The Heaven’s Gate cult stirred up a great deal of controversy for awhile. One person wrote an article to The Dallas Morning News advising people to be wary of “bad theology.” Now ordinarily, when a practice involves something this bizarre, a person just might think that such a statement would meet with universal approval. WRONG!
Americans no longer see anything in black-and-white terms. One reader became incensed that anyone would dare deduce that “Marshall Applewhite and his followers were practicing ‘bad theology.'” After piously pointing out that Christian beliefs once seemed absurd to Romans, the letter writer asks (apparently with a straight quill): “What proof do you have that the souls of Heaven’s Gate followers aren’t on their spaceship right now?” The concluding sentence of the letter contains the self-righteous remonstration to remember in the future that “this is a huge world we live in with many beliefs other than our own” (3J, 4-20-97).
Oh, please! Can’t someone ever affirm anything without being reminded that other people may not agree? One can just imagine the Lord trying to teach with some of these over-achieving pluralists in the crowd.
Jesus: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Pluralist: “Excuse me, sir, but you have just viciously offended all those who are proud and arrogant and need to maintain such a posture to feed their self-esteem.”
Who is not aware that a multitude of views permeate society? Are all valid or equally deserving of consideration? Of course they are not, and anyone who thinks they are should not be trusted with anything more dangerous than a Barney doll!
Views are only worth considering if there is some evidence to suggest plausibility. What exactly is rational about killing oneself to get on board an invisible spaceship trailing a comet? If this is not “bad theology,” then there is no such thing as “bad theology.”
Do we have any proof that they are not on their spaceship right now? Anyone who needs to ask such a question is in need of a keeper. For one thing they haven’t sent an electronic postcard to Houston, saying, “Lovely trip. Wish you were here.” Besides that, however, there was no evidence that spirits would ascend toward the comet or that there was a spaceship behind it, or that they would be allowed in even if there were. We know they are not on a spaceship for the same reason we know that people don’t fly to the moon and back every night–it’s impossible!
When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me” (John 14:6), had he never heard of Buddha or Confucius? Was He unaware that Mohammed would be along in a few hundred years? Was he unknowledgeable about all the pagan deities or the gods and goddesses of pagan Greece or Rome? Had he never seen an atheist?
Of course, but He came to deliver Truth to the world; it already had its share of superstitions and ignorance. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). The world was already in darkness. The world remains in darkness, but not because there is no light, but because men love darkness rather than light, “because their deeds are evil” (John 3:19).
People frequently choose ignorance and “bad theology” because they have no love of the truth, without which they cannot be saved (2 Thess. 2:10).
The problem with many is that they either think that Truth does not exist or (if it does) nobody should say so. Heaven’s Gate was called “bad theology” because that is an appropriate and accurate description. Applewhite was wrong, and his followers were wrong to listen to him. They are also dead because of it. Why should the truth not be spoken?
Suppose the writer of this poorly reasoned editorial experienced severe pain and went to two doctors for a diagnosis. One, after examining the evidence, said rather matter-of-factly, “You have an appendix that is about to burst; you need to be operated on within 24 hours.” The other doctor was much more charismatic, and after a lengthy explanation said, “If you will go home and eat jelly beans for three days, all your problems will be over.”
Would the letter-writer consider one of those treatments “bad medicine”? Or would he insist that we live in a huge world with many beliefs other than just one doctor’s opinion? If it is foolish to treat factual data in such indiscriminatory fashion, why is it not foolish to treat ideology the same way? Ideas have practical consequences, just as actions do.
Although it is nearly impossible to protect people from themselves or charismatic misleaders such as Jim Jones or Marshall Applewhite, the very least we ought to be able to do is to warn them that they are subscribing to “bad theology.” And if these are so indoctrinated that they refuse to listen, perhaps others will be dissuaded from entering a cult that may cost them their lives or their freedom and will certainly cost them their souls. If Truth exists (and it does), then people have a right to hear it.
*Send comments or questions concerning this article to Gary Summers. Please refer to this article as: “BAD THEOLOGY (6/8/97).”