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I thought I would share a story about the time in Texas history.
I was raised a Seventh Day Adventist and grew up part of my life in Keene Texas which is where David Koresh went to school.
At the time of the seige, much was made of this connection and assumptions were made that his gun toting, apocalyptic views were shared by the SDA church.
This is not the case. In fact most SDAs are what are called passivists. When you speak with the older generation that have been to war, many will tell you they refused to bear arms in any way.
I was living in Arlington Texas at the time of the seige. There was an occurance that was not reported at the time to the media. I only heard about it afterward.
Apparently at the time that Koresh was wounded and talking via the phone to the FBI, he said that on a certain date the minister in the Keene SDA church would be shot. The FBI put a bullet proof vest on the minister who refused to stay off the pulpit, they church refused to cancel the service but they did allow FBI agents into the congregation.
Nothing ended up happening but I thought it interesting that this was never reported to the media, posibly at the request of the church itself. However it might have helped underscore for people the division rather then connection between the church and Koresh.
Koresh stated his goal was to recruit his members from SDA churches and that is what he did. He said he wanted to convert as many as he could and then kill the rest. His resentment no doubt stemmed from the fact he had been disfellowshipped by the church for his beliefs and behavior. I heard that he was also kicked out of the University in Keene as well. To disfellowship someone in the SDA church is like excommunication in the Catholic church, a fancy way of kicking someone out of the church.
After the seige the followers that were left attended an SDA church in Hillsborough, my old bible teacher was the minister there. These people still believed that Koresh would rise from the dead, in spite of the reality that his skull was found with a bullet wound in it after the fire.
I remember while he was wounded and talking on the phone to law enforcement, I got out my bible and I read along and could make no sense of the things he was tying together. His conclusions didin't make sense based on any kind of reading of the bible, not just in light of the SDA interpretation. Its my belief that he may have been bipolar and posibly taking drugs other then perscription. I suspect he probably believed the drivel he was spouting.
The thing that always seemed so sad to me is that were it not for the member of the press who leaked the advance warning of the seige to a member of the flock, many lives might have been saved. I think of the children who lost their lives and the many officers that were killed that day. I can not feel sorrow for the adults however. They were independent people who should have known better who took their children into a dangerous situation. I have to say that I hold them responsible for their deaths just as if they had put a gun to their head and pulled the trigger.
If any of you reading this know much about me, you know that while I was raised in the SDA church, I no longer subscribe to that belief system so when I defend them or underscore that they were not involved with Koresh, I do so only because that is the reality, not to try and defend a church I belong to.
Did anyone here know anyone involved in the seige, either in the law enforcement community or on the compound? I looked through the list of names and found no one I knew however when I was in school David Koresh (I don't recall his real name) was in the same town with us. I remember speaking to a friend of the family who said he had worked for him for a time.
Last edited by Lindsey_Mcfarren; 07-01-2008 at 10:16 AM..
Interesting story. It must be a little creepy to have had that tenuous connection to such a vicious person. I agree with the pity for the children who got caught up in that cult but the adults ... I just shake my head at how grownup people can be so taken with someone who so clearly uses people for his own aggrandizement and to satisfy his carnal urges. I was not aware of the connection to the 7th Day Adventists, but was always under the impression that they were pacifists - presenting no physical danger to anybody.
Whoa, Lindsey, that's really interesting that you were so close to the event. I remember paying attention to it on the news (I was young and lived far from Texas) and the whole thing seemed so bizarre and unbelievable to me. Later, I went through a stage where I was fascinated by religious cults and I read some crappy paperback about Koresh and Co. - that book was far less evocative than your post here!
Recently on NPR I heard a story about the current Branch Davidians who live in some town near the old compound. They apparently have a new leader but most were "off-campus" members of the Koresh group.
Its my understanding that they still attend church in Hillsborough. Thats South of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex but not all the way to Waco which was the closest city to the compound.
Cults have always fascinated me but this whole situation really got to me because in the area, the connection was known. I had more then one person approach me being aware of my connection to the town and the church and wondering if I shared any beliefs with the cult. It got to the point that I denied or didn't bring up any connection to the town and the religion.
I still remember one of the Elders of the church giving a statement to the press at the SDA hospital in Fort Worth that there was no connection and that he had been booted out of the church.
I think that the news article I heard was about people who still live near Mt. Carmel. I'm not real sure what they call themselves but some are former followers of Koresh.
I remember when this happened and it always bothered me. I am all for the freedom of one to worship as they believe but cults like this one take many steps further and I don't think they are religious at all. What bothered me greatly was how the FBI took such a bad press for what they did to end it. I don't think they were happy about their method at all and if I remember correctly they waited out something like 14 days or more with power cut off and everything. The chance for surrender was given plenty of times and Koresh also had a stockpile of weapons. He was looking for a fight. I do feel bad for all the kids that perished in that. But you are right Lindsay, the parents/adults could have easily prevented that by sending them out even if they decided to stay. And all the remaining followers could have defied David on this one point. What I remember most was turning on the news each night and hearing about this seige and thinking "Oh my goodness, this is still going on?" I really thought the FBI showed great patience on this and then all that you would here for a couple of weeks was how they acted too harshly and rushed it. I didn't know anything about the SDA but I am not surprised about their decision either.
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