LETTERS

INSIDE THE CULT OF HEAVEN'S GATE

It is obvious that the 38 members of Heaven's Gate who committed suicide were sure their leader, Marshall Herff Applewhite, was the real thing [NATION, April 7]. He sounded good, offering hope for the future and requiring morality and kindness toward others. That is what is frightening about counterfeits--they look and sound like the real thing. We should all question whether our religious leaders have done anything to justify their claim to authority. JEFFREY M. KEY Fullerton, California

If one man has the power to persuade 38 followers to abandon their lives and families and commit suicide in the hope of leaving the earth aboard a spaceship, then maybe it is time for all of us to find our own comet and get as far away from this planet as possible. ALEX HOEFINGER Amherst, Massachusetts

The earth is to be "recycled"? A UFO is hiding in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet? Human bodies are nothing but "containers"? In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare showed he understood this thinking: "But men may construe things, after their fashion, clean from the purpose of the things themselves." GARY GARSHFIELD Irvine, California

What happened in Rancho Santa Fe, California, was by no means a tragedy. Thirty-nine people did what they felt was necessary to achieve eternal happiness. They died of their own free will. Who are we to question their motives? We should not mourn their death. They fulfilled their purpose in life and died content. Who could ask for more? ALEX STEWART Summerville, South Carolina

Pollsters tell us that approximately 34% of Americans believe the Bible to be literally true, word for word. When you reflect that this belief includes walking on water, rising from the dead, angels, ghosts, demons, unclean spirits and a miraculous cure for blindness, it's clear that there is an enormous mass of ignorance here. Should we be truly surprised that the Heaven's Gate leaders hoodwinked their followers? The leap from biblical beliefs to the absurdities of this particular cult is a small one. ANNE NICOL GAYLOR, President Freedom From Religion Foundation Madison, Wisconsin

I logged on to the Heaven's Gate Website. There I discovered some of the most mind-numbing material I have ever read. It amounted to a 96-page suicide note. I don't believe the approach of the millennium is going to have a profound effect on the universe or the planet. But in that strange universe that is the human mind, different laws apply. Anything is possible. MATT BUTTS St. Louis Park, Minnesota

The good news? Cult leader Applewhite gets the recognition he craved by being on the cover of your magazine. The bad news? He doesn't know about it. Or does he...? M. ARNOLD GLUECK Newport Beach, California

To the next crew departing for the "Level Above Human," I suggest that before leaving their "containers" or bodies behind, they fill out some organ-donor cards. STEFAN VLADESCU New York City

If the cult members were right, they could be sailing away now on that UFO, admiring their shiny new containers, sampling new foods and trying to write a computer program that would let all of us back on Earth know that it worked. SUSAN SHAW Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

Traditional religions no longer hold ground in our search for spirituality or a higher form of awareness. Does this mean that Christianity, among other religions, is remiss in providing for the spiritual needs of us mortals? The proliferation of alternative religions seems to indicate so. What will be the next group to leave us on this quest? We should brace ourselves for more surprises and hope that our capacity to be shocked, as well as our ability to recover from the shock, will remain intact. VICTOR SOLLORANO Geneva

The suicide of the cult followers shows that they lacked the very basic principle of life: one must have the will to live. Were these people seeking something that did not and could not exist? CHEVAUN BEDDY Pretoria, South Africa

I don't know why Applewhite & co. bothered to take phenobarbital. With a little extra effort, they could have bored themselves to death. DAVID IRBY Dingle, Ireland

There is one consolation: at least the Heaven's Gate members did not kill innocent people going about their daily lives, as Aum Shinrikyo cult members did in Tokyo's subway in 1995. HIDEKAZU UTSUNOMIYA Tokyo

We must ask ourselves why more and more people are seeking God, heaven or Nirvana outside the organizations that supposedly are meant to assist the faithful in their search of the divine. Whoever does not find food in one place abandons it for another where nourishment is promised. At a moment of crisis, when people most need supernatural assistance, all they find are hollow temples given to worldly pursuits. And so these poor souls fall into the hands of some charismatic, self-appointed guru and end up gassing Tokyo's subway, forcing suicides on hundreds in Guyana or trying to escape in a UFO. If organized religion does not serve the purpose for which it was established, isn't it time that it was renewed and rethought? MIGUEL A. SALABARRIA Salamanca, Spain

The Heaven's Gate members were selfish; they cared only about themselves and not about their families and the people who loved them. But even so, I feel sorry for them. Applewhite wanted to manipulate people and make them do things for him through pity. He told his followers to reject their families because he wanted total control over their hearts, minds and eventually their souls. What scares me most is the fact that there are more Marshall Herff Applewhites out there. What are we doing about it? ISABELLE WEERAWARDENA, age 17 Yakkala, Sri Lanka

Cults are on the rise; so is interest in aliens, witchcraft, New Ageism, Satanism and anything having to do with the occult. Spiritual hunger is a natural part of the human psyche, but so are self-centeredness and obstinacy. Rather than turn to God, we try to fill the hole in our souls with money, prestige, sex, drugs, alcohol, food, pop culture, occult knowledge--virtually everything. Where does this lead us? To a decaying society rife with addicts and 39 dead Trekkies. It's time to get our heads out of the stars and turn back to that old-time religion. BRIDGET FINNEY Ube, Japan

THE HEAVEN DEBATE

I have always wondered whether heaven exists [RELIGION, March 24]. The problem is, you cannot prove it until you get there. Wouldn't newsprint, time and effort be better spent on real problems in the real world affecting real people, instead of on sterile, metaphysical debates that could go on endlessly without reaching definitive conclusions? SAMEER NAGARAJAN Chindwara, India

Nobody will be forever happy in paradise or suffer forever in hell. Thus, we followers of Buddha do not aim for any form of paradise but seek Nirvana--emptiness, nonexistence. Of the three ways to acquire knowledge--studying, contemplating and practicing--Nirvana can only be known through practice. KYAW KYAW Kelantan, Malaysia

FLYING BLIND

The excerpt from the book by Mary Schiavo [BUSINESS, March 31], former Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, was the most disturbing article I have ever read in your magazine. Schiavo's story includes elements of negligence, conspiracy, profiteering and disregard for human life. I fly at least two times a week. After traveling within the U.S. and experiencing the flying-Greyhound level of quality and service there, I am relieved that I do most of my traveling on still regulated European airlines. I would rather pay more in order to avoid political profit issues and have a higher chance of survival. Hats off to Mary Schiavo for her courage! ELIZABETH STEINHAUSER Frankfurt, Germany

I always thought of U.S. airlines as being the most reliable for safety and security, thanks to what I thought were strict controls by government inspectors and regulators. But if this is the sad state of airline safety in the U.S., what can we frequent international travelers expect from non-U.S. airlines? Do foreign governments closely monitor and control their private and national airlines? Is passenger safety high on their priority list, or do they give first consideration to the interests of the airlines--many of which are government owned? It scares me even to think about it! CARLOS F. LIZARDI Madrid

Move over N.R.A.! The FAA poses a greater threat to the lives of Americans. GORDON TUBB London, Ontario

Schiavo has challenged high-level people in a rotten system. Where there is big money there is greed, and corporate ethical standards are thrown overboard in many airlines. The industry operates with the concept of "an acceptable level of accidents,'' typical cost-vs.-benefit thinking. Technical maintenance and pilot training are not only important safety items, they are also very expensive. There is a big difference between the minimum standards employed and the highest standards reasonably achievable. When the FAA watchdogs are not watching, guess which the public is offered? KNUT ANFINDSEN, Retired Flight Captain Stabekk, Norway

The American public was lucky to have an Inspector General like Schiavo, who knew her job and cared about what she was doing. The FAA should have a watchdog with teeth. JOAN HEDENKLINT Lidingo, Sweden

Flying in an accident-prone jet with an airline that has a bad safety record still poses a smaller risk than driving to work in a car every day. IVO KLJENAK Ljubljana, Slovenia

Schiavo's list of "planes with a past" consists of the French-Italian ATR, Brazil's Embraer 120 and all Russian-built planes. Strangely, it does not include a model involved in accidents mentioned in your article--the Boeing 737, an American plane. PIERRE ARNAUD Lyons, France

DARK DAYS FOR BIBI

I am not a great fan of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy [WORLD, March 31], but there was something troubling in your article. You said, "Violence is the only real lever the Palestinians have in their conflict with the Israelis." However, terrorism must not be a lever in this situation. The Palestinians must understand that the large portion of the Israeli people who do want peace and are ready to pay the heavy price for it, will never accept killings of children or pregnant women. MICHAEL WIEDERMAN Raanana, Israel

More than 100,000 Israelis already live in the West Bank. Only supporters of "ethnic cleansing" would propose that they leave their homes to make room for the Palestinians. So in order to achieve peace, Palestinians must live side by side with Israelis. The land has been ruled by "absent landlords'' for 2,000 years, and no one group can claim the constitutional right to live there. The Israelis rule by the force of arms but are prepared to give the Palestinians autonomy while insisting on a military presence for security reasons. Who could possibly blame them for that? So what is the great fuss? Did anyone believe the Israelis were easy to deal with? ARNE W. FINNE Lidingo, Sweden

IN CELEBRATION OF DAVID HELFGOTT

I have just read your review of Shine pianist David Helfgott's performing tour in the U.S. [MUSIC, March 17]. As an Australian, I take offense at the way you portrayed him. You celebrate men like Christopher Reeve and his comeback from severe spinal-cord injuries that could have killed him, praising his courage and resolve. Yet you fail to do the same for Helfgott, a man who deserves as much adulation as Reeve for his determination to overcome a mental breakdown and succeed in the music world. I wonder what you would have done if Helfgott were an American. Would you have put him on your cover and hailed him as a hero? Helfgott is an inspiration to all people. CHRISTIAAN M.A.WILLIAMS-SAXELBY Wishart, Australia

MANAGING THE IRS

Your report on problems at the Internal Revenue Service [BUSINESS, April 7] failed to acknowledge what is actually working at the IRS: its employees. Last year IRS workers processed more than 200 million tax returns and 1.2 billion pieces of information. Unfortunately, the current IRS management has launched a plan that will erode customer service and, in turn, voluntary compliance by taxpayers. The agency is implementing a program that will eliminate the jobs of 2,100 IRS employees who provide assistance and information to taxpayers and hire some 1,300 new, untrained employees to do the same work, in many instances several hundred miles from the communities they are to serve. The IRS should abandon this plan. ROBERT M. TOBIAS, National President National Treasury Employees Union Washington

After reading about the ancient computers and costly inefficiency of the IRS, I had to check the date of your story to make sure I wasn't reading your earlier article about the FAA. I am not sure which makes me angrier: the waste of my tax dollars on worthless fixes or a system that allows cheats to get away with tax scams. We must urge Congress to allot the IRS enough money to achieve the efficiency that is our right. The public will pay one way or another, and I prefer to get a system that will take us into the next millennium instead of allowing petty thieves to siphon off money for personal use. CATHERINE MERGEN Bloomingdale, Illinois

While I did not agree with everything you said about the IRS, your five-point proposal for improving it rings true and echoes a five-point plan unveiled last month in a speech by Treasury Deputy Secretary Lawrence Summers, who is charged with looking after the IRS. His plan requires Treasury and the IRS to 1) strengthen oversight; 2) improve flexibility, cutting away the bureaucracy and using outsourcing wherever appropriate; 3) improve budgeting, particularly for investments in information technology; 4) proceed with tax simplification to make the tax code easier to enforce and 5) put in place the leadership from the commissioner on down to carry the IRS into the 21st century. Your choice of these same five principles suggests that a consensus is beginning to evolve around the key elements for reinventing the IRS. HOWARD M. SCHLOSS Assistant Secretary (Public Affairs) Department of the Treasury Washington

AMERICA'S DYING CULTURE

Your review of cultural historian Garry Wills' John Wayne's America [BOOKS, April 7] and the story on Heaven's Gate converged to give us a double-barreled glimpse of our national uneasiness. The cultists' pitiful yearning for spiritual safety in a topsy-turvy world and the Wayne admirers' desire for a presumably safer, vanished world are simply different reactions to the fact that we're living in a dying culture.

There are two Americas: the original American Republic we know from history books and personal experiences, and the subterranean shadow Republic that has been taking shape since the turbulent '60s. It is this struggle between the dying First Republic and the burgeoning Second Republic, not the end of our millennium, that is haunting the American people. The only way to save our national sanity is to acknowledge the existence of the Second Republic so we can deal realistically with the problems that led to its birth. And the sooner the better! MARC RANGEL New York City

A HOME RUN

Jack E. White's commentary on baseball's Jackie Robinson [ESSAY, March 31] should be required reading--not only for multimillion-dollar utility infielders but also for every young person who aspires to be anything. It is powerfully eloquent in its simplicity and brevity, which should well serve a generation that has the attention span of a strobe light. MIKE KALLAY Honolulu

I would like to thank Jack White for pointing out that Robinson "endured incredible abuse without fighting back." The black athlete did so because his philosophy was in the same vein as that of Martin Luther King Jr., who wrote, "To retaliate in kind would do nothing but intensify the existence of hate in the universe. Along the way of life someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate." ARTHUR H. PRINCE Memphis, Tennessee

In his commentary, Jack White highlights the hypocrisy of contemporary black sports superstars with his example of the refusal of role model Michael Jordan to acknowledge that many of the multimillions of dollars he gets are at the expense of poorly paid foreign child labor. And how many more of those dollars come from kids who buy sport shoes to cover their feet with a logo rather than expand their minds and opportunities? DAN THOMPSON Elgin, Oregon

BUSH KNOWS HOW IT'S DONE

Three cheers for former President George Bush [THE PRESIDENCY, April 7]. He's 72 years old and goes skydiving. Now there's a President who knows how to get (legally) high. BOB SKOCIK Elysburg, Pennsylvania

NPR'S RECORD ON EMPLOYMENT

We are disturbed by the imbalance of your article on charges of racial and sexual discrimination at National Public Radio [NATION, April 7]. NPR has had excellent results in the placement of minorities and women in positions of authority. Seven of our 30 most senior managers are members of a minority, and 11 are women, and I, the CEO, am African American. Of NPR's total staff of 459 people, 29.2% are minorities, and nearly 48% are women. For NPR, the advancement of minorities and women is an ongoing commitment, and our record compares favorably with that of other broadcasters. I have made it my objective to ensure that our employees are treated with dignity and respect. We at NPR are significantly improving what Nina Totenberg, one of our top correspondents, already calls a "great place to work." DELANO E. LEWIS, President and CEO National Public Radio Washington