Word: boing
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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TIME first wrote about Marshall Applewhite and his group in 1975. Four years later the magazine interviewed Paul Groll, a follower of Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Nettles (then known as Bo and Peep), for a story in the Aug. 27, 1979, issue on their secret camp. An excerpt...
...cult came to national attention after two dozen people from the small town of Waldport, Oregon, dropped everything to follow Bo and Peep. A 1975 TIME article described Applewhite as having a "rare ability to impress audiences with the urgency and truth of his message." (Such was Bo and Peep's appeal that NBC aired a series pilot called The Mysterious Two--originally titled Follow Me If You Dare--about an extraterrestrial couple.) But Bo and Peep's disciples were not all sheep. One group of discontented followers rejected the cult when a promised space visit never materialized. To stem...
...Bo and Peep have "thousands of rules," reports Groll, but "they never force anyone to do anything." During one three-month phase, members constantly wore hoods over their heads and peered out through mirrored eye slits. The usual uniform is a brightly colored windbreaker over a jumpsuit. Gloves are worn at all times. Members can say yes, no or "I don't know" but otherwise communicate only by written messages. They study the Bible, forswear sex, drugs and alcohol. They are, however, permitted to watch TV newscasts and read newspapers to emphasize the differences between the values of the camp...
...daily meals (called "lab experiments"), a blackboard in the dining tent lists "formulas" that specify the menu (PA for potatoes, CA for cake). The food must be consumed with meticulous care to reduce noise. Bo and Peep usually shop for food and supplies personally. They always pay cash...
...proclaim that Bo has been Jesus, Elijah and Moses in his former lives. The spacecraft is imminently expected. It will carry believers to an enigmatic "garden" where they will get "energy" from their coequal, the King of Kings, alias Chief of Chiefs, the god who created Planet Earth. Believers will live eternally in hairless, toothless bodies that are free of disease and decay...