Nancy Ammerman
Encyclopedia
Nancy Tatom Ammerman is a professor
of sociology of religion
, now at Boston University
. In 1993 she wrote a controversial report about the Branch Davidian
s and Waco
.
. Her book, Baptist Battles, won the 1992 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
. In 1995, Ammerman left Emory University
to teach at Hartford Seminary
. Since 2003, she has been at Boston University
.
nor the FBI
took David Koresh
seriously as a religious man, but rather adopted the "anti-cult" point of view of deprogrammer
Rick Ross
. She wrote
Ammerman disputes the view that Koresh's followers were "hostages", noting that some of them left their Mount Carmel Center between the initial ATF raid and the last day of the standoff. She also criticizes the Justice Department for ignoring the recommendations of FBI agents, who suggested taking Koresh's religious faith as (at least possibly) sincere and backing off instead of applying ever-increasing pressure.
She also wrote:
She testified during the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings of July/August 1995. She was asked by then U.S. Senator Russel D. Feingold of Wisconsin regards the reported "allegations of violence and instances of child abuse" that were levied against the Branch Davidians. She noted that these allegations are a common response on the part of society in response to groups with unfamiliar beliefs. "The pattern of allegations is a very familiar one...The way people described what was going on inside convents sounds an awful lot like what we hear people describing going on inside the Branch Davidians. Or what people thought as was referred to earlier about what was going on with the Mormons in their early history. I think it's very important for us both to take those allegations seriously in the sense of actually investigating them but also to realize that there is this predictable pattern once a group has decided that they want to live very differently and see the rest of us as wrong, that we're also likely to respond with a variety of kinds of fears and expectations and exaggerations."
Portions reprinted in Religion North American Style, ed. by Thomas E. Dowdy (Rutgers University Press, 1996); and The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology, by Lisa J. McIntyre (Mayfield, 2001).
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of sociology of religion
Sociology of religion
The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society: practices, historical backgrounds, developments and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history...
, now at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. In 1993 she wrote a controversial report about the Branch Davidian
Branch Davidian
The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...
s and Waco
Waco Siege
The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993, and ended violently 50 days later on April 19. The siege began when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located east-northeast of Waco,...
.
Life
In 1984, Ammerman joined the faculty of Emory UniversityEmory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
. Her book, Baptist Battles, won the 1992 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion was formed to advance research in the social scientific perspective on religious institutions and experiences.-Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion:...
. In 1995, Ammerman left Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
to teach at Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary
Hartford Seminary is a theological college in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.-History:Seminaries in the city of Hartford date back to 1833. In 1913, the current Hartford Seminary came into existence through the combination of three Hartford-based schools affiliated with the city's Congregationalist...
. Since 2003, she has been at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
The Branch Davidians Siege Episode
She was one of a panel of academics commissioned in 1993 by the U.S. government to analyze what went wrong in its dealings with the Branch Davidians at Waco. Ammerman's report concludes that neither the ATFBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
nor the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
took David Koresh
David Koresh
David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...
seriously as a religious man, but rather adopted the "anti-cult" point of view of deprogrammer
Deprogramming
Deprogramming refers to actions that attempt to force a person to abandon allegiance to a religious, political, economic, or social group. Methods and practices may involve kidnapping and coercion...
Rick Ross
Rick Ross (consultant)
Rick Alan Ross works as a consultant, lecturer, and intervention specialist, with an interest in exit counseling and deprogramming of former cult members. He runs a blog at CultNews.com, and in 2003 founded the Rick A...
. She wrote
[...] the most up lifting finding was the FBI's near total dismissal of the religious beliefs of the Branch Davidians. For these men, David Koresh was a sociopathPsychopathyPsychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
, and his followers were hostageHostageA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s. Religion was a convenient cover for Koresh's desire to control his followers and monopolize all the rewards for himself. They saw no reason to try to understand his religious beliefs, indeed thought them so bizarre as to be incomprehensible by normal people.2 The negotiators expressed deep regret at this state of affairs, but could see no alternatives to the way they had come to understand the situation. The tactical commanders had no real regret, seeing the final outcome as unavoidable.
Ammerman disputes the view that Koresh's followers were "hostages", noting that some of them left their Mount Carmel Center between the initial ATF raid and the last day of the standoff. She also criticizes the Justice Department for ignoring the recommendations of FBI agents, who suggested taking Koresh's religious faith as (at least possibly) sincere and backing off instead of applying ever-increasing pressure.
She also wrote:
The efforts by Arnold and James Tabor represented probably the best hope for a peaceful end to the siege. By working within Koresh's biblical system, they had suggested to him an alternative reading of critical passages in the book (Revelation). By this reading, Koresh should have written or recorded his explanation of the seven seals. The prophesied destruction of the true believers would not have taken place, in this reading, for a long time. The Davidians would have been free to leave their settlement and deal with the government to resolve their differences. Koresh evidently took this teaching and began his interpretive writing. In his last letter, written the week before the fiery end, he stated that he intended to come out when it was complete. The FBI, however, did not take this scenario seriously or believe that Koresh would actually write the document.
She testified during the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings of July/August 1995. She was asked by then U.S. Senator Russel D. Feingold of Wisconsin regards the reported "allegations of violence and instances of child abuse" that were levied against the Branch Davidians. She noted that these allegations are a common response on the part of society in response to groups with unfamiliar beliefs. "The pattern of allegations is a very familiar one...The way people described what was going on inside convents sounds an awful lot like what we hear people describing going on inside the Branch Davidians. Or what people thought as was referred to earlier about what was going on with the Mormons in their early history. I think it's very important for us both to take those allegations seriously in the sense of actually investigating them but also to realize that there is this predictable pattern once a group has decided that they want to live very differently and see the rest of us as wrong, that we're also likely to respond with a variety of kinds of fears and expectations and exaggerations."
Works
For much of the last decade, Ammerman's work has focused on American congregations. Her most recent book, Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and their Partners (University of California Press, 2005), describes the common patterns that shape the work of American's diverse communities of faith. Her 1997 book, Congregation and Community, tells the stories of twenty-three congregations that encountered various forms of neighborhood change in communities around the country. Along with a team of others, she edited and contributed to Studying Congregations: A New Handbook.- Ammerman, Nancy T (Ed.). Everyday Religion: Observing Modern Religious Lives. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).
- Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. Pillars of Faith: American Congregations and their Partners ( University of California Press, 2005). WINNER, 2005 Distinguished Book Award, Sociology of Religion section, American Sociological Association.
- Dudley, Carl S., and Nancy T. Ammerman. Congregations in Transition. (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2002).
- Ammerman, Nancy T., Jackson Carroll, Carl S. Dudley, and William McKinney (eds.). Studying Congregations: A New Handbook. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1998).
- Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. Congregation and Community. (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1997).
- Ammerman, Nancy T. and Wade Clark Roof (eds.). Work, Family, and Religion in Contemporary Society. (New York: Routledge, 1995).
- Ammerman, Nancy T. (ed.) Accounting for Christian Fundamentalisms. in Accounting for Fundamentalisms, Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby (eds.). (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).
- Ammerman, Nancy T. (ed.). Southern Baptists Observed: Multiple Perspectives on a Changing Denomination. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1993).
- Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. Baptist Battles: Social Change and Religious Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1990). WINNER, 1992 Distinguished Book Award, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Portions reprinted in Sociology: The Central Questions, 2nd ed., by William Kornblum (Harcourt, 2001).
- Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1987).
Portions reprinted in Religion North American Style, ed. by Thomas E. Dowdy (Rutgers University Press, 1996); and The Practical Skeptic: Readings in Sociology, by Lisa J. McIntyre (Mayfield, 2001).