Aidan Marsh Ms. Murray English 11 07 March 2024 The Sinful Messiah On February 28, 1993 the FBI and ATF had a 51 day stand with the Branch Davidian cult whose leader married a 12-year-old girl, his name was David Koresh. Koresh had been sexually assaulting women and children in his cult. The Branch Davidian cult was very dangerous and had a wide variety of beliefs and leaders that eventually caused the government to raid their compound in the early 90s. The Branch Davidians have had many leaders throughout their existence, starting with Ben Roden and ending with David Koresh, many of these leaders had different ideas on what Branch Davidians should focus on. Ben Roden, who founded the Branch Davidians in 1955, bought a 77-acre property just
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The Branch Davidian religion is a spinoff of Christianity in some ways, like Christ returning to earth to save humankind. But after Ben Roden passed away in 1978, the branch got a new leader. When Ben died his wife Lois took over and aligned herself with a young bible teacher, Vernon Howell who eventually became leader (Yeaman). “Howell perpetuated many distinct Davidian traditions, including an authoritarian leader, communal life separate from society, and the anticipation of the imminent end of the world.” (Yeaman). Howell even changed his name to David Koresh in 1990 to fulfill the role of the Messiah and take down enemies of God. Previous leaders before Koresh were mainly pacifist, but Koresh was the opposite. David began stockpiling weaponry and ammo in his compound to defend his faithful Branch Davidians (Yeaman). Many people believe that the Branch Davidians were always a violent group of people preparing for the end of the world, but they only became violent under David Koresh’s leadership. Past leaders were pacifists and didn’t hurt a
The Branch Davidian religion is a spinoff of Christianity in some ways, like Christ returning to earth to save humankind. But after Ben Roden passed away in 1978, the branch got a new leader. When Ben died his wife Lois took over and aligned herself with a young bible teacher, Vernon Howell who eventually became leader (Yeaman). “Howell perpetuated many distinct Davidian traditions, including an authoritarian leader, communal life separate from society, and the anticipation of the imminent end of the world.” (Yeaman). Howell even changed his name to David Koresh in 1990 to fulfill the role of the Messiah and take down enemies of God. Previous leaders before Koresh were mainly pacifist, but Koresh was the opposite. David began stockpiling weaponry and ammo in his compound to defend his faithful Branch Davidians (Yeaman). Many people believe that the Branch Davidians were always a violent group of people preparing for the end of the world, but they only became violent under David Koresh’s leadership. Past leaders were pacifists and didn’t hurt a