Heaven's Gate: The end?

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

Volumn 3, Issue 3, 1997, Pages

  Robinson, Wendy Gale ^a,b  

^a DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CODES (STANDARDS); COMPUTER KEYBOARDS; DECODING; INFORMATION DISSEMINATION; WEBSITES;

CYBERCULTURE; CYBERSPACES; INFORMATION EXCHANGE; ONLINE MULTIPLICITY;

VIRTUAL REALITY;

EID: 4043155500     PISSN: 10836101     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00077.x     Document Type: Review

References (130)

1. Adams, D. (1985). Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books.
2. Asimov, I. (1990). The bicentennial man. In Robot visions (245-90). New York, N.Y.: Byron Preiss. (Original work published 1976)
3. Asimov, I. (1990). Introduction: The robot chronicles. In Robot visions (1-18). New York, N.Y.: Byron Preiss.
4. Balch, R. (1982). Bo and Peep: A case study of the origins of messianic leadership. In R. Wallis (Ed.) Millennialism and charisma (13-72). Belfast, Ire.: Queen's University.
5. Barlow, J.P. (Feb. 9, 1996). A cyberspace independence declaration [Online]. Available: http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/John_Perry_Barlow/ barlow_0296.declaration
6. Barlow, J.P., Birkerts, S., Kelly, K., & Slouka, M. (Aug. 1995). What are we doing on-line? Harper's Magazine 291(1743), 35-46.
7. Baudrillard, J. (1983). Simulations (P. Foss, P. Patton, & P. Beitchman, Trans.). New York, N.Y.: Semiotext(e). (Original work published 1981)
8. Baudry, J.L. (1986). The apparatus: Metapsychological approaches to the impression of reality in the cinema (J. Andrews & B. Augst, Trans). In P. Rosen (Ed.), Narrative, apparatus, ideology (108-17). New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press. (Original work published 1975)
9. Bayers, C. (March 27, 1997). Viewing source at Heaven's Gate. Wired News [Online]. Available: http://www.wired.com/news/topframe/2845.html.
10. Bayles, F. & O'Driscoll, P. (March 28, 1997). Cybercults earn money, recruit on Web. USA Today [Online]. Available: http://www.usatoday.com/life/ cyber/tech/cta126.htm.
11. Berger, P.L. & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York, N.Y.: Anchor.
12. Biocca, F. (1997). The cyborg's dilemma: Progressive embodiment in virtual environments. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 3(2) [Online]. Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue2/biocca2.html.
13. Bolter, J.D. (1990). Writing space: The computer in the history of literacy. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14. Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1979)
15. Brasher, B.E. (Winter 1996). Thoughts on the status of the cyborg: On technological socialization and its link to the religious function of popular culture. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 64(4), 809-30.
16. Brockman, J. (1996). Digerati: Encounters with the cyber elite. San Francisco, C.A.: Hardwired. Available: http://www.edge.org/digerati/.
17. Brook, J. & Boal, I. (1995) (Eds.). Resisting the virtual life. San Francisco, C.A.: City Lights.
18. Carey, J.W. (1989). A cultural approach to communication. In Communication as culture: Essays on media and society (13-36). New York, N.Y.: Routledge. (Original work published 1975)
19. Chua-Eoan, H. (April 7, 1975). Imprisoned by his own passions. Time 149(14), 40-42. Available: http://pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970407/ imprisoned_by.html
20. Clarke, A. (1995). Modernity, postmodernity, & reproductive processes, ca. 1890-1990, or "Mommy, where do cyborgs come from anyway?" In C.H. Gray (Ed.), with H.J. Figueroa-Sarriera & S. Mentor, The cyborg handbook (130-155). New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
21. Clinton, William (March 27, 1997). Remarks by the President in mammogram announcement. Press release [Online]. Available: http://library.whitehouse.gov/ cgibin/web_fetch_doc?dataset=DatasetPressReleases&db= PressReleases&doc_id=8426&query=% 23filreq%28%23sum%28mammogram%29+%23field%28DDATE+% 23+19970319+19970422%29%29&use_hyp=.
22. CNN (April 7, 1997). Cult castrations, guns, $5 bills explained [Online]. Available: http://www.cnn.com/US/9704/07/suicide/index.html.
23. CNN (March 28, 1997). Web sites swamped amid rush for clues to suicides [Online]. Available: http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/28/suicide.internet/index.html.
24. Cobb, J.J. (1998, in press). Emergence: The search for God in Cyberspace. New York, N.Y.: Crown.
25. Comolli, J.L. (1995). Machines of the visible. In T. Druckrey (Ed.), Electronic culture: Technology and visual representation (108-117). New York, N.Y.: Aperture. (Original work published 1980)
26. Corliss, R. (April 7, 1997). A Star Trek into the X-Files. Time 149(14), 42. Available: http://pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970407/ a_star_trek_i.html
27. Cowley, G. (April 14, 1997). Viruses of the mind: How odd ideas survive. Newsweek, 14.
28. Daniel, D. (April 14, 1997). The beginning of the journey. Newsweek, 36-37.
29. Davis, E. (1995). Technopagans: May the astral plane be reborn in cyberspace. Wired, 126-33, 174-81. Available: http://www.hotwired.com/wired/3. 07/features/technopagans.html.
30. Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene. 2nd ed. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press.
31. Dery, M. (1996). Escape velocity: Cyberculture at the end of the century. New York, N.Y.: Grove.
32. DiChristina, M. (Aug. 1997). Lessons from Hale-Bopp. Popular Science 251(2), 264-68.
33. Eco, U. (1986). The open work (A. Cancogni, Trans). Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1962)
34. Eco, U. (1986). Travels in hyperreality (W. Weaver, Trans). In Travels in hyperreality: Essays (1-58). San Diego, C.A.: Harcourt Brace. (Original work published 1975)
35. Ellul, J. (1964). The technological society (J. Wilkinson, Trans.). New York, N.Y.: Vintage. (Original work published 1954)
36. Elmer-Dewitt, P. (1995). On a screen near you: Cyberporn. Time (July 5), 38-45. Available: http://www.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/domestic/1995/950703/ 950703.cover.html.
37. Elmer-Dewitt P. (1992). The century ahead: Dream machines: Technology watchers foresee a world filled with multisensual media, smart roads and robots that are almost alive. Time (Fall), 39-41.
38. Fish, S. (1980). Is there a text in this class? The authority of interpretive communities. Cambridge, M.A.: Harvard University Press.
39. Fiske, J. (1989). Reading the popular. Boston, M.A.: Unwin Hyman.
40. Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York, N.Y.: Vintage. (Original work published 1975)
41. Freud, S. (1938). Wit and its relation to the unconscious. In A.A. Brill (Trans. & Ed.), The basic writings of Sigmund Freud (631-803). New York, N.Y.: Modern Library. (Original work published 1922)
42. Froomkin, M. (1996). It came from Planet Clipper: The battle over cryptographic key "escrow." Address given at University of Chicago Law Forum 15 [Online]. Available: http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/ planet_clipper.htm.
43. Froomkin, M. (Jan. 1995). The metaphor is the key: Cryptography, the Clipper Chip, and the Constitution. University of Pennsylvania Law Review (143)3, 709-897. Available: http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/clipper. htm.
44. Gaggi, S. (1997). From text to hypertext: Decentering the subject in fiction, film, the visual arts, and electronic media. Philadelphia, P.A.: University of Pennsylvania Press.
45. Gibson, W. (1984). Neuromancer. New York, N.Y.: Bantam.
46. Gilman, R. (1979). Decadence: The strange life of an epithet. New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
47. Gleick, E. (April 7, 1997). "The marker we've been ... waiting for." Time 149(14), 33. Available: http://pathfinder.com/time/magazine/ 1997/dom/970407/the_marker_we.html
48. Guglielmo, C. (March 31, 1997). Web abuzz with talk of suicide cult. Interactive Week. Available: http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/daily/970331b.html.
49. Hale, A. (1997). Alan Hale on Hale-Bopp madness. Free Inquiry 17(3), 6-7. Available: http://www.halebopp.com/zhalestatement.htm.
50. Hall, S. (1993). Encoding, decoding. In S. During (Ed.), Cultural studies reader (90-103). New York, N.Y.: Routledge. (Original work published 1980)
51. Haraway, D. (1991). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century. In Simians, cyborgs, and women. New York, N.Y.: Routledge (149-81). Available (excerpts): http://www.ucet.ufl.edu/~bruegg/cyborg2.html.
52. Haraway, D. (1997). Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium. FemaleMan~_Meets_OncoMouse™. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
53. Haraway, D. (1991). Simians, cyborgs, and women: The reinvention of nature. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
54. Hebdige, D. (1979). Subculture: The meaning of style. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
55. Howard, R.G. (Oct. 1997). "Un-Homey" potential in the public discourse of Heaven's Gate. Millennial Prophecy Report 6(3), 50-3.
56. Jackson, D.S. (1992). Cyberpunk: With virtual sex, smart drugs and synthetic rock 'n' roll, a new counterculture is surfing the dark edges of the computer age. Time (Feb. 8), 57-65.
57. Johnson, G. (March 28, 1997). Comets spawn fear, fascination and Web sites. The New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/ mass-suicide-comet.html.
58. Johnson, G. (March 30, 1997). From porn to cults, the Net looks nasty. The New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/ 033097horrors.html.
59. Jones, S. (1995). From where to who knows? In S. Jones (Ed.), Cybersociety: Computer-mediated communication and community (10-35). Thousand Oaks, C.A.: Sage.
60. Jones, S. (1997). The Internet and its social landscape. In S. Jones (Ed.), Virtual culture: Identity and communication in cybersociety (7-35). London, Eng.: Sage.
61. Jung, C.G. (1978). Flying saucers: A modern myth of things seen in the skies (R.F.C. Hull, Trans.). From The collected works of C.G. Jung 10 & 18, Bollingen Series 20. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1964)
62. Kantrowitz, B., et al. (1993). Live wires: More than 12 million Americans are living "on-line" - Looking for love, stock tips and therapy on computer networks. Newsweek (Sept. 6), 42-49.
63. Katz, J. (March 31, 1997). Deaths in the family. HotWired [Online]. Available: http://www.hotwired.com/netizen/97/13/index0a.html.
64. Katz, J. (April 1, 1997). Finding the middle media. HotWired [Online]. Available: http://www.hotwired.com/netizen/97/13/index1a.html.
65. Kelly, K. (1994). Out of control: The new biology of machines, social systems, and the economic world. Reading, M.A.: Addison-Wesley. Available: http://www.absolutvodka.com/5-0.html.
66. Kendall, P. (March 30, 1997). Other cultists believing in UFOs and angels see group as heretical. Chicago Tribune. Available: http://www.qtm.net/ ~geibdan/newsd/chi.html.
67. Kroker, A. (1996). Virtual capitalism. In S. Aronowitz, B. Martinsons, & M. Menser, with J. Rich (Eds.), Technoscience and cyberculture (168-179). New York, N.Y.: Routledge. (Original work published 1994)
68. Landow, G. (1992). Hypertext: The convergence of contemporary critical theory and technology. Baltimore, M.D.: Johns Hopkins University Press.
69. Lanham, R.. (1993). The electronic word: Democracy, technology, and the arts. Chicago, I.L.: University of Chicago Press.
70. Laurel, B. (1993). Computers as theatre. 2nd ed. Reading, M.A.: Addison-Wesley.
71. Leary, T. (1994). Chaos and cyberculture. Berkeley, C.A.: Ronin Publishing.
72. Lombard, M. & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 3(2) [Online]. Available: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/vol3/issue2/lombard.html.
73. Malthrop, S. (1991). You say you want a revolution? Hypertext and the laws of media. Postmodern Culture 1(3) [Online]. Available: http://jefferson. village.virginia.edu/pmc/textonly/issue.591/moulthro.591.
74. McLaughlin, M.L., Osborne, K.K., & Smith, C.B. (1995). Standards of conduct on Usenet. In S. Jones (Ed.), Cybersociety: Computer-mediated communication and community (90-111). Thousand Oaks, C.A.: Sage.
75. Metz, C. (1982). The imaginary signifier: Psychoanalysis and the cinema (B. Brewster, A. Guzzetti, C. Britton, & A. Williams, Trans.). Bloomington, I.N.: Indiana University Press. (Original work published 1981)
76. Metzger, R. (1997). Charlie don't surf ... but he's got his own Website! Disinformation [Online]. Available: http://www.atwa.com/revolt.htm.
77. Minsky, M. (1980). Telepresence. Omni 2, 44-52.
78. Morrill, K. (April 15, 1997). Pre-comet clues under the hood of the Higher Source Web site [Online]. Available: http://www.webdesk.com/highersource/ .
79. Morse, R. (March 28, 1997). The truth is even further out there. San Francisco Examiner. Available: http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/examiner/article. cgi?year=1997&month=03&day=28&article=NEWS12426.dtl
80. Mumford, L. (1963). Technics and civilization. San Diego, C.A.: Harvest. (Original work published 1934)
81. Nando.net (March 28, 1997). Cult leader believed in space aliens and apocalypse, Cult members were deeply into Cyberspace, Tapes left by cult suggest comet was the sign to die [Online]. Available: http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ nt/328saliens.html, http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nt/328cybers.html, http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nt/328tapes.html.
82. Nando.net (March 30, 1997). Cult members had insurance against alien abduction [Online]. Available: http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nt/0330aliabd.html.
83. Nando.net (April 1, 1997). Gay advocates say cult leader's sexual orientation didn't cause tragedy [Online]. Available: http://www.nando.net/ newsroom/nt/0401cltgay.html.
84. Negroponte, N. (1995). Being Digital. New York, N.Y.: Vintage. Available (excerpts): http://nicholas.www.media.mit.edu/people/nicholas/Wired/.
85. Neuborne, E. (March 28, 1997). Interest in cult causes Internet traffic jams. USA Today [Online]. Available: http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/ cta125.htm.
86. News and Observer (March 30, 1997). Heaven's Gate briefs. Available: http://www.nando.net/newsroom/nao/tri/033097/trit_side3_16879.html
87. Niebuhr, G. (March 28, 1997). On the furthest fringes of millennialism. New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/mass-suicide- cult.html.
88. Noble, D.F. (1997). The religion of technology: The divinity of man and the spirit of invention. New York, N.Y.: Knopf.
89. O'Leary, S. (1994). Arguing the apocalypse: A theory of millennial rhetoric. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
90. Q'Leary, S. (Winter 1996). Cyberspace as sacred space: Communicating religion on computer networks. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 64(4), 781-807.
91. O'Leary, S. (April 1997). Heaven's Gate and the culture of popular millennialism [Online]. Center for Millennial Studies. Available: http://www.mille.org/OLearv1.html.
92. Orange County Register (March 28, 1997). Clinton calls suicides "sickening," wants similar acts prevented. Available: http://www.ocregister.com/news/1997/0397/cult/note.html.
93. Parker, G. (1997). Cyberspace: The undiscovered country (L. Moore, Director & Producer). In M. Czaky & K. Arora (Executive Producers), Science Frontiers (May 14). New York: The Learning Channel.
94. Phelan, James S. (1976). Looking for: The next world. New York Times Magazine. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/mag.html.
95. Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. New York, N.Y.: Viking.
96. Potz, D. (March 28, 1997). The cult, the comet, and the Web: From Rancho Santa Fe to Heaven's Gate. Slate [Online]. Available: http://www.slate.com/ TangledWeb/97-03-28/TangledWeb.asp.
97. Purdum, T. (April 4, 1997). ABC signs film deal on Heaven's Gate cult. New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/0404tv- masssuicides.html.
98. Purdum, T. (May 7, 1997). Former Heaven's Gate member commits suicide. New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/ 050797heavens-gate.html
99. Quittner, J. (April 7, 1997). Life and death on the Web. Time 149(14), 47. Available: http://www.pathfinder.eom/@@0iZEPgUAkcq2hpHn/time/magazine/1997/ dom/970407/specia.life_and_deat.html.
100. Radway, J. (1984). Reading the romance: Women, patriarchy, and popular literature. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press.
101. Raney, R.F. (1997). Manson family Web site: History rewritten by losers. New York Times. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/ 102197manson.html
102. Reno v. ACLU. (1996/1997). 96-963, 96-1458 (D. Penn. 1996), aff'd, 96-511 (U.S. 1997). Available: http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/96-511.ZS.html.
103. Reuters (March 29, 1997). Turner says cult suicide good end for "nuts." Available: http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/special/san_diego/ san_diego.25.html
104. Rheingold, H. (Feb. 8, 1996). Rant on the occasion of the signing of the Communications Decency Act [Online]. Available: http://www.well.com/user/hlr/ texts/rant24hrs.html.
105. Rheingold, H. (1993). The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. New York, N.Y.: Harper. Available: http://www.well.com/ user/hlr/vcbook/.
106. Rimm, M. (April 7, 1997). Marketing pornography on the information superhighway. Georgetown Law Journal 83(5). Available: http://TRFN.pgh.pa.us/ guest/mrstudy.html.
107. Robinson, W.G. (April 8, 1997). The Heaven's Gate suicides: Searching for answers online. Presentation given at Duke University, Durham, N.C. Available: http://www.duke.edu/~wgrobin/ethics/cult/.
108. Rodriguez, R. (March 30, 1997). Paradise lost. Los Angeles Times. Available: http://www.pacificnews.org/jinn/stories/3.07/970331-heavens-gate. html.
109. Rucker, R. (1997). Wetware. New York, N.Y.: Avon.
110. Rushkoff, D. (March 30, 1997). Internet apocalypse? New York Times Syndicate. Available: http://199.97.97.16/IMDS%7CRUSHKOFF%7Cread%7C/home/ content/users/imds/feeds/nytsyn/1997/08/05/cndin/125100.00d2-pat_nytimes%7C/ home/content/users/imds/feeds/nytsyn/1997/08/05/cndin/125100. 00d3-pat_nytimes%7C/home/content/users/imds/feeds/nytsyn/1997/08/05/cndin/ 125100.00d1-pat_nytimes%7C%7C.
111. Sagan, C. (1979). The quest for extraterrestrial intelligence. Cosmic Search 1(2), 47. Available: http://www.point-and-click.com/radobs/vol1no2/sagan. htm.
112. Said, E. (1979). Orientalism. New York, N.Y.: Vintage. (Original work published 1978)
113. Schwartz, H. (1996). Generational change, historical age, calendar page. Address given at the Millennium Conference, Pocantico Hills, N.Y. (Feb. 22). Available: http://www.igc.apc.org/millennium/papers/change.html.
114. Schwartz, J. (March 29, 199). Characterization of cult strikes an online nerve. Washington Post. Available: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/digest/ daily/march/28/cult/netcult.htm.
115. Shuch, H.P. (1997). Hale-Bopp claims just don't wash. The SETI League [Online]. Available: http://seti1.setileague.org/editor/halebopp.htm.
116. Siegel D. (April 11, 1997). The Web is ruined and I ruined it. Web Review [Online]. Available: http://webreview.com/97/04/11/feature/.
117. Stoll, C. (1995). Silicon snake oil: Second thoughts on the information highway. New York, N.Y.: Doubleday.
118. Stone, A.R. (1995). The war of desire and technology at the close of the mechanical age. Cambridge, M.A.: MIT Press.
119. Stork, D., (1997) (Ed.). HAL's legacy: 2001's computer as dream and reality. Cambridge. M.A.: MIT Press. Available (excerpts): http://mitpress.mit. edu/e-books/Hal/.
120. Stork, D., (1997). Scientist on the set: An interview with Marvin Minsky. In HAL 's legacy. Cambridge. M.A.: MIT Press (15-31). Available: http://mitpress.mit.edu/ebooks/Hal/chap2.java/two1.html.
121. Taylor, M. (May 20, 1997). Cult survivor thinks there's a reason: Charles Humphrey says he may soon find out what it is. San Francisco Chronicle. Available: http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/chronicle/article.cgi?file=MN72960. DTL&directory=/chronicle/archive/1997/05/20
122. Torgovnick, M. (1990). Gone primitive: Savage intellects, modern lives. Chicago, I.L.: University of Chicago Press.
123. Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster.
124. Turkle, S. (1984). The second self: Computers and the human spirit. New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster.
125. USA Today [Online] (April 22, 1997). Roddenberry, Leary blaze new trails in space after death. Available: http://www.usatoday.com/life/science/space/ lss063.htm.
126. Wambaugh, J. (April 7, 1997). Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... Time 149(14), 34-35. Available: http://pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970407/ meanwhile_bac.html
127. Wojcik, D. (1997). The end of the world as we know it: Faith, fatalism, and apocalypse in America. New York, N.Y.: New York University Press.
128. Wolfe, T. (1968). What if he is right? In The pump house gang. New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (133-70). (Original work published 1966)
129. Zaleski, J. (1997). Cyberspace: An annotated conversation with John Perry Barlow. In The soul of cyberspace: How new technology is changing our spiritual lives (27-53). San Francisco, C.A.: HarperEdge.
130. Zaleski, J. (1997). The soul of cyberspace: How new technology is changing our spiritual lives. San Francisco, C.A.: HarperEdge.