Under the Banner of Heaven
by Jon Krakauer
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jon KrakauerEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Unabridged
Published: 2004-07-31
ISBN: 0330419129
Number of pages: 372
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Book Reviews of Under the Banner of Heaven
Book Review: The Deadly Doctrines of Mormonism - Chilling!
Summary: 5 Stars
From seeing all the reviews on this book, and reading both extremes of reviews, I suspected that this book was going to be good. A book that has this many 5 stars reviews - and they were well written, tells me a lot. People enjoyed this book. Also, a book that also has this many 1 star reviews by people who hated it also tells me a lot. They don't want you to read it. This book really hit a sore spot with Mormons.
So I bought it and read it in 3 days. It was quite fascinating. It was very well written. As I read this book I thought maybe the title could have been "The Deadly Doctrines of Mormonism". The reason I say this is because it shows very clearly what the end product of Mormon Doctrines can be. Even though the 2 brothers Dan and Ron are an extreme, they only show the tip of the effects of Joseph Smith and his wicked, self-serving life. All you have to do is read this book and you will see the full scope of the damage these doctrines continue to have even today in the lives of his followers. The legacy that Joseph Smith left his church has been one of damage to millions of people's lives for over 100 years now.
The history of Mormonism reminds me of a game we played as children - "King on the Mountain". See who could knock the other person off.
I already knew much about Joseph Smith and his trickery, but this book gave a fresh view of the effects of Mormon Doctrine. Jon Krakauer purposely does not go into great detail about the many doctrines of Mormonism. You can easily find books that cover the errors of Mormon Doctrines. Instead, he focuses on 3 of the most harmful doctrines introduced by Joseph Smith -
1) Special Revelations from God to Men
With this doctrine, everything becomes rather unclear. My revelation can trump your revelation. And there is no requirement that my revelation must be Biblical. It can be pure evil.
2) Plural Marriages
With this doctrine you can rape and harm whatever little girl you can get away with. Then take her home and make her work for you, cleaning, taking care of your other babies, etc. Don't bother to marry her, just have her go on welfare and food stamps. Let the government pay for your little slave. They call it "bleeding the beast". This is a pedophile's dream.
3) The Blood Covenant
With this doctrine you are allowed to shed the blood of sinful people. Mormonism teaches that there were some sins so heinous that the blood of Jesus cannot cover them. For those sins, the person must shed their own blood to atone for their own sins. So for you to slit their throat, you are actually doing them a big favor.
These 3 doctrines alone can account for much of the misery that has been caused by Joseph Smith.
I had to laugh at one point when the author says "and thus you have Fundamental Mormonism".
One thing that was new to me was the internal struggle within the Mormon Church concerning Plural Marriages. I thought that the LDS Church readily accepted it. Not so, the Doctrine of Plural Marriages was always a battle within the LDS Church. At first it was a well-guarded secret because it was not well received. Only at the right time was this doctrine revealed to the church as a whole. It was revealed several years after the death of Joseph Smith. Even at that time, it did not go over very well. It was not clear if this would split the LDS church.
One thing I disagree about with the author is his definition of "Fundamentalism". He seems to equate Fundamentalism with Fanaticism. In my opinion, we should all be Fundamentalists in our faith. If you are a Muslim, you should be a Fundamentalist in your doctrine. If you are a Buddhist, you should be a Fundamentalist in your doctrine. If you are a Christian, you should be a Fundamentalist in your doctrine. Why would you be anything else? Then you are not true to your religion. Just because someone is a Fanatic and harms other people does not make that person a Fundamentalist. I know Christians can be "Funnymentalists", but I do not equate that with Fundamentalism. And a person that kills abortionist doctors, is not a Fundamentalist, he is a Fanatic. He is using the Bible to justify his evil. That is not Fundamentalism.
However, I do see the Fundamental Doctrines of Mormonism as very dangerous and having great potential for harm. I believe that is what this book has clearly revealed.
Summary of Under the Banner of Heaven
Brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty insist they were commanded to kill by God. Krakauer's investigation is a meticulously researched, bone-chilling narrative of polygamy, savage violence and unyielding faith: an incisive, gripping work of non-fiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behaviour. 'A provocative look at the twisted roots of American fundamentalism' Will Self, Evening Standard Books of the Year 'Excellent ...a lucid, judicious, even sympathetic account not just of Mormon Fundamentalism but of the seductive power of fanaticism in general' Daily Telegraph 'Krakauer writes exceptionally well: as thrilling as Capote on true crime, as devastating as Nietzsche on religious fundamentalism' Scotland on Sunday 'Remarkable ...for anyone interested in the wilder frontiers of spiritual conviction, this book is a must' Independent 'Krakauer is an adept chronicler of extremists, and he's as intent on understanding religious fanatics as he was in his earlier books on exploring the obsessions of monomaniacal adventurers' Los Angeles TimesIn 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother Allen. The crimes were noteworthy not merely for their brutality but for the brothers' claim that they were acting on direct orders from God. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer tells the story of the killers and their crime but also explores the shadowy world of Mormon fundamentalism from which the two emerged. The Mormon Church was founded, in part, on the idea that true believers could speak directly with God. But while the mainstream church attempted to be more palatable to the general public by rejecting the controversial tenet of polygamy, fundamentalist splinter groups saw this as apostasy and took to the hills to live what they believed to be a righteous life. When their beliefs are challenged or their patriarchal, cult-like order defied, these still-active groups, according to Krakauer, are capable of fighting back with tremendous violence. While Krakauer's research into the history of the church is admirably extensive, the real power of the book comes from present-day information, notably jailhouse interviews with Dan Lafferty. Far from being the brooding maniac one might expect, Lafferty is chillingly coherent, still insisting that his motive was merely to obey God's command. Krakauer's accounts of the actual murders are graphic and disturbing, but such detail makes the brothers' claim of divine instruction all the more horrifying. In an age where Westerners have trouble comprehending what drives Islamic fundamentalists to kill, Jon Krakauer advises us to look within America's own borders. --John Moe
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