April 21, 2003

A PARENTING LESSON FROM WACO

The other night I watched the Prime Time documentary marking the tenth anniversary of the tragedy at Waco, in which Federal agents were attempting to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, but were unable to control events. The result was that 86 or more people, including two dozen children, died in a fire that destroyed the organization’s compound buildings.

The producers of the program chose an interesting approach. They brought together seven young people whose parents had died in the blaze and discussed the events from their perspective. These survivors are all now in their teens and early twenties, some in college, some in high school.

The interviewer explored with the young people how they perceived the Branch Davidian cult from the inside. Some had known no other life. Their memories ranged from warm, secure family experiences, to rigid structure and harsh discipline. All of them had a fear of the world beyond the compound and saw every outsider as a threat and potential enemy. They expected armed conflict soon and believed they would die as martyrs, to be raised up afterward and rewarded in heaven. One girl told of how she had been presented by her mother to Koresh as his newest wife when she was an eleven-year-old.

The interviewer then took the seven through the events that led to the violent deaths of their parents. They seemed strangely detached as they experienced this, as if what was happening was only what they expected. Yet, every one of them expressed great love for their parents and empathy for the tragic choices they were making.

There was considerable discussion about the seven young people’s psychological and social journey since then. All of them had gone through some sort of adjustment problems, although I was impressed that they seemed to be surprisingly emotionally healthy for what they’d been through. All of them had unresolved issues with the Federal government as to whether other, less-violent means could have ended the standoff.

What disappointed me was that my most pressing question was not addressed at all: what did these young people now believe? Were any of them still Branch Davidians? Had some become atheists because of these events? Were some evangelical Christians? How did they view God?

I’m very curious about this because it relates to us and how we raise our kids. When a child is brought up in a tight, closed belief-system, what happens when that belief-system is threatened by ideas or events?

Let me give you a personal example. I was raised in an evangelical church that believed in the Bible as God’s undeniable Word. I was also taught to believe that those who were saved were called out of the world, and that the world was the enemy of faith. The wisdom of this world was in conflict with God’s wisdom, and, therefore, I had to be very wary about what I learned in books or in the public school. All this sounds kind of “Branch Davidian.”

Early in life I became fascinated with living things, especially animals. I read everything I could about zoos, jungles, animal behavior, scientific studies. Of course, I bumped into evolution. My father tried to help me by introducing me to Christian writings on the subject, all of which were anti-evolutionary. This often meant that they were also antagonistic to science itself.

When I went to a secular university, I knew I would be in for it, and I had my dukes up. But my biology lecturer hit me below the belt when he announced:
“I know some of you come from Christian homes where you were taught that evolution and the Bible are enemies. Well, I want you to know that I too am a Christian; and I believe in evolution. In fact, I believe that evolution is not a theory—it’s a law.”
I didn’t sleep much that night.

How I handled this attack on the compound of my belief-system is a critical part of my life story. I was able to avoid an “us vs. them” battle-to-the-death because there was no David Koresh in my life. Instead, there were two important authority–figures who seemed to be saying, “We think you’re in dangerous territory, and we’re worried about you, but keep your mind open and the Lord will lead you.” The one was my father, who always seemed to give me a green light to think edgy thoughts. The other was my pastor (also my uncle) who faithfully preached from the Bible, but left it to the Holy Spirit to apply the truth, rather than dogmatically spelling out the implications laced with his own closed-system interpretations.

Parents, I’d like you to think about your own story, your faith journey. Evaluate to what degree you have accepted the belief–system of your parents and to what degree you have adjusted it. The freedom to adjust it is a gift from God and probably also a gift from them. Each of us is responsible to come to our own personal faith and to apply that faith to the world in which we live. Your world is different from your parents, so your belief–system needs to be adjusted.

Likewise, your children are being raised for an emerging set of circumstances which you have not faced. Your job is not to make them faith-clones of you, but to help them develop a faith that will be equal to any challenge they may face.

Because God blessed me with a father and a pastor who understood this, I have never felt under siege by the ideas of this world. I feel that my faith does not have to hide in a protective compound of fear, but can interact freely with any truth of science, literature or philosophy. Even evolution.

I still worry about those young people whose minds were first formed under the teaching of David Koresh. And there are many other teachers and belief-systems that bind people today and keep them from experiencing all of God’s truth.

–Pastor George Van Alstine