MEDIA ADVISORY
April 14, 1998
CONSPIRACISTS? RELIGIOUS FANATICS? CULTS? MILITIAMEN? SURVIVALISTS?
AS APRIL 19th ANNIVERSARY NEARS, AUTHORS TELL OF THE LESSONS BEHIND THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING (1995) AND WACO (1993) TRAGEDIES
CATHERINE McNICOL STOCK, Connecticut College Professor of History and author of ≥Rural Radicals: From Baconπs Rebellion to the Oklahoma City Bombing.≤ Stock discusses the roots of rural radicalism in the United States and notes that the perpetrators of the Oklahoma City bombings have family histories of anti-government sentiment, much like rural radical groups throughout American history. She says Terry Nichols, charged with the Oklahoma City bombing, is no different than many other rural radicals before his time.
QUOTE:
≥The perpetrators of this tragic act are not some inexplicable anomalies, lone crazies or fringe extremists: they are -- like thousands of other rural radicals like them -- as representative of the American heartland as the Oklahoma bombingπs victims were. The network of militiamen, conspiracists, survivalists and white supremacists making headlines in recent years have been here all along. The anti-government acts of rage have been fueled by more than 200 years of failed government agricultural and domestic policies.≤
EUGENE GALLAGHER, Connecticut College Professor of Religious Studies and co-author of ≥Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America.≤ Gallagher blames the tragic standoff between Branch Davidians and the FBI, which ended in the deaths of four federal agents and 80 Branch Davidians, on the FBIπs failure to take the Davidians religious beliefs seriously. He discusses unconventional religious groups, the myths inherent in stereotypes about them, and the issues of religious freedom and how these earlier groups compare to the more conventional, mainstream religions. Characterizing some of these groups as ≥cults,≤ he says, is really a value judgement against new religious movements, many of which may not be that different in nature from the cult beginnings of Christianity.
QUOTE:
≥We must confront our fascination with and fear of åcultsπ if we are to view them in the wider context of our national commitment to religious tolerance -- after all, the United States was founded by estranged minorities seeking religious freedoms.≤
CONTACT: Trish Brink (860) 439-2508
RSS