The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect

396 Pages·2006·2.13 MB·English

by  Kenneth G. C. Newport

THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS OF WACO
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The Branch
Davidians of Waco
The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect
KENNETH G. C. NEWPORT
1
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In memory of Baby Gyarfas and Baby Gent, whose lives were ended
almost before they began.
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Preface
Thisisabookaboutreligiousbelief.Itisaboutthekindofreligiousbeliefthat
mayleadapersontocometotheconvictionthatGodhascalledhimorherto
leadacommunityofthefaithfulandtoteachthemthewaysofGod.Itisabout
beliefthatmayleadapersontotakeaction—tomovethousandsofmiles,to
establishaplaceonearthwherepeoplemaybepreparedforheaven,todevote
oneselftothewritingandspreadingofreligioustracts. Itisaboutbeliefthat
looks for the self-revelation of God in scripture and in the spoken word of
livingprophets.Itisaboutthekindofbeliefforwhichonemaychoosetodie.
Thestorytoldhereisthestoryof‘Waco’—thenameofapleasantenough
Texantownnowsynonymousinmanypeople’smindswithreligiousextrem-
ism and/or government heavy-handedness. What took place there in the
spring of 1993 is now etched upon the American psyche, and despite the
passing of a dozen years ‘what really happened’ continues to be a matter of
grave concern. It was, for example, of grave concern to Timothy McVeigh,
whoonthesecondanniversaryoftheWacoWrebombedtheAlfredP.Murrah
building in Oklahoma City in an act of revenge. It continues to be of grave
concern to those who lost loved ones at Waco, the mothers, fathers, sons,
daughters, other family members, and friends of the eighty-four who died
duringtheWfty-onedays.
Itishopedthatthisbookwillcontributetotheunderstandingof‘Waco’in
a number of ways. First, every attempt has been made to set the events in
context. The Branch Davidians were not a new movement in 1993 and to
understandthemitisnecessaryalsotounderstandsomethingoftheirhistory.
Evenmoreimportant,however,istheneedtounderstandsomethingoftheir
theology,foritwastheologythatdrovethem;itwastheologyforwhichthey
lived and theology for which so many of them died. My task has been to
understandsomeofthattheologyandsomeofthathistoryinaneVorttosee
beneath the surface of events that for awhile so dramatically hit the world’s
TV screens. It has not always been an easy task nor always a pleasant one.
Iremainconvinced,however,thatitwasnecessary.TherewillbeotherWacos,
andifthisbookassistsinsomesmallwayinunderstanding theonewehave
alreadyhad,thereissomehope,evenifonlyasmallone,thatitmightassist
tooinseekingtoavertthekindofoutcomewewitnessedon19April1993.In
thiscasemy timewillhavebeenwellspent.
This book has grown considerably in the writing and the end product is
nearly Wfty per cent longer than had originally been contracted. In the end
viii Preface
I had to decide on what it was that I might most proWtably bring to this
discussion.MyownbackgroundbeinginhistoryandbiblicalstudiesIchose
to focus on two primary tasks: the attempt to piece together as fully as
possible the history of this trajectory and the more complicated matter of
outlining its theology, especially its use of the Bible. I hope that I have done
these two things tolerably well. I have, however, had to leave it to others to
reXectmoretheoreticallyonthenatureofthismovement,thereasonfor the
course of its development, and the role it has played in recent American
culturalandpoliticallife.Ifthisstudyassistsinthatwidertask,againIbelieve
thatmytimewillhavebeenwellspent.
Awebsite that supports this book and provides a good deal of the docu-
mentary and other evidence that undergirds it can be found at: www.hope.
ac.uk/humanities/theology/branchdavidians.
Acknowledgements
Icouldnothavewrittenthisbookwithoutthehelpofnumerousindividuals.
Great practical assistance and fruitful conversation was provided by Mark
Swett who for many years has been involved in his own investigations into
Waco, despite which he still found time to provide me with a mass of
informationandharddata.Mydebttohimisverylargeindeed.
Other conversation partners include my long-time friends Malcolm Bull
andKeithLockhart,bothofwhomhavefoundtimetoreaddraftmaterialand
oVerdetailedfeedback.Thisbookwouldbeverymuchweakerwithouttheir
input.
I have been very fortunate in being able to call upon the assistance of a
number of really quite superb archivists and librarians. Lynda Baildam of
Newbold College provided me with archive material and also very helpfully
tracked down the publication details of some of the more obscure Seventh-
dayAdventistworksmentionedinthisvolume.AtBaylorUniversityinWaco,
Texas, I was very well looked after by Ellen Brown. The Texas Collection
(whichnowincludestheprivatearchivebuiltupbyMarkSwett)hasbeenthe
mostimportantsourceofmaterialformuchofwhatIhavebeenworkingon
these past few years. Working on a book which draws so heavily upon an
archive some 4,500 miles away has its own challenges. Ellen Brown made
those challenges manageable, even giving up her own time so that I might
work late on the collection during my visits. Kent Keeth and Bill and Ruth
PittsallextendedtraditionalTexanhospitalitytomewheneverIwasintown,
andforinterestingconversation(andsomeverygoodfood)Iamindebted.
Ihavetriedinthisresearchtobeasopenaspossibleandtoconsultdirectly
withatleastafewofthosewhowerecentrallyinvolvedinthe1993stand-oV.
FBI negotiator Byron Sage was generous in giving up an entire Saturday to
explain to me his side of the story, and has provided detailed responses to
some of the chapters in this book. My thanks are due also to Marie Hagen
whosimilarlyhasbeengenerousinsharingcommentswithmeanddrawing
myattention todocumentsthat Imighteasilyotherwise have missed. Onat
least two major points she has saved me from serious factual error. The
contents of this book will reveal also that I have been able to speak with a
number of surviving Branch Davidians. These include Derek Lovelock, a
resident of my own home city of Manchester, UK. Derek and I have spent
many hours together in conversation and he has kindly permitted me to
publishasanappendixtothisbookasummaryofamuchlongermanuscript