uch extreme force? The ability of Koresh to be a charismatic leader allowed him to surpass the authority of many traditional forms of authority. Max Weber characterizes this type of authority as “…a certain quality of an individual or personality by virtue of which he is considered extraordinary and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These are such as are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a ‘leader’.” By all accounts and of his followers and the media coverage he received, Koresh was an exceptionally intricate speaker when it came to interpreting his understanding of the bible. Because his interpretations were extreme and based on fundamentalist ideologies, government psychologists and experts interpreted this to be the ramblings of an insane man. It cannot be denied, however, that the people who followed him perceived him to be endowed with a supernatural ability to recite and decipher the meanings of the most complex bible passages. To a fundamentalist this very ability did seem to be exemplary and therefore “true” believers felt compelled to follow his teachings. There have been many prophets refereed to in the bible and it is not a far stretch to believe in a present day prophet, especially if his preaching seemed to be such infallible truths to his followers. This disregard for the traditional authority of the federal government inflamed the situation. This also caused the government figures to act more aggressively because of this disregard. Reacting to the actions of a “crazy” man seems shortsighted. Why didn’t the government allow alternative methods to be carried out? Time was a definite concern at this point.The tragedy at Waco was remarkably similar to the events that occurr...
