Stateside Stories

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the United States found itself becoming more divided than ever. Many Americans fled to the suburbs, leaving those in the inner cities to feel isolated and abandoned. The younger generation felt alienated from their parents, who had a completely different view of the world to them. Many states still practised racial segregation, and the Vietnam War made many question the morality of conscription. With so many people feeling disillusioned with American life, cults provided them with a sense of belonging. They could meet like-minded individuals and live life how they wanted.

However, things would often take a dark turn. People began to feel an intense hatred towards outsiders, further closing themselves off from society. Members were coerced into staying by cult leaders, and were often encouraged to report those who dissented. Eventually, these cults would result in death. In this article, I will be examining three infamous cults that dominated headlines in the late twentieth century. They were all headed by eccentric leaders who knew both how to lure people in, and to prevent them from ever finding a way out.

Heaven’s Gate (1975-1997)

Also known as the ‘Star Trek’ cult, this group was led by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. This ‘couple’ believed that a spaceship would allow them to leave Earth and enter a new plane of existence. In 1975, they encouraged 20 people in Oregon to drop everything to move into a commune in Colorado. They promised their followers that a spacecraft would take them into the “Kingdom of Heaven”. What happened on Earth would not matter, and death was only temporary. Death only meant entry into the next life. Not only did their promised spacecraft never arrive, Bonnie Nettles died in 1985. She did not enter a new plane of existence. Those who saw her body knew that she did not enter the next life.

Many cult members dissented after this. However, a loyal few remained. They became more closed-off from the outside world, and practised sexual abstinence. They relocated to San Diego in California. With the dawning of the internet age, they even set up their own website (which is still in operation today!). There they promised viewers that members of the cult would be able to enter the gateway into Heaven. They managed to recruit new members to make up for those who had left in 1985. In 1995, it was discovered that a comet, the Hale-Bopp, would be flying close to Earth in a couple of years. The members of Heaven’s Gate believed that this would signal the arrival of a spaceship that would allow them to finally leave Earth.

In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate (21 women and 18 men) committed suicide through mass-poisoning. They believed that they needed to leave their Earthly bodies to ‘transition’ into the next life. Applewhite was one of the deceased. With their deaths, Heaven’s Gate largely ceased operations. There is still a small band of believers who maintain the Heaven’s Gate website. They have released a statement against suicide, perhaps trying to paint a more ‘wholesome’ image of the cult.

The People’s Temple (1954-1978)

The People’s Temple was a church headed by the Reverend Jim Jones. It was founded in 1954 in Indianapolis. At first, the People’s Temple looked inviting to outsiders. In an era of legal segregation, it stood out as it had a multi-racial congregation. Jim Jones spoke in favour of civil rights and promoted ideas of socialism and freedom to his followers. To the Baby Boom generation, who were disillusioned with American life following the Vietnam War and struggle for equal rights, the Church appeared as a safe haven. The church even received praise from the likes of Angela Davis and Huey Newton due to its stance on racial equality. In 1970, the Church opened a branch in San Francisco and in 1972 it expanded once more to Los Angeles.

However, the good times did not last. Allegations of abuse soon came to the surface. Cult members were threatened into remaining, and were encouraged to report those who were planning to leave. People were prevented from contacting family members and were eventually forced to leave the United States all together. The cult relocated to Guyana in 1974 after the abuse allegations. Their new commune became known as ‘Jonestown’. The passports of all of the members were confiscated, preventing them from leaving Jonestown. Some members became frightened by their new situation, and tried to plead for help. US Congressman Leo Ryan visited the commune in November 1978 after hearing the plight of some of the terrified members. His stay was cut short after a cult member tried to stab him. He, and team of photographers and journalists, and his personal aide fled to their plane. Before they could take off, they were shot at by members of cult. Ryan and four members of the press died from their injuries.

After this unwelcome visit from Ryan, Jones decided that his final solution needed to be put in place. On the 17th November 1978, over 900 cult members drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide. Over 300 of the dead were children, and two-thirds were African American. It remains the largest murder-suicide in history. After the mass suicide, members of the FBI discovered the confiscated passports of the deceased. Jone’s body was also discovered, and it was determined that he died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The Manson Family (1967-1969)

Probably the most well-known cult of all time, the Manson family has been written about in multiple books and depicted in multiple films. 55 years on, the horrific Tate-La Bianca murders still remind Americans about the danger that cults can possess towards the public. The Manson Family were an unfortunate by-product of the 1960’s hippie movement and the ‘Summer of Love’. The cult formed in San Francisco which was seen as the epicentre of the counter-culture movement. The majority of cult members were young women who had no history of violence or anti-social behaviour before joining the Manson Family.

The main way Charles Manson was able to control the young members of his cult was through recreational drugs. Members of The Family regularly took acid, and frequent exposure to the drug made them easy to manipulate. The Family moved into a commune, and its members had infrequent contact with the outside world. This made them incredibly hostile towards outsiders. Orgies were a regular occurrence, and many of the female members became pregnant whilst in the cult. The police were aware of the Manson Family, but little action was taken against them. The Family may have been protected due to the connections they had with celebrities of the era. Beach Boys member Brain Wilson and record producer Terry Melcher were two celebrities who had especially close ties with the family. They allowed Manson to use their recording studio and had access to ‘his girls’.

Things reached a head in the worst possible way in 1969. Four Family members broke into the house of actress Sharon Tate. She and all of her guests were brutally murdered, being stabbed multiple times each. Tate was eight months pregnant at the time of her murder. The group also murdered the La Biancas, a married couple who owned a grocery store nearby. Six people died at the hands of the Manson Family, and the horrific crime sent shockwaves across America. Charles Manson, Tex Watson and Susan Atkins were tried for first-degree murder. Many members of the family were at the trial. They had carved X’s into their foreheads and some shaved their heads in support of Charles Manson. The three were originally sentenced to death, but their sentences were commuted to life after California temporarily abolished the death penalty in 1972.

Despite multiple appeals, none of the convicted felons have been released from prison. Charles Manson died behind bars in 2017 at the age of 83. To this day, he is the only person to be charged with first-degree murder in the United States without actually killing anybody. Instead, he got his young and impressionable followers to do his dirty work for him.