THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508100678
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY JEREMIAH J.A. CRONIN
LENGTH: Long : 137 lines
WHY WACO?
Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America
JAMES D. TABOR AND EUGENE V. GALLAGHER
University of California Press. 252 pp. $24.95.
THE ASHES OF WACO
An Investigation
DICK J. REAVIS
Simon & Schuster. 320 pp. $24.
Like the Good Book itself, the 51-day siege that ended in fire at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, has become a mirror. Each group that tells the story sees its own agenda in the glass.
To advocates of the Second Amendment, it is an example of a government gone mad in restricting gun rights; to the religious right, a lesson in the dangers of cults; to a Republican-controlled Congress, an embarrassment for a Democratic administration to be played up at election time. Like David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, all groups purport to hold the ``truth,'' and all should be looked upon with a skeptical eye.
Two books have recently been added to the flood of words surrounding this tragedy. But unlike the rush-to-market tabloid-style thrillers that have gone before, these books are the result of thoughtful investigation and a desire to present a balanced view.
In The Ashes of Waco, Dallas journalist Dick J. Reavis argues that the story has been manipulated by the government and there is much more to tell. Why Waco?, by religion professors James D. Tabor and Eugene V. Gallagher, advances the theory that the siege would have ended differently had the federal government understood the religious framework of the Davidians. To them, Waco bodes poorly for the larger picture of religious freedom and tolerance in the United States.
Reavis paints a picture of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms trying to boost its image before budget hearings by executing a Hollywood-style raid on a target not likely to arouse sympathy from the American public - an armed religious cult in a place called Waco. To ensure documentation of a job well done, the bureau arranged for the press to attend the happening and assigned agents to film the assault. In the excitement of the raid, however, someone fired shots and a firefight broke out, wounding and killing residents of the Davidian compound and federal agents.
Once blood was spilled, each side retreated into a self-created role it understood and thought it could exercise. The ATF called in the FBI to handle a hostage/barricade situation. Koresh and the Davidians started to prepare their souls for a final stand against Babylon and the end of the world. Each had a very different view of successful resolution.
Reavis points out several items that cause wonder and concern. While not condoning any of the illegal acts committed by Koresh - including polygamy, alleged manufacture of automatic weapons and sexual relations with minors - he implies that the government's style of enforcing the applicable laws was not reasonable. From the start of the warrant process, when the ATF created a dubious drug connection to circumvent restrictions on using the military, to the initial raid, when there was no preparation for a peaceful execution of the warrant, the government appears to have decided on its version of the story and manipulated or manufactured the data to support its actions.
Of particular interest to Reavis is the disappearance of evidence and sources of information. He notes, for example, that a metal front door, which would have shown whether the shots were fired into or out of the compound when the ATF first approached, is now missing. The government surmises that it ``melted'' during the blaze. Reavis finds this questionable as the left front door still had its paint intact and had suffered no smoke damage.
Reavis also presents vivid details of governmental behavior during and after the siege. As in Panama, the United States conducted psychological warfare against the barricaded occupants. As in the Gulf War, the government managed the press to eliminate embarrassing information. As in World War II, it employed propaganda to paint the adversaries as worthy of American contempt. While these are all legitimate techniques when employed in the proper circumstances, they are ethically dubious when they are used to recover from a botched job of grandstanding. When they create circumstances that lead to needless death, they become morally repulsive.
James Tabor, of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, worked with the FBI and the two lawyers who represented the Branch Davidians during the siege. His task was to try to develop a Bible-based strategy to get Koresh and his followers to surrender peacefully. Tabor and his Why Waco? co-author Gallagher believe that this strategy was starting to work: Koresh had announced his desire to come out after he had written his explanation for the seven seals. But the FBI dismissed this decision as more ``Bible babble'' and was not willing to wait.
The Davidians believe the ``Apocalypse'' portion of the Book of Revelation to be the key to understanding the remainder of the Bible. Koresh's claim to be a Christ, or an anointed one, was based upon his ability to interpret the seals and hence the entire Bible. That he decided to entrust Tabor and Philip Arnold of Houston's Reunion Institute with disseminating this capstone of his teaching is an indication of the regard he held for them. Koresh's unfinished manuscript is included as an appendix to Why Waco? and makes for dry but interesting reading.
Tabor and Gallagher decry the U.S. government's omission of religion in its attempted resolution of the siege. They repeatedly point out that the FBI considered Koresh's talk of religion to be Bible babble and an avoidance of the real issues at hand. What the FBI never comprehended was that Bible babble was at the core of the Davidians' existence, and that any resolution of the siege would have to square with their beliefs. For the authors, such a resolution was possible and was beginning to take shape when the fires began.
Why Waco? begins with descriptions of the siege events and the Davidian belief system. It ends with very astute observations on the religious culture of the United States and how the emotions of the country were played upon to justify actions by the government that never should have taken place in a civil society. Tabor and Gallagher rightly state: ``The specific religious or ideological commitments of the perpetrators should be irrelevant to the process of assessing the legal status of their actions.''
The government played both sides of the logic fence here. During the siege stage, agents executed a rescue of followers being held hostage by a mind-controlling, child-abusing, sexual madman. Koresh's followers were obviously unable to think for themselves or else they would have left on their own. When it came time to try 11 of the survivors, however, these same thoughtless sheep became co-conspirators in a plot to ambush federal agents.
The Ashes of Waco takes a different but complementary approach to the same story. Why Waco? uses the events as a preamble to musings on religious freedom, seeking to show why the government and society did what they did. Ashes plays the events in stop-motion, covering both the history of Koresh and the siege/fire in greater detail. It leads the reader to question, ``Why did my government act in this fashion?''
The sad truth about Waco is that neither the government nor the Branch Davidians were on the side of the angels. But the government, the agent of the people, bears the greater burden of acting properly. Why Waco? and The Ashes of Waco paint very troubling pictures of what is being done in America's name. While we may not agree with the different philosophies of the special interests who use this event to further their agendas, we are forced to admit that they make some very disturbing points. MEMO: Jeremiah J.A. Cronin is an environmental consultant and a graduate of
the FBI hostage negotiation school. He lives in Norfolk. by CNB