Comet Hale-Bopp

Dan Adams' proposal (April 4, 1997) that a volatile ball of smoldering ice 25 miles across and hurtling through space is a sign of the second coming of Christ is most thought provoking.

The thought it immediately provokes is that it is entirely predictable that the twin distractions of a passing comet and a coming millennium would prove irresistible to impressionable minds. It's a typical turn-of-the-century knee jerk (to the power of 10) which, usually, is the cause for a giggle among more rational people.

Unfortunately, the recent mass suicide by the Heaven's Gate cult, near San Diego, isn't a comedy; it's a tragedy. The details now coming to light surely must bring home to people the sheer insanity of all this apocalyptic fantasizing.

The latest charlatan in a long line of charismatic sociopaths is (or was) Marshall Applewhite, the cult's leader. His bizarre delusions combined strands of Erik Von Daniken, L. Ron Hubbard, and Captain Kirk -- mixed in with a bit of the Gospel according to St. Matthew concerning the preference eunuchs enjoy in heaven (Mr. Applewhite castrated himself, with others, before leaving his mortal container). The cult believed that despite 39 bodies being delivered to the county morgue 39 more highly evolved spirits, with US$5 dollar bills tucked into their socks, would be beamed up to a UFO which would then whisk them to heaven in the slipstream of the Hale-Bopp comet.

I admit it would be presumptuous to link the theories of Mr. Adams with those of the crew of Starship Applewhite, but his call for a "blast of regal trumpets" to herald this "hour of divine appointment with human history" certainly has a smack of apocalyptic evangelism. And, for the reason given above, must be vigorously opposed. Therefore, I suggest, Mr. Adams would better serve his students if he withdrew his moronic hourglass model of the opposed highlights of world history, stopped reading his tea leaves, and introduced them to the wonders of scientific cosmology. A beginner's guide would seem to be strongly indicated.

DAVID S. WIXEY

Jakarta