Biblical Hermeneutics" 2010, Lalich, "Using the Bounded Choice Model" 2004, "The Devil at Heaven's Gate: Rethinking the Study of Religion in the Age of Cyber-Space", "Cult's Founder Turned from Music to UFOs", "Eyes on Glory: Pied Pipers of Heaven's Gate", "Mysterious Couple may be the Founders of Suicide Cult", "From Religious Childhood To Reins of a U.F.O. We were all devastated, most of all Do, recalls Frank Lyford, a former member known as ANDODY. [47][48] They kept a King James Version of the Bible with them and studied several passages from the New Testament, focusing on teachings about Christology, asceticism, and eschatology. At that point Texas was 72 and ranked #19. [38] They also launched a venture known as Know Place to teach classes on theosophy and mysticism. . Former record-setting quarterback at the University of Texas who joined the team as an assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in 2011. [124] He emphasized that Jesus, whom he believed was an extraterrestrial, came to Earth, was killed, and bodily rose from the dead before being transported onto a spaceship. [44][111] That year, they recorded two video messages in which they offered their viewers a "last chance to evacuate Earth". He previously held the record for career yards (8,353) and consecutive passes without an interception (156). Also, the traits he exhibited at UA -- his talent as a performer, his ability to engage students -- were early touchstones on his path to cult leader. [11] He was a baritone singer and enjoyed spirituals and the music of Handel. In the aftermath, commentators and academics discussed how Applewhite persuaded people to follow his commands, including suicide. I got a call, telling me that this notorious couple in the news was actually, you know, Herff Applewhite and his former nurse. In 2013, he was the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Texas . [2], The next season Applewhite was again the starter, but after a loss to Stanford in the second game, Simms was given the start the following game against Houston. Although they cohabited, their relationship was not a sexual one,[13] fulfilling his longtime wish to have a deep and loving, yet platonic, relationship. In 1972, Applewhite developed a close friendship with Bonnie Nettles, a nurse; together, they discussed mysticism at length and concluded that they were called as divine messengers. But in that game Applewhite got the opportunity to go out as a starter and a hero. [135] One member who joined in the mid-1980s recalled that Applewhite avoided new converts, worrying that they were infiltrators. They believed that suicide was a means of transferring their human shells into an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp Comet. He came to a conclusion about his body, that it was abhorrent., Do held a meeting and he said that he had a nocturnal emission, and he was investigating having himself castrated, Sawyer says in the docuseries. Cult", "Cult Leader's Son Apologizes to Families Who Lost Loved Ones", INFORM (Information Network Focus on Religious Movements), Academic study of new religious movements, Religious discrimination against Neopagans, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshall_Applewhite&oldid=1128076623, American members of the clergy convicted of crimes, Converts to new religious movements from Christianity, People extradited within the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Use shortened footnotes from November 2022, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 December 2022, at 07:12. As the son of a Presbyterian pastor, Applewhite was raised in a pious household. Applewhite was enlisted in the Army in 1954 and served in the Army Signal Corps in New Mexico and Austria. [145] In May 1993, the group took the name "Total Overcomers Anonymous". Applewhites music background was a factor in the cult, where he and Nettles were known as Do and Ti.. Hitching a ride on comet Hale-Bopp, they would soar through space to a better place, known as the Next Level.. [168], In October 1996, the group rented a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Initially, Applewhite and Nettles preached that followers would undergo a biological transformation and become perfect alien beings. Marshall Applewhite has two kids. [111][112] His attempt to explain her death in the terms of the group's doctrine was successful, preventing the departure of all but one member. marshall-applewhite's tracks Print Family Tree. The new docuseries indicates, however, that Applewhites music background played a role in the Heavens Gate cult. [104], In the late 1970s, the group received a large sum of money, possibly an inheritance of a member or donations of followers' income. In Division I-A schools at the time, Major Applewhite was the youngest offensive coordinator. Marshall Applewhite himself, with no signs of trauma, died from suicide at the age of 65. Applewhite had always deferred to Nettles and called her the older member. She leaned to metaphysical philosophies, and Applewhite followed her lead. The group needed a sign from above, however, and found it in comet Hale-Bopp, which appeared in the sky in 1996 and burned brightly overhead in early 1997. [64], Benjamin E.Zeller, an academic who studies new religions, notes that Applewhite and Nettles' teachings focused on salvation through individual growth and sees this as similar to currents in the era's New Age movement. A native of Texas, Applewhite attended several universities and, as a young man, served in the United . [27] While jailed, he pondered theology and subsequently abandoned discussion of occult topics in favor of extraterrestrials and evolution. Major Applewhite didn't meet the school's stated standard. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. [89] In June 1976, they gathered their remaining followers at Medicine Bow National Forest in southeastern Wyoming, promising a UFO visit. Members of the Heaven's Gate cult considered themselves to be students in a class led by Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite, and later by Applewhite alone. Applewhite was named the Holiday Bowl MVP as a result. Nettles had left her body behind and was waiting for them. [186] His final message was widely broadcast; Hugh Urban of Ohio State University describes his appearance in the video as "wild-eyed [and] rather alarming". Ti and Do said that the Next Level was adopting us into their family, explains Sawyer, a longtime cult member known as SWYODY(pronounced soy-oh-dee). Mini Bio (1) Applewhite was born in Spur, Texas the son of a Presbyterian Minister. [107] Lalich sees this as a way that they increased their students' devotion, ensuring that their commitment became irrespective of what they saw. New articles Search articles. Marshall Herff Applewhite, Jr. (May 17, 1931 - March 26, 1997), known among his followers as "Do" (pronounced "doe"), was the leader of the Heaven's Gate religious group. Here are seven things we learned about Applewhite by watching the series -- all of them specific, all important to the cult and all rather creepy in retrospect. Nettles had a mystical bent; she was interested in astrology, UFOs and various New Age philosophies. In perhaps his finest game, he led Texas from behind three times throwing for a school record 473 yards and four touchdowns. In 2013, he was the co-offensive coordinator and . [54], Applewhite and Nettles feared that they would be assassinated,[29] and taught their followers that their deaths would be similar to those of the two witnesses of the Book of Revelation. 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