Changes

==History==

==History==

The original Davidian movement, named for the restoration of the kingdom of [[David]], first developed in 1930 from the teachings of Rev. Victor T. Houteff, who pointed out a number of scriptural shortcomings in the structure of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  After the Church rejected Houteff's teachings, he would establish a new movement at a site named '''Mount Carmel Center''' near [[Waco]], [[Texas]] and remained unified there until Houteff's death in 1955, at which point Houteff's wife Florence would attempt to lead the movement.

The original Davidian movement, named for the restoration of the kingdom of [[David]], first developed in 1930 from the teachings of Rev. Victor T. Houteff, who pointed out a number of scriptural shortcomings in the structure of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.  After the Church rejected Houteff's teachings, he would establish a new movement at a site named '''Mount Carmel''' near [[Waco]], [[Texas]] and remained unified there until Houteff's death in 1955, at which point Houteff's wife Florence would attempt to lead the movement.

At that point, several leaders attempted to take control of the movement, resulting in several splinter groups.  One splinter group, led by Benjamin Roden, called themselves "Branch Davidians", taking the name from select Bible passages.<ref>Zechariah 3:8-10; 6:12, 13; Revelation 2:17, 3:12</ref>  

That same year, Benjamin Roden would claim to receive "revelation from God".  Florence would later claim that an apocalypse would occur in 1959 (something Houteff never taught) and would move the group to a new facility 13 miles northeast of Waco; when it failed to happen, in 1962 she would dissolve the organization and sell all but around 78 acres of the property, which Roden would purchase, and over the next several years would eventually gain the remainder of the property.  Roden would call his group "Branch Davidians", taking the name from select Bible passages.<ref>Zechariah 3:8-10; 6:12, 13; Revelation 2:17, 3:12</ref>  

In 1959, [[Israel]] granted the Branch Davidian movement immigrant status and allowed them to create the town of Amirim in [[Galilee]].

Benjamin Roden would die in 1978, his wife Lois would take over the group; however, the members' loyalties were divided between Lois and George Roden, Benjamin and George's son (George would eventually take over leadership upon Lois' death in 1986).  Exploiting this division - as well as Lois' widow status - was Victor Howell, who originally came to the compound in 1981, and would soon have an affair with Lois, hoping to father a child with her (despite her being in her 60s at the time) who would be The Chosen One.

After the death of Benjamin Roden, his wife Lois took a leadership role in the Church.  In 1983, she allowed a man named Victor Howell to study at the Mt. Carmel compound outside Waco, but after attracting followers among the movement, he moved to [[Palestine, Texas]].  In 1987, Howell and followers he had amassed conducted an armed assault on the Mt. Carmel compound but were rebuffed.  Upon Lois' death, her and Ben's son George took control of Mt. Carmel and maintained it until George's arrest for murder, at which time Howell (now taking the name '''David Koresh''') and his followers took control of the compound.

A power struggle would ensue between George and Howell, with Howell eventually leaving the compound with his followers and relocating to [[Palestine, Texas]].  But in 1987, Howell and followers he had amassed conducted an unsuccessful armed assault on the Mt. Carmel compound.  A jury trial resulting from the initial armed assault would find Howell's followers not guilty (and resulted in a hung jury on Howell's guilt).  In March 1988 George would be placed in jail on contempt of court charges unrelated to Howell; the day after, Howell and his followers would return to Mount Carmel and cement themselves as the leaders of the group.  Howell would also legally change his name to '''David Koresh''', an homage to both King David and Cyrus the Great (Koresh being Hebrew for Cyrus).

==Mt. Carmel Siege==

==Mt. Carmel Siege==