Lecture Topic:
Resources for Understanding Waco
Thomas Jefferson
on religious liberty
Resources for Understanding
Waco
Soc 257
New Religious Movements
Lecture Outline
- The Adventist Tradition
- The Branch Davidians
- The Social Construction of News
- The Social Construction of Evil inWaco
- Post Siege Reconstruction
Part I:
The Adventist Tradition
Locating the Branch Davadians
- Branch Davidians are a splinter group from the
Seventh-Day Adventists (SDAs)
- The SDAs were formed in the mid-19th century
after the break up of a group known as the Millerites
- William Miller, a lay Baptist minister, gathered
a considerable following with his predictions regarding the return
of Christ
The Millerites
- Key idea of William Miller:
- Bible prophecies are like a cryptic treasure
map
- To find the secret path to truth, the symbolism
in the Bible had to be correctly deciphered.
- Miller believed he had correctly achieved this
goal and prophesized that Christ would return on March 21, 1844.
- Failed prophecies splinterd but did not kill
the movement.
- Two major groups were formed and not only survived,
they are highly successful
Surviving Groups:
- Seventh-Day Adventists
- Jehovah's Witnesses
Advent:
- To call attention
to a problem
- To call attention to an event
- The four weeks proceeding Christmas
Part II:
The Branch Davidians
The Houteff Era
- Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian born imigrant converted
to the SDAs in 1919
- Challenges SDA theology with "Shepherd's
Rod" manifesto calling for spiritual purification
- Disfellowshiped in 1934
- Founded Mt Carmel Center near Waco
- Dies 1955; succeeded by wife Florence
- Florence proclaims Second Coming in 1959
- Following failed prophecy, call for disbanding
The Roden Era
- Benjamin Roden emerged as leader of the surviving
remnant
- Proclaims himself successor to the biblical King
David.
- Near end of his life, wife Lois and son George
struggle over leaderhip
- Benjamin dies 1978; Lois gains court order barring
George from Mt. Carmel property
- Enter Vernon Howell (cum David Koresh)
David Howell the handy man
- Born 1959 in Houston
- Troubled youth
- Hobbies: playing guitar and restoring old cars
- Began participating in SDA bible study group
in 1979
- Arrived Mt. Carmel in 1981 and accepted a job
as handy man.
Vernon Howell
cum
David Koresh
George Roden
The Koresh Era Begins
- Upon assuming leadership, Howell sought to legitimate
his authority by liking personal biography to a defined spritual
lineage.
- 1990 changes name to David Koresh
- "Koresh" is Hebrew for "Cyrus,"
the Persian King who defeated the Babylonians 500yes before the
birth of Christ
- "David" links him directly with King
David
Koresh's teachings
- "Sinful Messiah"
- Special Mission
- As messiah, to become a perfect mate
- Transforms group from:
- From: Patronal religious clan
- To: Transformative religious movement
Part III:
The Social Construction of News
What is news? Who decides?
- News as mirror image
- Stuff happens
- Cameras and reports transmit the stuff to an
audience
What is news? Who decides?
- News as investigtors distillation
- Stuff happens
- Reporters, editors sort and sift through the
evidence
- Faithfully provide readers/audiences with an
accurate summation of what happened
What is news? Who decides?
- News as a social construction
Events (and ideas) are selected from a wide array of possibilities
and shaped into a plausible story-line viz. the perspective of
reporters and editors
Factors affecting the construction of news
- Technology/resources
- Assignment editor
- Need for a cohesive story
- Stock of cultural knowledge
- Perspective/values of reporters/editors
- Spin of those providing reporters with information
- Extrinsic editorial decisions
Part IV:
The Social Construction
of Evil in Waco
Factors affecting the construction of evil in Waco
- Stock of cultural knowledge about cults
- Apostates
- Anti-cultists
- BATF & FBI
- Mass media
Two predominant themes of:
Armageddon in Waco
"
marginal religions and their members are accorded
diminished human and social value, largely tied to disparaging
stigmas and widespread stereotypes (brainwashed cultists")
that recall some of the most vicious racial, ethnic, and religious
prejudices of our nation's past...
Two predominant themes of:
Armageddon in Waco
"
minority religions are more likely to be victimized
by extreme efforts of social control, most notably be government,
but hastened and incited by selected interest groups."
Stuart A. Wright
Cops, News Copy and Public Opinion
Part V:
Post Siege Narratives and the Reconstruction of a Crisis Event
Standoff ends in flames
Before
After
The conquest
Attorney General Janet Reno
said they moved on the Davidians because:
- Children were continuing to be molested
- There was danger of a mass suicide
- The FBI agents were tired
Reports and hearings...
- Treasury Department Report
- Justice Department Report
- The Experts Report
- The Contrarians reports
- The Scholars reports
- Anti-cultists reports
- The Congressional Hearings