The Branch Davidians
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Adventist Today Keith Colburn, Secretary/Treasurer Raymond Cottrell Donna Evans Adventists Are Goal-Oriented
FOUNDATION BOARD Inside Adventist Today Keith Colburn, Secretary/Treasurer Raymond Cottrell Donna Evans Adventists are goal-oriented. We're driven. We're aChievers..We rationally calculate our Gary Fraser, Advisory Council ends, and find means. But in our penchant for working toward a better future, we need not Chair neglect the importance of Christian holy days that provide meaning for present life. Jim Kaatz W For many years we have expected the "imminent" coming of Christ, and our actions have followed Ervin Taylor, Board Chair suit-we have worked hard to that end. We have calculated how best to "finish the work." We used sani- James Walters tariums to promote health as an entering wedge for gaining converts. Eventually, rural sanitariums yielded to giant suburban medical centers. If Dorcas Societies in church basements were good, the worldwide help done through ADRA is better. Even if we are now not exactly ADVISORY COUNCIL sure when the Advent will occur, a diligent, rational work ethic has been established that pervades the Jo & Ken Abbott contemporary Adventist mindset. Gary & Jeanne Bogle Adventist Today is thoroughly Adventist, a goal-oriented, rationally-based publication that wants to Antonius & Lilia Brandon make things better by fostering thoughtful discussion of an increasingly complex church. Accordingly, for Todd Burley this issue we invited members and former members to tell their stories about why they stay, leave or return Charlotte & John Cassell to the church. Also, here we remember Waco of two years ag(}--those former Adventists who were so trag- Judy & Keith Colburn ically misled and ended in a fiery apocalypse. -
The Davidians of Waco
THE DAVIDIANS OF WACO BY VANCE FERRELL THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY -THE DAVIDIANS OF WACO * Who was David Koresh? * Where did he come from? * How could he take control of the minds and bodies of nearly 150 people? * Why did they let him do it? IN THIS BOOK, YOU WILL FIND THE ASTOUNDING STORY OF THIS STRANGE ORGANIZATION. * How it started over 60 years ago, by a man that a European nation expelled. * The strange reason they moved to Waco in 1935. * The terrible crisis which developed from 1955 to 1962. * The blood feud between two men in the 1980s—out of which Koresh emerged as the leader. * His food and munitions preparations to withstand an attack by the world. * In detail: the astonishing events of February 28, 1993, when the Waco raid shocked America into forgetting for a day the twin towers blast of two days earlier. * Clear evidence that, from its beginning, the Shepherd's Rod/Davidians have not been connected with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 - The Houteff Years - 1 ...................................... page 1 The Rod in Southern California 1929-1942 Houghton Starts the Rod ....................................... page 2 The Meetings Begin .............................................. page 3 2 - The Houteff Years - 2 ...................................... page 7 The Rod in Waco, Texas 1935-1955 Changing the Name to Davidian .......................... page 10 3 - The Rod In Waco, Texas - 3 .......................... page 12 The Florence Houteff Years 1955-1962 The 1955 Time Prophecy.....................................page 14 The 1959 Gathering ............................................ page 17 Florence Steps In—And Closes It .... page 18 4 - The Roden Years - 4 ..................................... page 25 The Branch In Riverside And Waco 1962-1983 5 - The Howell/Koresh Years - 5 ........................ -
From the Ashes
From the Ashes Making Sense of Waco / James R. Lewis, Editor Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. t,ua'1v ROWMAN & LfITLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. q16. ~22 l) Contents Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. r q3 t Acknowledgments ix 4 720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706 Introduction: Responses to the Branch Davidian Tragedy 3 Henrietta Street, London WC2E SLU, England xi Introductory Essays: Copyright © 1994 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Chapter 1 The Crime of Piety: Wounded Knee to Waco 1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may Chas S. Clifton be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, Chapter 2 Misinterpreting Religious Commitment 7 photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior Timothy Miller permission of the publisher. Chapter 3 Tailhook and Waco: A Commentary 11 British Cataloging in Publication Information Available Franklin H. Littell Understanding the Branch Davidians Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chapter 4 The Waco Tragedy: An Autobiographical Account From the ashes : making sense of Waco I James R. Lewis, of One Attempt to Avert Disaster 13 editor. James D. Tabor p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Chapter 5 The Davidian Dilemma-To Obey God or Man? 23 1. Waco Branch Davidian Disaster, Tex., 1993. 2. Branch J. Phillip Arnold Davidians. 3. Koresh, David, 1959-1993. BP605.B72F76 1994 976.4'284063-dc20 93-48400 CIP Chapter 6 The Davidian Tradition 33 Bill Pitts ISBN 0-8476-7914-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 0-8476-7915-2 (pbk. -
The Branch Davidian Siege and Its Impact on the Media and Scholarship
THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN SIEGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE MEDIA AND SCHOLARSHIP by AMY MARIE FLYNN (Under the Direction of Sandy Dwayne Martin) ABSTRACT Reviewing trends in the academic study of religion and examining media reports, attitudes towards new religious movements in American religious history shifted dramatically after the siege on the Branch Davidian compound. Surveying how scholars of religion and those in the media approached new religions, there is a notable shift in attitudes after the second raid on Mount Carmel. After the second raid in 1993, scholars published more work on new religious movements, and the media questioned its responsibility when chronicling such events. INDEX WORDS: American Religious History, New Religious Movements, David Koresh, Cults, Waco, Branch Davidian, Religion and Media, Religion and Politics, Discrimination, Religious Freedom THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN SIEGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE MEDIA AND SCHOLARSHIP by AMY MARIE FLYNN B.A., Mary Washington College, 2003 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2006 © 2006 Amy Marie Flynn All Rights Reserved THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN SIEGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE MEDIA AND SCHOLARSHIP by AMY MARIE FLYNN Major Professor: Sandy Dwayne Martin Committee: Carolyn Jones Medine William L. Power Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2006 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the students, staff, and faculty in the Department of Religion for their unwavering support and friendship. In particular, I would like to thank Dr. -
Leave Blank: Table of Contents
The Raid on the Branch Davidians Interviewer: Lauren Melvin Interviewee: Lewis H. McClam Instructor: Michael Chapper Date: February 22, 2010 Melvin 2 Table of Contents Interview Release Form Statement of Purpose 3 Biography 4 Historical Contextualization: The Raid on the Branch Davidians 6 Interview Transcription 16 Time Indexing Recording Log 39 Interview Analysis 40 Works Consulted 46 Melvin 3 Statement of Purpose This project serves to provide an oral account of the tragic events surrounding the raid on the Branch Davidians compound in Waco, Texas, that was carried out by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in 1993. This task will be accomplished through an interview with Mr. Lewis H. McClam, a former United States Secret Service agent, who assisted with the Federal government‟s investigation of the raid. This unique perspective will bring clarity to the various conflicting accounts of why and how this raid was undertaken by the ATF and whether events and actions leading to the deaths of Federal agents and Branch Davidians members were justified. Melvin 4 Biography Lewis H. McClam was born in 1945 in Kingstree, South Carolina. He attended Tomlinson High School, from which he graduated in 1964. He described growing up in Kingstree as difficult because of the many challenges and obstacles that he faced. These challenges included not having the books and supplies needed to adequately prepare him for college. Mr. McClam attended Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia and in 1968 earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, he went to work for a commercial credit company in St. -
Masaryk University
MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature The Tragedy of Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas Bachelor Thesis Brno 2020 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. Libor Muselík Bibliografický záznam Muselík, Libor. Tragédie sekty Davidánů ve městě Waco v Texasu. Bakalářská práce, Masarykova univerzita, 2020. Muselík, Libor. The Tragedy of Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. Bachelor Thesis, Masaryk University, 2020. Anotace Bakalářská práce „Tragédie sekty Davidiánů ve městě Waco v Texasu“ se zaměřuje na konkrétní odnož křesťanské sekty Adventistů sedmého dne, která má český překlad Odvětví Davidiánů. Její historie v Texasu začíná na konci 30. let 20. století přestěhováním do menšího města Waco. A právě tato skupina na sebe na jaře roku 1993 na dva měsíce strhla obrovskou mediální pozornost, v USA podobnou přistání člověka na měsíci. To kvůli šílenému vůdci, dvěma neúspěšným útokům agentů amerických služeb, přestřelkám jako z Divokého západu a obléhání jako z časů středověku. Bohužel toto obléhání skončilo tragédií a požárem s desítkami obětí. Cílem této práce je v prvních kapitolách prozkoumat historii této sekty, poté přiblížit její apokalyptické lídry, a poslední kapitoly popíší samotné obléhání a tragické rozuzlení. Výzkum pro tuto bakalářskou práci se uskutečnil během mého studijního pobytu na McLennan Community College a v Texaském archivu Univerzity Baylor. Obě tyto instituce sídlí ve městě Waco, kde se tyto události odehrály. Součástí výzkumu je také rozhovor s profesorem z Univerzity Baylor, Robertem Dardenem který napsal knihu, jež je považována za nejvěrnější popis oněch událostí a byl jejich očitým svědkem. Annotation The bachelor thesis “The Tragedy of Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas „will focus on a particular branch of Christian protestant sect called Seventh Day Adventist, called Branch Davidians. -
Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America
Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft196n99ws&chunk.id=0&doc.... Preferred Citation: Tabor, James D., and Eugene V. Gallagher Why Waco?: Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1995 1995. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft196n99ws/ Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America James D. Tabor and Eugene V. Gallagher UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley · Los Angeles · Oxford © 1997 The Regents of the University of California For David P. Efroymson in friendship and gratitude for a quarter century of intellectual guidance and for Jonathan Z. Smith, who taught both of us the importance of seeing ourselves in the light of the other and the other in the light of ourselves Preferred Citation: Tabor, James D., and Eugene V. Gallagher Why Waco?: Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1995 1995. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft196n99ws/ For David P. Efroymson in friendship and gratitude for a quarter century of intellectual guidance and for Jonathan Z. Smith, who taught both of us the importance of seeing ourselves in the light of the other and the other in the light of ourselves Preface So thoroughly negative is the public perception of groups labeled as "cults" that any attempt to balance the picture may be seen as misguided, if not downright threatening, to the best interests of society. In the case of the Branch Davidians, the news media were saturated with reports of gun stockpiling, sexual misconduct, and child abuse. -
Brett Gould the Waco Siege
Brett Gould The Waco Siege Gould 1 Few events in history garner so much attention and speculation that they live infamously throughout the ages. One of these events is known as the Waco Siege. The events at Waco captured media attention for months as the battle between the Branch Davidians and the federal government raged. It was just one event in a string of many in the early 1990’s setting the stage for a new wave of things to come in the realm of domestic terrorism in the United States. The day of the FBI raid on April 19th has been used by many other groups as a symbol for their attacks or actions. Unlikely predicted at the time, Waco ignited a firestorm that most people could not have predicated within the United States. The actions taken by government agencies at Waco has led to the inspiration of thousands of people across the nation. In fact, many domestic terrorist groups, specifically those belonging to militia movements and neo-Nazi groups, used the event as a tool for recruiting new members. The Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh, cited the Waco Siege as one of his many grievances with the federal government. These are just a few of the various legacies that Waco would become the face of or extremely important to. It would also become one of the most debated, misunderstood, and controversial events in U.S. history. Vernon Howell, more well known as David Koresh, was the infamous leader of the Branch Davidians during the Waco Siege. He changed his name after taking control of the group, naming himself after prominent biblical figures. -
ABSTRACT the Great American Disappointment: an Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory As a Way to Explain the Unique Ev
ABSTRACT The Great American Disappointment: An Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory as a Way to Explain the Unique Evolutionary Processes of Socially-Guided Religion by Means of American Civil Religion Ethan Gjerset Quillen, M.A. Mentor: Douglas R. Ferdon, Ph.D. America is unique when compared to the rest of the world for many reasons, but especially so for its religion. To this, as human beings evolve socially, in the same way animal species evolve in order to seek out variable fitness toward survival, their religion follows suit. This has been particularly so in the United States where absolute religious freedom makes way for one of three processes of evolution within the American Church of Civil Religion. These three processes, Atheism, Fundamentalism and New Religious Movements, become the direction in which Americans evolve their religious beliefs in the wake of socially- guided religious disappointment. This Great Dis appointment Theory, based on the results of William Miller‟s Great Disappointment in the 19 th century, helps explain the means by which Americans, who act as individuals within an immigrant nation, are able to come together as a congregation within the American Church of Civil Religion. The Great American Disappointment: An Introduction to the Great Disappointment Theory as a Way to Explain the Unique Evolutionary Processes of Socially-Guided Religion by Means of American Civil Religion by Ethan Gjerset Quillen, B.A., M.A. A Thesis Approved by the Department of American Studies ___________________________________ Douglas R. Ferdon, Ph.D., Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Approved by the Thesis Committee ___________________________________ Douglas R. -
Feminine Holy Spirit: Bible Doctrine Or Gnostic Heresy? (2012 © Upa7.Org)
Feminine Holy Spirit: Bible Doctrine or Gnostic Heresy? (2012 © upa7.org) “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” — 1 Corinthians 14:33 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” — 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” — 1 John 4:1-3 e purpose of this study is to refute the heretical teaching of the Branch Davidians that believes the Holy Spirit is feminine. It will be shown that this teaching is based on faulty assumptions and superficial word studies in the original Greek and Hebrew. Background One of the most striking differences between the teaching of the True Davidians versus the beliefs of the Branch Davidians involves the femininity of the Holy Spirit. -
Chapter 2 - in the Beginning
Chapter 2 - In the Beginning Historical Context of the Raid To gain a better insight into the perspective of Federal law enforcement personnel toward the Branch Davidians, an understanding of the historical context of the initial raid is important. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), based upon their investigation, had very definite negative perceptions of David Koresh as a person, and a strong belief that some Branch Davidians posed a significant threat to other members of the group, the local community, and to law enforcement personnel. These perceptions provided the "terministic screen" through which raid preparations were made, and the initial "negotiations" post the shoot-out were conducted. Because the perceptions of the ATF and FBI are very important for this project, the bulk of the historical- contextual material will be drawn from two sources. The first is the Report of the Department of the Treasury on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Investigation of Vernon Wayne Howell also known as David Koresh, published in September of 1993, hereafter referred to as Treasury Report or (DOT). This was the official report commissioned by President Bill Clinton instructing the Treasury Department to investigate events leading up to the raid on February 28, 1993. It best represents ATF views before and after the raid. The second source was produced by the Justice Department and entitled Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas February 28 to April 19, 1993, Redacted Version, published on October 8, 1993, and hereafter referred to as Justice Report or (DOJ). -
History and Beliefs of the Branch Davidians
History and Beliefs of the Branch Davidians A basic understanding of the relevant beliefs of the Branch Davidian (“Davidian”) faith provides a valuable context that helps to explain why the Davidians acted in the self-destructive manner that they did. To ascertain the core beliefs of the Davidian faith, the Office of Special Counsel conducted voluntary interviews with Davidian survivors,1 religious experts2 and former residents of the Davidian complex.3 The Office of Special Counsel relied on scholarly research as well. The investigation revealed that, although the Davidian faith began as a protest movement within the Seventh Day Adventist Church (“SDA”) in the late 1920s, Davidians who were followers of David Koresh distinguished their faith as separate, special and unique, and all aspects of Davidian life revolved around the teachings of Koresh. These teachings, which centered in large part upon a violent confrontation with the United States, led to the deaths of the Davidians on April 19, 1993. 1Davidian survivors who consented to OSC interviews include Graeme Craddock, October 15, 1999; Clive Doyle, October 13, 1999; Misty Ferguson, January 26, 2000; Derek Lovelock, February 14, 2000; David Thibodeau, October 14, 1999; and Marjorie Thomas, February 10, 2000. Survivors Renos Avraam, Jamie Castillo and Ruth Riddle declined our requests for an interview. 2Dr. J. Phillip Arnold, Founder of Reunion Institute, Houston, Texas, December 28, 1999; Dr. Glenn O. Hilburn, Professor of Religion, Baylor University, May 18, 2000; Dr. William L. Pitts Jr., Professor of Religion, Baylor University, June 23, 2000; and Dr. James D. Tabor, Professor of Religion, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, December 21-22, 1999.