The Tragedy at Waco

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the tragedy at Waco. It describes the Branch Davidians which were a group that broke away from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and who were faithful to David Koresh. The paper discusses the sequence of events that led up to the tragedy and the ways in which survivors stories differ about details of what happened and who was responsible.

From the Paper:

"The web site of a Canadian group that works towards religious tolerance states that the Branch Davidians were a group that broke away from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and formed their own religious community in 1919. They believed that Christ would soon return and the end of the world (the "Downfall of Babylon") would occur. The "Kingdom of David" would then be established. In 1984, after a succession of leaders, Vernon Howell joined the group and married a prominent member's daughter. In 1987 he took control of the group. The membership did not generally call themselves Branch Davidians, but the name was commonly used in the media and so became popular. Vernon Howell changed his name in 1992 to David (after King David of the Israelites) Koresh (after the Babylonian King Cyrus) and renamed the Mt. Carmel Center where they lived the "Ranch Apocalypse." He believed the final battle of Armageddon, predicted in the Bible, would start at the Branch Davidian compound (Branch Davidians, 2005)."

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