A side note:
Were the Branch Davidians "Suicidal Weirdos"?
While some cults out there are suicidal weirdos, I think the Branch Davidians were not. They were a long standing offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and had been around for decades--something most suicidal weirdos really aren't good at (longevity). They were unnecessarily attacked in their home by agents of the Federal Government (under the GHW Bush and Clinton Administrations), besieged, gassed, and finally, burned out (although that last part has been the subject of debate).
Perhaps the Jim Jones cult would have been a far better example, but then, not all of those victims were drinking the Kool-Aid, either (some were shot trying to run into the jungle and escape).
The most apocalyptic group in the Branch Davidian instance, the one which only saw violence and eradication as an option (as opposed to just arresting Koresh while he was out for a run, and then serving whatever search warrant(s) they may have had on the Mt Carmel facility, was, in fact, the Federal Government.
For those who followed the events of that raid and siege, then, and who followed up on the investigations and results, there was much done wrong by Government Agents, and a host of questions raised about their conduct and tactics, some of which go unanswered definitively to this day, as critical pieces of material evidence were "lost", including the metal front door, which would have established who fired first.
While their views and lifestyle were not mainstream, to compare the Branch Davidians with groups which are truly "suicidal" and "weirdos" (like many jihadist organizations), may be doing them an historical disservice, and tends to prejudice the superficial student of the events in Waco in favor of Federal actions which remain inexcusable to this day.
I must note that all Christians who are Bible-believing also believe that some day (no particular date set) Christ will return, the dead will be raised, and there will be a Final Conflict between the forces of good and evil, commonly known as The Apocalypse, and that there have always been those who seek to apply prophesies to present times to indicate that the Day of Judgement draws near. Each day, they get closer to being right.
