|
|
|
|
|
Class
Prep
|
|
|
|
- The
Branch Davidian Disaster at Waco
-
- For fifty-one days in early 1993, the U.S. news was dominated
by the story of a federal siege of a religious compound outside
Waco, Texas. A botched raid on the compound by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) on February 28
resulted in the siege, as well as in the deaths of 4 BATF agents
and 6 people inside the compound. The siege lasted
until April 19, when the FBI ordered an attack with tanks and
gas. The compound caught fire and almost everyone inside
was burned to death.
-
- The federal government justified its aggressive tactics by pointing
to the militant nature of the group inside. There was,
after all, solid evidence that they were stockpiling weapons,
and there were questions of child abuse and sexual slavery reported
by some defectors. But the concerns inside the compound
were of another kind entirely. The Branch Davidian
sect members were certain that the end of the world was near, and to some extent the federal government fulfilled that expectation.
-
- The readings today provide information about the evolution of the Branch Davidian sect. Ted Daniels provides a good introduction in which he grounds the history of the group in the much older Seventh-Day Adventist tradition, itself a response to the Great Disappointment of 1843 and 1844. As you read Daniels and Gallagher, trace not only the history of the group but also note any reference to biblical prophecy and particularly to the Book of Revelation. The references are frequent enough that you might want to have your Bible open as you do the reading. Pay special attention to the way Vernon Howell, a.k.a. David Koresh (pictured left/above), interprets the Bible. Consider also the following questions:
-
-
- What was Koresh's "New Light" doctrine? On what grounds did he justify it and what effects did its advocacy have on the Branch Davidian group?
- How is the Adventist view of the evolutionary character of prophetic revelation related to Koresh's view of the Bible and to his tactics under siege?
- Does Barkun's notion of stigmatized knowledge apply in this case, either to the Davidians' attitudes toward the federal government or to the federal government's attitude toward religion?
-
-
- Assigned Readings
- Primary: Daniels 128-43
- Secondary: Gallagher, "'Theology Is Life and Death'"
David Koresh on Violence, Persecution, and the Millennium"
(ERes); Juergensmeyer 119-44
- Optional: Katz and Popkin, "Rapture, Great Disappointment,
and Waco" (ERes)
-
-
- Further Reading
-
- See also the section of the Course Bibliography on Apocalyptic
Groups & Trends.
-
-
- Links
-
- Waco
Never Again! - Mark Swett's collection of materials
on Koresh; includes transcripts of some of the oral Bible
study sessions Koresh gave.
-
-
- Sources
- Photograph: Rick Ross, "Waco: Waco Davidians, Branch Davidians
and David Koresh" (1996-2000), online, http://www.rickross.com/groups/waco.html,
27 October 2002.
|
|
|
|
|
