In 1992, many Americans found themselves riveted to their televisions as the drama between the Branch Davidian religious sect and the FBI played itself out on the nightly news. As viewers watched the news, however, they quickly discovered that David Koresh, the leader of the Davidians, was proclaiming a message of political rebellion couched in apocalyptic language borrowed from the book of Revelation. According to Koresh's messages, the Davidians saw themselves as the children of light fighting to liberate themselves from the evil empire of the U.S. government and its restrictions on the Davidian's religious practices. As Abanes points out in this masterful survey, the Davidians are only one of a number of paramilitary groups whose mission is fueled by a volatile mix of religion, rebellion against the government and racism. Abanes examines the teachings and goals of several of these groups, from the Davidians to the Christianity Identity Movement, as he attempts to show the dangers of an uncritical acceptance of narrowly conceived religious understandings of the relation between church and state. For everyone interested in the often strange and inexplicable combination of religion and politics that characterizes many paramilitary groups, Abanes' balanced and forthright study offers invaluable insight.
