Summary: Rejuvenation Of Right Wing Terrorism

Rejuvenation of Right Wing Terrorism: Branch Davidian Compound

The Branch Davidians began with a man named Victor Houteff, who in 1929 was shunned from a Los Angeles Seventh-Day Adventist church for sharing contradictory views with other church members. Houteff saw himself as a self-proclaimed messenger of God and responded to his expulsion by crystallizing his contradictory views in “The Shepherd’s Rod Vol. 1 and 2”. The purpose of his first book was to reveal the truth and bring about a reformation of God’s people, but the second volume represented a symbolic revelation of the world’s history, both civil and religious. Houteff’s theology was based on his books, hence, the first name of his flock- the Shepherd’s Rod Seventh-day Aventists (Christian research institute, 2009).
In 1935 Houteff led 12 of his followers to Mt. Carmel, Texas to set up a makeshift gathering place for…show more content…
David Koresh like other terrorist leaders believed that he was chosen by God or a higher power to teach of the wrong doings by the government, against society. Along with the teachings came preparation for the battles that would ensue. It has been rumored that the massacre at Branch Davidian Compound was the reason Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah U.S. government building.

References

ATF raids Branch Davidian compound — History.com This Day in History — 2/28/1993. (n.d.). Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/atf-raids-branch-davidian-compound
Christian research institute (2009, April 14). The Branch Davidians - Christian Research Institute. Retrieved August 27, 2013, from http://www.equip.org/articles/the-branch-davidians/
Melton, J. G. (n.d.). Branch Davidian (religious organization) -- Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from