The Outer Limits of Faith

It almost makes you ashamed to have religion.

Thirty-nine believers, many in the prime of their lives, killed themselves with grim determination inside a Rancho Santa Fe mansion recently, “abandoning their containers” and leaving behind bewildered masses to ask: What could make them do such a thing?

For those of us who practice some sort of religion, the most terrifying answer to that question is: Faith . . . Faith made them do it.

By most accounts they were sincere, moral, friendly people--cosmic monks who tilled a virtual vineyard of hypertext and gigabytes, refrained from cigarettes and alcohol and practiced celibacy.

Satisfied with their new Web sites, their business clients painted a similar picture of hard-working, “Star Trek”-loving computer hackers who always conducted themselves in a professional (if weird) manner. News footage has shown them earnestly spouting off their stellar theology with as much certitude as any Bible-thumping Baptist.

But what makes the actions of Jim Jones, David Koresh, the Order of the Solar Temple and now Heaven’s Gate so heinous is the violence they do to the foundations of established religions. Cults like Heaven’s Gate smudge the line between service and slavery, worship and domination, sacrifice and self-slaughter.

Long after the news vans have left the curb of their mansion-become-tomb and Comet Hale-Bopp fades into deep space, Heaven’s Gate will still stain religious practice in general with ill-deserved distrust.

Many people, I fear, will take the view that religion is more of a liability than an asset. Belief can be a terrible thing--after all, isn’t the Irish Republican Army a Catholic organization? Don’t Hamas terrorists turn to Mecca five times a day? Haven’t fundamentalist Hindu priests set fire to mosques and women?

It is no wonder that the 13th century Islamic poet Rumi likened such devotion to a moth spiraling toward a flame. But when that fiery center of devotion benefits others and draws good deeds into its orbit, belief becomes faith. Faith demands more than mimicked dogma and rote action--it must be coupled with justice and tempered by reason.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu deity Krishna spurs his disciple Arjuna into battle, despite Arjuna’s misgivings about killing his noble opponents and putting himself in danger: “In thy thoughts / Do all thou dost for Me! Renounce for Me! / Sacrifice heart and mind and will to Me! / Live in the faith of Me! In faith of Me / All dangers thou shalt vanquish . . .”

Here attention must not only be paid to the faith Krishna demands, but also to the purpose of that faith--the establishment of an empire devoted to virtue and “right action.”

Both religions and cults demand self-obliteration--the difference is the purpose and effect of that self-obliteration.

I, myself, have many beliefs that are similar to those of the members of Heaven’s Gate. The tenets of my religion include unwavering devotion to a higher power and self-abnegation. Each day, through study and prayer, I try to align my thoughts and actions with those of the founder of my faith. In fact, last month I fasted from sunrise to sunset as a show of devotion and loving obedience to my Creator.

I have been brought up to believe that every human being has an immortal soul and that our purpose in this life is, indeed, to prepare for the afterlife.

But I would submit that there is a difference between this and the kind of blind belief practiced by the members of Heaven’s Gate. The central distinction is this: Belief in Heaven’s Gate promised an escape from a doomed planet Earth and an afterlife of space travel and interplanetary gardening--faith in the traditional sense does not offer escape.

In the Bible, the apostle Peter says: “That the trial of your faith . . . though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ . . .”

Faith is a worldly virtue. True faith is evinced by the willingness of the believer who lives through adversity and, despite the persistence of injustice, serves humanity.

Faith is a celebration of life on this planet, in this existence. It is the force that gives us hope and compels us to go on when the stars seem to be falling from the sky.

Solomon Moore is a Times staff writer.

Belief in Heaven’s Gate promised an escape from a doomed planet Earth and an afterlife of space travel and interplanetary gardening--faith in the traditional sense does not offer escape.