Editing Heaven's Gate (religious group) (section)

== Structure ==

The group was open only to adults over the age of 18.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=38}} Members gave up their possessions and lived an [[Asceticism|ascetic]] life devoid of indulgences. The group was tightly knit, and everything was [[Commune (intentional community)|communally]] shared. In public, each member of the group always carried a five-dollar bill and a roll of quarters.{{sfn|Zeller|2014a|p=143}} Eight men in the group, including Applewhite, voluntarily underwent [[castration]] as an extreme means of maintaining the ascetic lifestyle.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Rick |author-link=Rick Alan Ross |date=October 1999 |title='Heaven's Gate' Suicides |url=http://www.culteducation.com/hgate.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020114093018/http://www.culteducation.com/hgate.html |archive-date=2002-01-14 |website=[[Cult Education & Recovery]] |language=en-US}}</ref> The group initially attempted castration by having one of its members, a former nurse, perform the castration, but this almost resulted in the patient's death, and caused at least one member to leave Heaven's Gate. Every castration that followed was done in a hospital.<ref name=":6">{{Cite episode |title=Heaven's Gate |series=People's Magazine Investigates: Cults. |network=[[Investigation Discovery]] |date=2019-06-17 |season=2 |number=3 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The group earned revenue by offering professional website development under the business name ''Higher Source''.<ref name="paybills">{{Cite news |last=Weise |first=Elizabeth |date=1997-03-28 |title=Internet Provided Way To Pay Bills, Spread Message Before Suicide |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19970328/2531080/internet-provided-way-to-pay-bills-spread-message-before-suicide |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113204023/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19970328&slug=2531080 |archive-date=2009-01-13 |access-date=2007-12-30 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |language=en-US |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]]}}</ref>

The cultural theorist [[Paul Virilio]] described the group as a [[cybersect]], due to its heavy reliance on [[computer-mediated communication]] prior to its collective suicide.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Virilio |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Virilio |title=The Information Bomb |publisher=[[Verso Books|Verso]] |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-85984-745-9|page=41 |language=en}}</ref>