Koresh And Burn

All throughout history, religion has cemented itself as an essential part of many peoples lives, all around the globe. For someone like myself, who would not classify themselves as religious, the idea of religion seems pretty foreign, like I would never be able to understand how someone could live their life underneath a higher order or being. The thing that I am coming to realize, however, is that religions exist to give meaning to the lives of people, and whether religious or not, everyone is looking for meaning in some way or another. Just because I do not pray to a God or fast during a certain period of the year does not mean I do not subscribe myself to a set of ideals that I look to for answers. I think it would be fair to say that I am not religious for a multitude of reasons, but primarily that not I nor my family have experienced severe enough conditions in life that would prompt us to depend upon a spiritual order. I say this because of the fact that many turn to religion for dependability in the face of uncertainty. It’s the various crossroads in life when people are most ‘susceptible’ to subscribing to a religious movement. Crossroads that tragic and frightening historical events have created, which see a flock of rather unsettled people seeking guidance and ultimately finding a home in the belief system of these religious movements. Certain people are looking for certain types of answers, and it is this very concept of vulnerable minds that new religious movements prey on. New religious movements that we have come to know today, as cults.

No one joins a cult. If they knew it was a cult, they wouldn’t join, and that’s the issue. The word cult is a cultural term, often given to new religious movements with hindsight. It’s much easier to tell that a movement is a cult once something bad has happened, otherwise, its just another random religion. In this post, I’m going to discuss the story of a new religious movement that ended in a very famous tragedy, and how it’s unsuspecting members fell victim to a manipulation that turned fatal.

The Branch Davidians

A sect that branched off from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Branch Davidians were, and still are, a religious movement based in Waco, Texas. Their primary ideology is a continuation of the work of Victor Houteff – leader of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. The Adventists believed that there was to be a second-coming of Jesus Christ, and settled in Waco in 1935, preparing for the event. As we know, this did not occur, and later in 1955 when Houteff died, he was succeeded by his wife, Florence. Florence continued this belief system predicated on the idea of Jesus’ return, and set the date of April 2, 1959 as the date of the dawn of the new messianic age. Hundreds gathered in preparation for the event, and when it didn’t happen, the group splintered off in to multiple factions. The General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists was one of these factions, lead by a man named Ben Roden. When Ben died in 1978, members had to choose between following either his wife, Lois, or his son, George. After a few years in control, Lois died and George became leader. As the struggle for a long-standing leader continued, however, a young man by the name of Vernon Howell asserted his leadership and took control of the Davidians less than a year after. This was the beginning of the end.

Howell swiftly adopted a new name: David Koresh, a name that would soon go down in history. His new name was to suggest he was a prophet, a messianic figure that his followers could trust and rally behind. With his newfound power, Koresh took several ‘spiritual’ wives and spoke of how he was the perfect mate for all the groups female members, and that he intended to create a new lineage of children who would go on to rule the world. Koresh had a very robust understanding of the Bible, and supported the idea of his messianic figure by preaching the Bibles messages to Davidians with passion. Young and fervent, Koresh was a new type of leader for the group, and members truly believed he was special, and a higher being then them. His actions stirred up trouble though, as several of his wives were teenagers, child abuse accusations came his way. Authorities became aware of Koresh and his group of followers atop Mt. Carmel in Waco, and coupled with the interception of an illegal shipment of firearms, the ATF decided to take a surprise visit to the compound in early 1993.

Their visit resulted in the death of four ATF agents and six Davidians. What followed was the infamous Waco siege, a 51 day standoff between the authorities (ATF and FBI) and the Davidians inside their Mt. Carmel compound. On April 19, 1993, what would be the final day of the siege, FBI moved in using large weaponry attempting to take the compound. They implemented the use of tear gas to flush the Davidians out of the building, and when the Davidians began firing upon authorities, they increased the amount of tear gas thrown in to the building. Three fires then broke out within the compound, and soon after, Mt. Carmel was burnt to the ground, killing 76 of the 85 members inside. While there is much debate surrounding the starting of the fires, and whether it was the tear gas or the Davidians set their compound ablaze on purpose, it doesn’t really matter. What happened in Waco that day was a tragedy nonetheless, one that caused dozens of people to lose their lives in the name of the manipulative actions of David Koresh.

Cult? Religion? Both?

A simple Google search of the definition of a cult would have Merriam-Webster tell you it’s “a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious”. The issue with such a definition however, is that it draws a very blurry line between cult and religion. There’s a bit of a running joke among religion researchers that “cult + time = religion”, and I can see how there’s a lot of truth to that. No one in their right mind is suggesting that the Branch Davidians, under David Koresh, were not a cult. However, had their belief system not burned to the ground, at what point would we call their movement a religion, and not a cult, or ‘new religious movement’ as such groups are known academically. 

What made the Branch Davidians a cult though? As I mentioned above, it’s much easier to attach the ‘cult’ label to groups once they have suffered some sort of misfortune. Prior to the information that Koresh was engaging in sexual relations with underage girls, the Branch Davidians were not super well-known, and to those who knew of them, were merely regarded as a slightly out-of-the-ordinary sect of a larger religion. In reality, what was happening atop Mt. Carmel was a pretty textbook case of manipulation and the abuse of a manufactured power. Cults – or NRMs as I’ll call them to remove the negative cultural bias – are almost always lead by one primary figure, whom the followers worship. This was obviously David Koresh in the case of the Davidians. Koresh’s manipulative ways were “progressive” as said by Robyn Bunds, a former ‘wife’ of Koresh and member of the group. He was initially normal guy Vernon Howell, later changing to David Koresh the prophet. After he had exhausted his character as a prophet, he insisted he was Christ himself, and used his new Messianic identity to convince his followers even further. This allowed his manipulation to rest on perhaps the strongest foundation available to someone who is leading a group of people who follow the Bible, the fact he was literally Jesus. He would say things like “why wouldn’t you want to be with Christ?” when trying to persuade previously married females into leaving their husbands to become one of his ‘wives’. He was the epitome of a crooked cult leader.

Oblivion

Especially in cases where their are living members of a group following the groups dissolution, the debate about whether such members are evil and to be tried for their crimes or if they are brainwashed victims undeserving of punishment is an interesting one. In the case of the Branch Davidians, it’s clear members had been subject to this brainwashing in a severe way. Why had they been so attracted to Koresh and the group though? Well, it’s sort of complicated, but at the same time, pretty straight-forward. As we know, the Branch Davidians were a sect, broken off from a larger faction of a religion. The history of the religion was tumultuous, the mix of incorrect predictions and various leaders only escalated the uncertainty felt by members who had subscribed to the wider movement. When Koresh, who was effectively just one of ‘them’ – the followers – stepped up following Lois’ death, Davidian followers likely related to Koresh, and trusted him to lead the movement in to a less turbulent future. Charisma, knowledge of the Bible, and relatability were Koresh’s powerful factors in gaining the trust of his followers. From that point on, the red flags that became apparent to Davidians under the guidance of Koresh were disregarded, this man was Jesus after all…

Although the Branch Davidians will always be remembered by most the world as nothing but the antagonists in the Waco siege of 1993, in reality, the tragedy of the religion lied in the actions of Koresh, not the tear gas or bullets. It wasn’t fire that burned down the Branch Davidians, but rather Koresh’s ardent desire to reach a level of power so high that he neglected the emotions of the very people that got him there in the first place.