Wacko Waco

First time U.S. citizens had a view of something crazy on live TV.

• Alex Jones was talking about Waco on his podcast and how he built his initial following.
• Makeshift fort built 7 miles outside of Waco — referred to as a cult or real, honest Christians.
• They used buckets for bathrooms.
• They were taught Koresh was the Lamb.
• Branch off of the Millerite Movement.
• Waco was the cheapest land in the U.S.
• Registered themselves as a church to avoid the draft.
• Became Branch Davidians.
• Believed that God picks individuals to be His prophets and they will be able to teach new biblical truths.
• Things revealed to Koresh: He is the reincarnation of Cyrus; he is the Lamb in the Book of Revelation. As the Lamb, he must take his followers, and they must fight to the death with Babylon (he believes this is the U.S. government), but Jesus will raise them and they will be appointed the new worldly leaders.
• They started buying semi-automatic guns and converting them to automatic before Clinton was elected.
• Did paramilitary training.
• ATF started to put together a case.
• They never once tried to figure out their religious beliefs.
• Branch Davidians knew about the raid; ATF showed up unprepared.
• FBI came in; CNN covered it the entire time.
• Had the birth of American militias.
• Alex Jones gained popularity.
• Demagogues discussion:
• Things these cult leaders say (how Koresh related to Jim Jones and Manson) “Just listen to me,” attempts to isolate followers. “If you disagree, then you just don’t understand. I’m doing this because I love you, and nobody else does.”
• Fire theories: CS gas started the fire? followers started fire as a Mass Suicide? Koresh started fire to protect them.

Here are the notes I took when Jeff Guinn came to speak to our class. I think this was a great discussion and I learned a lot about the Waco incident. He gave me a signed copy of his book which I am happy about. Looking back, I think it was valuable that we discussed the Millerite Movement as it showed the connections and parallels that provided a deeper understanding.