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Rethinking Waco:
The Perspective of the Academic Study of Religion

by James D. Tabor
Associate Professor
Department of Religious Studies
University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Originally delivered before the Annual Meeting of the
American Academy of Religion in Washington, D.C.,
November 22, 1993.

Copyright March 1994 by James D. Tabor.
Permission is granted for non-commercial replication of or
excerpting from this material, provided that appropriate notice
is included of its copyright status, as above.

These materials also available from the ccat gopher, University of
Pennsylvania, follow these procedures:
telnet gopher.upenn.edu
select UPenn gophers
select ccat.sas

follow the menus -- for example
select CCAT Text Archives
select Religion
select Koresh MSS

=====

                 RETHINKING WACO:
THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF RELIGION


If any of you were able to attend or watch the Justice
Department's October 8th summary, mainly given by former
Assistant Attorney General Edward Dennis on the Waco incident,
and attended by Janet Reno toward the end, you would know that
they were asked repeatedly, "Aren't you afraid of a whitewash?
What about a whitewash?"  At one point the Attorney General
stated rather blatantly and dramatically: "We want the truth to
come out."

The reason I agreed to come up here today is because I want the
truth to come out.  I feel somewhat emotional and personal about
Waco.  I'm past saying that I'm merely sad.  Indeed I have moved
to more of a feeling of anger after reading the Justice
Department report and watching the presentation made on October
8th. Toward the end I will tell you more about just why I feel
such personal emotion. Some of the sharpest criticism in the
report comes from the two scholars on the outside panel who know
the most about the religious studies, Professor Nancy Ammerman of
Emory University and Professor Larry Sullivan of Harvard.  Yet
their incisive critique hasn't been covered by the media yet, and
no mention of their findings was made by Edward Dennis, who
claimed that no serious errors in judgment were made.  Please
read their documents for yourself.  They are devastating, even
blistering.  And that's why we're here.  Our focus is on the
question, was there another way?  Yes, there was another way, and
if fact, it was being pursued.

Edward Dennis presented what he called a coherent negotiation
strategy followed during the 51 day siege.  It had three steps:
(A) Convince the group that they were not in an apocalyptic
situation as they thought;  (B) Assure legal protection so that
the possibility of coming out could be implemented.  That
involved the strategy of letting the lawyers Dick DeGuerin and
Jack Zimmerman go in over a period of time during late March and
April.  And (C) Continue pressure techniques intended to divide
the group and sever loyalty to David Koresh, breaking down the
morale of those inside.  Obviously, A and B work well together,
while C is counterproductive.  Also, A and B were working, but
finally ignored, while C was followed and led to disaster.

On the whole, according to Dennis, the Waco situation was defined
as a CHBRS: that is, a Complex-Hostage-Barricade-Rescue
situation. It's not quite an acronym the way I said it, but you
can play around with that.

Well, I'm sorry but it wasn't that.  The Branch Davidians were a
devout religious community founded over 50 years ago.  They were
a church.  They took holy communion twice a day, morning and
evening; they spent much of their time studying the Bible.  It is
true that they held alternative, and I would say, for most of us,
rather bizarre religious convictions.  But they were capable of
articulately defending these Biblical views with a fair degree of
sophistication, based upon their world view.

Now former Assistant Attorney General Edward Dennis said on
October 8th that any speculation regarding the group coming out
was irresponsible.  I thought that was an amazing statement.
That is, we shouldn't even speculate -- that it would be
irresponsible.  This implies we should not even <e>evaluate</>
what might have been the case, had other courses been followed --
since this would be irresponsible!  Well, that is precisely what
I plan to do, and I consider it absolutely responsible to do so.
But actually what I have to say is not mere idle speculation.
People have asked me: "Why worry about what might have been?
Maybe we could learn some lessons, but it's over.  These Waco
people were a very strange.  They should have come out.  They
were stubborn.  Now they're dead. It's over.  Maybe we should
just forget it."

We also heard Edward Dennis say on October 8th, "How could
seemingly intelligent people pursue a course of insanity, mass
murder and suicide?" That's what he said.  President Clinton, on
the very day of the fire, said "The U.S. government is not to
blame.  If a bunch of religious fanatics decide to kill
themselves, what can we do?"  Then when he was further questioned
he said, "Well, there was child abuse.  We all know that he had
sex with minors, don't we?"  And all the reporters were looking
at each other:  Do we know that? I don't know that?  Do you know
that?  We've heard a lot of reports about that. Were there legal
charges?  What kind of country are we living in?  We all know
that he had sex with minors?

Let me give you a chronology, I guess you could call it what
might have been. What makes me angry is that David Koresh was
coming out.  We were a few days, up to a week or so, from getting
him out.  I'm absolutely persuaded.  This is not mere
speculation.  There was not a coherent negotiation strategy
because there was pressure and other kinds of things going on.
But what the lawyers were doing day by day, and they spent more
time with the group after the siege than anybody else; and what
Dr. Phillip Arnold and I were doing, day by day, in concert with
the lawyers from the religious side of things, was absolutely
working.  Listen to this chronology which you likely haven't
heard:

On March 4, Jeffrey Jamar who was the FBI agent in charge, was
asked, "When are they coming out?"  The answer, "David's stance
is that he's been told to wait." Told by whom we must ask?  Whom
does David listen to?  Does he listen to the loud speakers?  Does
he listen to recordings of rabbits being slaughtered?  "He's been
told to wait."  David operated in a religious framework.  Jamar
continued, "When he gets the message to stop waiting, then we'll
proceed from there.  He's still saying that he's going to come
out."  He also said the FBI had as much time as was needed and
would not provoke any violent action.

Now that's what we heard on March 4th.  What did we hear after
that?  Anything different?  The lawyers went in day after day and
what did they report over and over again?  "We've solved all the
legal problems.  He's coming out after Passover."  Now, how long
is Passover?  The FBI apparently thought it lasted one day.  Even
Jeffrey Jamar said on ABC's Nightline, the day of the fire, that
David kept changing the date of Passover each day.  Obviously,
he's not Jewish. The Passover celebration lasts for eight days.
David and his group began their Passover celebration on Tuesday
or Wednesday night, April 6th or 7th.  It was over a week later,
on Tuesday or Wednesday April 13th or 14th.   Jews around the
world were observing the same eight day cycle.  On Friday, April
2nd, the weekend before Passover, the lawyers came out after what
was supposed to be their last visit.  They were smiling.  They
held a press conference:  "It's all solved.  He's coming out and
after Passover we'll get the word."  They stressed that David had
to receive a clear sense from God of just how to implement his
desire to come out.

But on Sunday, April 4th, the suddenly lawyers went back in
again.  Why?  The media reported that they had some important
religious information that they said they were carrying -- that was
the last time they saw David Koresh.  I emphasize again, this was
April 4th, the Sunday before Passover.   What they took in was
recorded material Dr. Arnold and I had given them in response to
David's Biblical and apocalyptic interpretations of the Book of
Revelation.  Our efforts were working beautifully, just as we had
hoped.  The FBI knew all about it these efforts.  You can read
Nancy Ammerman's report, she covers this.  I don't think they
bothered to listen to our final tape and really try to follow
precisely <e>what</> we were saying, what our strategy was,
because they said in their logs about that time that "We're tired
of Bible babble.  We want to get on with it -- get on with getting
them out."  The problem, of course, is that this so-called "Bible
babble," was actually quite coherent and meaningful, and it was
the <e>only</> way to communicate with David.

Anyway, what happened on April 14th, the day after Passover, just
four days before the fire?  Think about this.  Four days, it's on
a Wednesday, April 14th. Prompt as clockwork the day after
Passover, David sends out a letter, which turned out to be his
final formal communication to the outside world.  He says -- and
remember, he's been waiting for the word from God that he says he
has to have in order to come out -- "I've got the word.  Here it
is."  A two page letter, he released it to the world.  What does
it say?  "I am free of my waiting period. I'm coming out.  I am
presently being permitted to document in structured form the
decoded message of the Seven Seals."  Notice the language
carefully.  Anyone who knows anything about religion and the
dynamics of the charismatic religious leader would understand
that this language was to be taken very seriously.  He says, "I
am being <e>permitted</>."  We can speculate that David was a
criminal, a mere con man, cloaking his evil motives under a
religious garb, as the FBI repeatedly said.  But I am personally
of the opinion that David Koresh was absolutely sincere in his
beliefs.  Indeed, that is what made the situation so explosive.
I know the Branch Davidian people were absolutely sincere.  Dr.
Arnold and I have spent many hours interviewing them, both before
and since the fire.  These are convicted religious people who
find their views in the Bible.  David goes on to say, "I've been
praying so long for this opportunity.  As soon as I've been given
over to the hands of men (notice this language, it's actually
rather subtle and brilliant) I know that I will be made a
spectacle of, and people will be concerned, not about my message,
the truth of God, but the bizarreness of me in the flesh."  He
knew that.  He knew everyone would want to know about the stories
of sex with minors, and all the other bizarre things that had
been reported about him and the group.  But he said that what's
important is the message of the Seven Seals -- to get this out. His
word from God was that he would be permitted to <e>write</> the
message out.  We all heard about this new turn of events.  The
lawyers, along with Dr. Arnold and I, were elated.  The FBI
reacted by merely making fun of David.

Listen to this -- the letter continues.  Here are the last lines,
the last public words of David Koresh:  "As soon as I can see
that people like Jim Tabor and Phil Arnold have a copy of the
manuscript, I will come out and you can do your thing with this
beast."  [I can explain what this language about the "beast"
means later if you want to get into the theology.]  Koresh was
obviously responding positively and consistently to the materials
we had presented, which all dealt with him coming out, but used
Biblical interpretations and language -- what the FBI called "Bible
babble."  Also notice, this very letter makes it clear that he
didn't think he was God.  He says he thanks his heavenly Father
for this opportunity, this permission, to write the message of
the Seven Seals.  You see, in the book of Revelation the seer is
told not to write the secrets of the book.  For David, this was a
very great event -- it could now be written.  Did the FBI seriously
analyze the letter?  If so, how could Edward Dennis end the
Justice Department press conference on October 8th by saying, "In
the final analysis there is simply little one can do with someone
who thinks he is God."  Koresh didn't think he was God.  What
does he mean when he says,  "I thank my heavenly Father."  Who
was that?  Koresh didn't even think he was Jesus Christ.  He
thought he was a Christ, that is, an anointed one, based on
Isaiah 45:1-3 and Psalm 40 and 45 -- look it up.  These are not
references to Jesus Christ.  Further, if he thought he was Jesus
why would the Branch Davidians take communion twice a day to
remember the heavenly work of Christ?  These statements alone
make it clear that people at the highest Federal levels still do
not understand these people as a religious community, nor do they
comprehend their most basic beliefs.  And this is after the so-
called, "thorough" investigation. This final letter from Koresh
is coherent and consistent, and it fits perfectly with what FBI
agent Jeff Jamar had said weeks before -- David will not come out
until he gets his word from God.

So, on April 14th, just four days before the fire, David says,
"I've got the word, I'm coming out."  The lawyers said just
before Passover that all the legal obstacles to their coming out
were solved.  David was to report his "word from God" after
Passover.  The day after Passover he releases this letter saying
he is coming out.  So, what happened?  This was on Wednesday.
David says, "I'm working on a manuscript."   The FBI only made
fun of him:  "We don't know how long it will take a high school
dropout to write a book."  They took this as merely one more
delay tactic, which shows they had not carefully followed our
efforts, nor had they ever taken David's main claim seriously --
his ability to expound the meaning of the Seven Seals.  Over the
next day or two they said they had evidence he was not even
working on the manuscript.

Well we now know David, true to his word, did go to work on his
manuscript that very weekend.  It was highly important to him,
the most important thing he had ever tried to do.  A copy of his
work survived the fire on a computer disk carried out by his
typist, Ruth Riddle.  We released it to <p>Newsweek</> and other
media last week.  It's quite a substantial piece of work.  It
would run about 26 pages double spaced.  The content is rather
intriguing and it explains a lot about David's beliefs and even
his attitude toward the Waco standoff situation.  It is coherent,
logical, and quite moving to read.  It's what David lived,
breathed, and died for.  What did he mainly claim?  He said he
had been given the secret, the message of the Seven Seals.  David
completed his work on the first seal that Sunday night.  We've
reconstructed the chronology. He worked until around 9:00 pm.
Let me read to you the last few lines of the surviving
manuscript.  Keep in mind that this was written the night before
the fire.  He first quotes the Scripture.  Remember, to David,
these texts of Scripture were everything.  He felt he had to
follow them.  He quotes Joel 2, verse 15. "Assemble the
congregation.  Gather the children.  Let the bride come out of
her closet."  That's his quote.  What does it mean to him?  It's
a message that it's time to come out.  And then he offers his
commentary: "Should we not eagerly ourselves be ready to accept
his truth?"  What truth?  The truth that he was now seeing in the
Scriptures, namely, that they are to "Come out of our closet and
be revealed to the world as those who loved Christ in truth and
righteousness."

His point is obvious.  It was as if he were saying, "We've been
made fun of; we've been maligned.  I've been called a child
molester and a sex pervert -- everything in the book.  It is time
to come out and let the world hear our true message and know we
are faithful servants of Christ."  He was coming out.  But he
wasn't coming out without a message -- to be strapped and chained,
pushed and cajoled and made fun of.  He was coming out.  What he
was saying was this: "Do what you want with me, but read what I
have to say."

He was coming out.  So what were the last words of David Koresh?
Sunday night, around 9:00 pm: "Let's come out of our closet and
face the world."  We have interviewed the typist who typed this
for Phil.  She reports that David was pleased with his progress
on the First Seal that evening, and planned to continue work
through the next week.  The group was pleased with him, there was
a joyful spirit of hope among them.  They had finally gotten
their word from God, and things were moving along nicely with
David's writing.  They knew that if he finished the First Seal in
one day, on that Sunday, and the First Seal was was the longest
one, then they might be out in a week to ten days.

So that's the truth folks.  The attack on April 19th was totally
unnecessary, ill-timed, and ignored the most important thing of
all -- David's absolute insistence for 51 days that he had to
follow the instructions of God.  What happened April 19th?
David's world view hadn't changed.  He felt that God was allowing
him to write this manuscript and that he was supposed to then
come out and face trial as Jesus had, and as others had, which is
one of the points we had presented to him on our tapes.  We had
pleaded that he come out and face trial so that the truth could
come out.  The apostle Paul went to prison. Others went to
prison.  David was ready to do just that, as he plainly said a
few days before.  The important thing for him now  was to get the
message out. Writing the manuscript was not a delay tactic, it is
what he had to do before they exited, so the message would be
clear, no matter what happened to them as individuals.  And
that's exactly what he was doing.  He was following a scenario, a
script that he believed that God had laid out for him.

But when the attack came that morning -- all hope of writing the
message ceased. Who can write manuscript with tanks crashing into
the walls of ones home?  The dynamics of biblical apocalypticism
are that you read the text, the Script.  You then try to figure
out exactly what is going to happen.  He had become convinced
that he was to come out and go on trial and vindicate the group
in the eyes of the world with this manuscript.  He saw this in
Joel 2 and other texts.  That was his scenario.  He was
<e>bound</> to follow it.  That's why it is not idle or
irresponsible speculation to say David was coming out.  In fact
it is the most responsible reading of the situation, once one
takes seriously David's religious worldview, as all the religious
studies experts have faulted the FBI as failing to do.

Monday morning when they began crashing into that place with all
the horror that we're still hearing it was obviously impossible
that the book be written. [Just this past Monday there were some
new reports over the AP wire that the children were crushed by
falling debris caused by the tanks crashing into the structure --
even before the fire started in the bunker area.  This raises the
possibility that some of the children were killed directly by the
government actions.]  So, what must have been going through
David's mind at that point?  He was forced to conclude, because
of this violent initiative by the government, that they were in
the Fifth Seal after all.  This is the place in the Bible that
Dr. Arnold and I tried to convince David did not have to be
fulfilled at this time, in Waco.  It says that the rest of the
group will die.  Since he he was writing the manuscript, he had
given up the notion that the Fifth Seal had to come to pass at
this point.  Now, through the government action, it was the only
possibility once again.  This Fifth Seal speaks of a number of
God's servants being killed, then waiting a "little season,"
followed by the rest of the group dying.

The events, the external attacks said to him, "I guess God is not
going to permit me to write the manuscript and come out after
all."

I'm sorry I'm rather emotional about this, as is obvious from my
voice.  I'll tell you why.  I came to love these people.  You
talk to  someone like Catherine Mattison, 77 years old, living in
the Brittany Hotel down in Waco.  She is one of the Branch
Davidian survivors.  She said, "I've been a member of this group
for 35 years."  She reminds one of a typical devout "grandmother"
figure.  She has a large black Bible with every page underlined
and marked.  I am sure she could hold her own in Biblical
discussions with anybody.  She has her views and she can defend
them.  Think of it, thirty five years in this group, before even
David Koresh was born.  She says, "If David had done all of those
nasty things, do you think I would have stood for this.  I would
have told him off and left the group long ago."   And she talks
about her affection for him.  She said he was the most mature and
selfless man she had ever known.  I came to love those people.
They were dear, sweet souls,  a very good people, "heart of the
earth," types, much like the type of Bible-believing people I
grew up with in the South.

If they were guilty of criminal activity, then fine, let's follow
legal procedures and have a trial.  If they were guilty of any
crimes, let's follow a course of law.  But if you go in the way
the Federal government did, both on February 28th, April 19th,
and for 50 days inbetween, the results are going to be absolutely
horrible.  It was a massacre.

How did the fire start?  I don't know.  But I do know that David
was coming out.  Surely no one can say that as he worked busily
on his manuscript on Sunday night, the evening before the fire,
that he actually was planning to burn the place down the next
day and kill everyone.  This is absurd.  The actions of the
government directly led to the disaster.  That is a fact.

There was a serious lack of communication.  Somehow over the
weekend, in Washington, it was decided to go ahead.  Attorney
General Reno now admits that she was not given factual
information about the so-called child abuse, yet she said the day
of the fire that this was the main reason they could not wait.
We also learn that she backed off at one point, said they would
not go in, then changed her mind.  There is no evidence that she
was even told what I have presented today.  Did the FBI stress to
her that the lawyers, who spent the most time with the group in
face to face dialogue, and had really gotten to know David, had
concluded that everything was set for David to come out?  Was she
told that the two biblical scholars who had communicated with
David had gotten a highly positive response which also supported
the idea that he was coming out? And most important, was she told
that even as they were conferring, David Koresh was hard at work
on his promised manuscript?  Was she shown the letter David wrote
on April 14th?  If not, why not?  Who is at fault here?

Let me end with this quote: "There's no place for blame," said
former Assistant Attorney General Dennis.  "There were no gross
errors in judgment.  We used patience, restraint and
understanding."  Surely not informing the Attorney General of
these matters, and staying the course for another week to or two,
when events were so positively unfolding, was a serious and gross
error in judgment.  Is that a whitewash or what?  It really
angers me.  Those people are dead now, and they didn't need to
die.

//end//