Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1996, page 66
Prophets of the Apocalypse: David Koresh and Other American Messiahs.
Kenneth R. Samples, Erwin M. de Castro, Richard Abanes, &Robert J. Lyle. Baker
Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994, 222 pages.
The authors' stated goal is to present information about David Koresh and the Branch
Davidians and to show readers the dangers of religious cults that "overemphasize subjective
religious experience, spiritualize issues to justify their actions, make confusing and inflated
promises of fellowship, manipulate through emotion rather than substance, and encourage
others to 'just believe' rather than think critically." This they have done and a lot more.
The book begins with a very successful attempt to describe and offer explanations for the
seemingly incomprehensible behavior and beliefs of David Koresh and his followers. It
concludes by anticipating readers' questions about the historical origins of this group and
how it and other American-based cults can be placed in the larger social context of
American culture. The 70-page appendix is also worthy of attention. This book has a lot
going for it. It covers an enormous amount of territory in a language that is free of
academic jargon and thus easy to read. It is also impressive in its ability to discuss immoral,
unethical, and violent acts in a manner that does not sensationalize. This in itself is
praiseworthy.
By examining the life and personality of David Koresh, this book admirably succeeds in
helping us understand both Koresh's desire, and his subsequent ability, to take over the
leadership of a Branch Davidian group. We watch him create a renewed sense of purpose in
the members and gradually go on to create what appears to be the textbook cultic
conditions which could and ultimately did lead to the devastating suicide-murders of cult
followers and their leaders, this time outside of Waco, Texas, in 1993.
The book's power lies in the authors' choice to describe Koresh's group at the micro rather
than macro level. We are given concrete events and individual anecdotes gathered by the
authors through in-depth interviews with survivors and through quotes from Koresh's
speeches. This encourages the reader to get inside the minds and hearts of particular
individuals within the group and we slowly begin to understand on a visceral level how one
could be seduced and manipulated into such an extreme cultic relationship with a leader.
We feel the pressure and the control we experience the abuse and the fear but like
Koresh's victims we also experience the attraction and the appeal of Koresh, of his
charisma, and of the community spirit of the group. This book is a testament to the idea
that to understand the most bizarre cultic behavior one must not begin by examining the
end result but rather begin at the beginning and understand the gradual, progressive
changes in members' relationship to each other and to their leader. Reading this book, you
can feel their developing dependence, the slow undermining of critical facilities, the
progressive erosion of self-preservation instincts, the evolving transformation of individuals
from seekers of a more healthy and charitable Christian life to those capable of child abuse,
sexual exploitation, and violence to please a leader and adhere to his doctrine.
To the credit of the authors, the reader is also introduced to the development of the
personality of a cult leader. We watch a young man named Vernon Wayne Howell who in
searching for answers becomes David Koresh and develops into a dogmatic, power-hungry,
egotistical demagogue, incapable of accepting any negative feedback about his decisions
and thus able to act unchecked on his perversions.
For those familiar with the social-psychological dynamics that produced Jim Jones and
Jonestown, the resemblance is uncannily eerie. Although the origins of the Peoples Temple
and the Branch Davidians were different, the perverted dynamics of cultic power were
identical and produced similar results. Jones's group originated with him, while Koresh took
over a previously formed rather complacent group from the leadership of an older woman

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1996, page 67
whom he seduced. Through the use of mind-control techniques, he then revitalized the
group's energy by creating the now-familiar dynamics of elitism and end-time fantasies.
Koresh claimed an adolescent girl as a wife, moving on to bigamy, then to polygamy, and,
again reminiscent of Jones, ultimately declaring the marriages of his followers a sin and all
women as his. One cannot but be struck by the almost cookie-cutter mold from which the
most destructive cult leaders tend to come and the similar power-hungry, unethical,
immoral choices they make, unleashing their perversions on their followers and creating
doctrines to justify such abusive behavior.
All elements common to extremist cults are revealed to have been present in Koresh's
group including resistance by followers to his outrageous demands. But, in predictable cultic
fashion, the resultant threats and creation of fears in members discouraged further
vocalization of such criticisms and undermined desires to act on such thoughts. Fortunately
these stories by survivors bear testament to the fact that mind control is never total. Thus,
as a result of inner soul searching and often with the help of outsiders, many Davidians
succeeded in breaking away from the control of Koresh. It is their stories that form the
content of this part of the book.
The second part of the book is a fascinating overview of the roots of the Branch Davidians.
We are led through relevant American religious history, beginning with William Millers's
Millerites in the early 1800s. Miller's erroneous prediction of the end of the world on October
22, 1844, caused disillusioned followers to leave and many splinter groups to form. Some of
these coalesced into the Seventh Day Adventists in 1860, with Ellen G. White as their
unofficial leader. After her death in 1915, her legacy of the "spirit of prophecy" was
maintained by Victor Tasho Houteff. He broke from the Seventh Day Adventists and formed
that people can avoid being exploited. They argue that this type of education is necessary
and crucial. This book goes a long way toward contributing to that goal. For the cult novice
and the expert alike, Prophets of the Apocalypse should be read and take its place on your
bookshelf.
Linda James, M.A.
Professor of Psychology
Vanier College
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Take Me for a Ride: Coming of Age in a Destructive Cult. Mark Laxer. Outer
Rim Press (4431 Lehigh Road, #221 College Park, MD 20740), 1993, 192 pages.
“One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo‟s nest.” This children‟s poem begins
Mark Laxer‟s autobiographical account of what happened during his seven years under the
influence of a cult leader and Laxer‟s subsequent years of recovery from the experience.
The cult of Rama (Frederick Lenz) began in the late 1970s when Lenz was yet a recruiter for
Sri Chinmoy, a controversial Indian meditation guru. Under Chinmoy, Lenz, known as
Atmananda for nearly 11 years, may have been Chinmoy‟s top recruiter. During that time
Lenz received his Ph.D. in English Literature, but his interests seemed to be more directed
toward seeking devotees than novels and plays. Laxer became one of Atmananda‟s closest
students and remained with him for a couple of years after Atmananda became Rama in
1983. Laxer broke with his guru only after his growing awareness that Lenz was more a
confidence artist than a true mystic became too much to ignore.
By the time Laxer left Rama‟s group, it had grown to several hundred students. In Laxer‟s
opinion, Lenz had diminished from enlightened teacher to a greedy and paranoid womanizer
who used religious themes and experiences to manipulate his students. Laxer no longer
believed that taking LSD with Lenz had any benefit. The drug experience merely left him