Word: koresh
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Dates: during 1993-1993
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With Roden out of the way, Howell became undisputed leader of the Branch Davidians in Waco, completing their transition from congregation to cult. He and a few select followers began recruiting new members on trips around the U.S., Britain and Australia. In 1990 he changed his name legally to Koresh, Hebrew for Cyrus, the Persian king who allowed the Jews to return to Israel after their captivity in Babylon. His apocalyptic theology converged with secular survivalism, with its programs for hunkering down amid stockpiles of food and ammo to endure a nuclear holocaust or social collapse...
...Koresh began to preach that his followers should ready themselves for a final battle with unbelievers. The Waco settlement, once a collection of old cottages scattered around 78 acres of scrub pasture and woods, was consolidated into a compact fort the size of a city block. Having equipped it with an underground bunker and an armory -- adjacent to the chapel -- cult members discussed renaming the place Ranch Apocalypse. Federal agents began tracking frequent shipments of firepower that they say amounted to 8,000 lbs. of ammunition and enough parts to assemble hundreds of automatic and semiautomatic weapons. Some time...
...equip his flock psychologically for the battles to come, Koresh reportedly played and replayed videos of his favorite movies about the Vietnam War: Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Hamburger Hill. His followers prepared themselves physically with weight training, military-style drills and obstacle-course runs. To acquaint them with the experience of famine, their vegetarian diet was strictly rationed. Daily life was a harsh mix of work and Bible study. Men labored at construction around the compound, while modestly dressed women did household chores and schooled the children, who were rarely taken off the grounds. Television was forbidden, and children...
...Step by step, you give up everything in your life," says Lisa Gent, an Australian whose son Peter and daughter Nicole are believed to be with Koresh, as well as Nicole's two children who were fathered by Koresh. "You begin to live for a pat on the head," adds Lisa's husband Bruce. Ex-cult members warn that some Davidians would do anything for their leader. Australian James Thom recalls Koresh asking him one day, "How far are you prepared to go?" When Thom looked puzzled, Koresh asked, "Which of your two children are you prepared to sacrifice...
...Koresh had stricter rules for his flock than for himself. Beer, meat, air conditioning and MTV, taboo for others, were available to him. So were any of the female members, though the other men were quartered separately from the women and sworn to celibacy. Some of the women whom Koresh termed his wives were already married to male cult members. Others were perhaps as young as 11 or 12. "He was fixated with sex and with a taste for younger girls," says Marc Breault, who belonged to the group in 1988 and 1989. "He began to teach that...