Research Catalog

Title

From the ashes : making sense of Waco / James R. Lewis, editor.

Publication

Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield, c1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Lewis, James R.

Description

xvi, 269 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

In 45 short essays aimed at a broad audience, the contributors to From the Ashes place the Branch Davidians in historical and comparative perspective with nontraditional religions, analyze the government's handling of the Waco confrontation, assess the media's coverage and public response, and provide an overview of responses from the academic and religious community. Although the contributors represent a wide variety of viewpoints, they are united in the belief that the 89 deaths could have been avoided and that the popular demonization of nontraditional religious movements in the aftermath of Waco represents a continuing threat to freedom of religion.

Subject

• 1993
• Branch Davidians
• Koresh, David, 1959-1993
• Waco Branch Davidian Disaster, Tex., 1993

Genre/Form

Essays.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Part I. Introductory essays -- The crime of piety : Wounded Knee to Waco / Chas S. Clifton -- Misinterpreting religious commitment / Timothy Miller -- Tailhook and Waco : a commentary / Franklin H. Littell -- Part II. Understanding the Branch Davidians -- The Waco tragedy : an autobiographical account of one attempt to avert disaster / James D. Tabor -- The Davidian dilemma : to obey God or man? / J. Phillip Arnold -- The Davidian tradition / Bill Pitts -- Part III. Millennialism and the Waco confrontation -- Reflections after Waco : millennialists and the state / Michael Barkun -- The millennial dream / Jeffrey Kaplan -- Varieties of millennialism and the issue of authority / Catherine Wessinger -- Part IV. Law enforcement and tactical assessments -- Cult label made Waco violence inevitable / Robert C. Hicks -- What went wrong in Waco? : poor planning, bad tactics result in botched raid / Col. Charlie Beckwith -- Killed by semantics : or was it a keystone kop kaleidoscope kaper? / Moorman Oliver, Jr. -- Showdown at the Waco corral : ATF cowboys shoot themselves in the foot / James R. Lewis -- Misguided tactics contributed to apocalypse in Waco / Stuart A. Wright -- Part V. Mass suicide? -- Excavating Waco / Susan J. Palmer -- Who started the fires? : mass murder, American style / R.W. Bradford -- Fanning the flames of suspicion : the case against mass suicide at Waco / James R. Lewis -- Part VI. The role of the anti-cult movement -- The mythology of cults / David G. Bromley -- "Cults, ", "mind control," and the state / Thomas Robbins and Dick Anthony -- The cult awareness network : its role in the Waco tragedy / Andrew Milne -- Part VII. Dynamics and impact of the media -- The media and new religious movements / James A. Beckford -- Television and metaphysics at Waco / Constance A. Jones and George Baker -- Waco and the war of the worlds : media fantasy and modern reality / I. Lamar Maffett -- Part VIII. Polygamy and accusations of child abuse -- A more righteous seed : a comparison of polygamy among the Branch Davidians and the fundamentalist Mormons / Martha Sonntag Bradley -- Who committed child abuse at Waco? / Larry Lilliston -- Suffer the little children / George Robertson -- Part IX. Academic reflections -- Lessons from Waco : when will we ever learn? / James T. Richardson -- Why did Waco happen? / Larry D. Shinn -- Reflections on the Waco disaster : trying to make sense of insane events / Charles L. Harper -- Deconstructing Waco / Michael York -- Did the G-men sleep through SOC 100? / William H. Swatos, Jr. -- Reflections on the tragedy at Waco / Thomas McGowan -- How future Wacos might be avoided : two proposals / Phillip Lucas -- Sticks'n stones may break your bones but words CAN really hurt you / Evelyn Dorothy Oliver -- Part X. Selected responses -- Christian holocaust / The family of Floyd Houtman, Branch Davidian -- Open season on messiahs? / Dean M. Kelley -- Waco probe should not be used to define religion / Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs -- A new religious movement's response to the Waco tragedy / The family -- Church universal and triumphant not like Branch Davidians / Murray Steinman, press release -- FBI uses "cults" as bait / Phyllis Goldberg -- Waco : Bill Clinton's Bay of Pigs / Eldridge Cleaver-- Part XI. Selected letters to public officials -- Letter James Dunn and Dean M. Kelly to President Clinton -- Letter from Dean M. Kelly to Donald Edwards -- Letter from Laura Murphy Lee to Jack Brooks -- Letter from Edward C. Lehman, Jr. to Janet Reno -- Letter from Larry Shinn to Donald Edwards -- Epilogue : A fiery ending / J. Gordon Melton.

ISBN

• 0847679152 (cloth : alk. paper)
• 0847679144 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^^93048400^

OCLC

29548237

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library