Word: waco
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...enough that the murderous ravings of David Koresh and his apocalyptic religious cult have turned into a terrible human tragedy. There seems to be a great desire to turn it into a cultural statement. The siege at Waco has occasioned a worldwide festival of commentary -- and condescension -- on the subject of American primitivism. An Israeli TV interviewer asked me to explain to his audience why it is that America seems to throw up these weird religious cults at such regular intervals. I pointed out that Israel sports the Ateret Hacohanim, a group of believers so convinced of the imminence...
...tutting about American primitivism mixes easily with that other sport, eye rolling about religious primitivism. You know: There go those religious nuts again. In keeping with a popular culture that gives serious religion no attention but devotes endless prime time to crooked, hypocritical and otherwise deformed religiosity, the Waco wackos are getting more coverage in a week than religion does in a year...
...apocalypse recedes. Yet its fascination endures. It is fine to look down one's nose at Waco. But Bible-thumping psychopaths hold no monopoly on belief in the End. Before casting stones at the easy targets, a secular society might reflect on its own ample appetite for apocalypse...
Strange tales filtered out of the 78-acre compound of the Branch Davidian cult near Waco, Texas, but reports of possible mass suicide spurred a surprise assault on Sunday by the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Prepared, cult members killed four feds and wounded 16. During the ensuing week of siege, leader David Koresh got radio time but reneged on his promise to surrender afterward. Of 140 in the compound, he allowed 23 to leave; they had reportedly seen 10 dead inside. ATF and FBI agents prepared for a long stakeout: the Davidians are said...
...Waco Drama: Inside the mind of David Koresh...