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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith |  | Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
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Seller: trinity-city-books
Rating:  788 reviews
Sales Rank: 1506
Media: Paperback
Edition: Later printing
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 1400032806
Dewey Decimal Number: 289.33
EAN: 9781400032808
ASIN: 1400032806
Publication Date: June 8, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | ISBN13: 9781400032808 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Amazon.com Review
In 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
Product Description
Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders, taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.
At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 788
 Great Book about Religion and the History of Mormons March 6, 2010
Enrique Trevino (Cd. Juarez, Mexico)
Under the Banner of Heaven written by Jon Krakauer is a book about Mormons. It uses a terrible crime from 1984 (the murder of Brenda and Erica Lafferty) as a platform to study Fundamentalist Mormons and the bad side of religion in general. The reason this murders are used to highlight the bad side of religion is that the killers, Dan and Ron Lafferty, believe that God told them to kill Brenda and Erica. Dan in fact is remorseless and completely calm in jail and in every interview, he really believes it was a revelation from God.
This book explains how the Mormon church came to be, giving us a short biography of Joseph Smith, detailing how the Church kept looking for a settlement and how it was growing around the charm of Smith. Smith's downfall was his polygamy as outsiders hated it and Mormons disliked it (throughout his life, Joseph Smith denied in public that he had multiple wives, even though evidence shows he had more than 20, several of them 14 when married to him). He was murdered. The next leader was Brigham Young, who made polygamy official in the religion after their long pilgrimage to Utah. After so many years together in the pilgrimage, the followers were willing to follow this decree that had grossed them out before.
During Brigham Young's tenure, the Mountain Meadows Massacre occurred, a terrible massacre performed by the Mormons on a wagon from Arkansas. What really bothered me was how they agreed to let the wagon pass if they gave their weapons away, but then killed them all (except children under 5). It was a terrible crime, which has been very well documented.
The book also gives some history behind the Fundamentalist Mormons, where they settled, how they live their lives. It is incredible how backward these civilizations are, infringing on human rights. A settlement where incest and rape run rampant. I was surprised to find out that the Mormon group in Chihuahua (my home state) is actually a fundamentalist sect (although maybe there are more Mormon colonies in Chihuahua, but at least one of them is Fundamentalist). After reading these details, I understood a little better why Texas tried to take all the children away the YFZ Ranch.
It was interesting to read reasons about why the religion survives and what makes it appealing. I think one of the keys is that they believe in a very personal relationship with God, one that makes people believe they can have revelations and such. This would also explain why there are many splinter groups (although Christianity also has many splinter groups, so the one on one belief is not the only factor).
It was surprising to me to find out that Joseph Smith didn't make the polygamy aspect public and that polygamy was close to dying with him as most people were against it and their were prophet candidates that were against it. I was also surprised that polygamy in Utah lasted for a long time, essentially until 1890 officially and about 30 years more unofficially.
The Lafferty case is tragic. The more I would read about the case, the more frustrated I would get. It is just so wrong that people can do this evil and then use God as a shield to explain their actions. Ron Lafferty clearly was wishing their deaths and then felt bogus revelations (although, within my belief system, a revelation is bogus by definition) to kill his sister-in-law and niece. It was crazy to find out that Allen (Brenda's husband) found out about the revelation, yet didn't tell Brenda or the police. Allen's knowledge of the "revelation" is disputed, however there is strong evidence that Ron's mother knew about it the day before and a group of Fundamentalists actually heard the revelation in their group, one of the people notarizing that he felt Ron was going to kill four people, yet never telling the police.
From time to time I've switched between being anti-religion or just someone who doesn't follow any religion. This book shows me that I should be anti-fundamentalist. The main problem with religion is believing in it literally, above human compassion. I am okay with people following a religion as long as they are not fundamentalists, people that believe they can talk to God, that God speaks to them directly, that they have revelations, etc. This people are a danger to mankind.
A sad book, that made me think a lot about religion and taught me some history. I recommend it.
Bait and Switch With Positive Results... March 3, 2010
Richard Smith (Memphis, TN)
Following is what I imagine Krakauer's thought process was when considering writing this book:
"I could write a book about the history of Mormonism but those are already a dime-a-dozen. So, going that route won't make me a bundle of cash. Oooh. Oooh. I've got! I'll write a book about a couple of murders that are connected to Mormonism and in it I'll burn a bunch of pages recounting the history of the church. Awesome! Cha-Ching! Where's my laptop?"
That's the kind of feel I got while reading this book. The murders that all the pre-press leads you to believe are the focus of this book are really just a back story. The real meat of this book is in the play-by-play history of the Mormon Church and religion. Truth be told the murders are really mundane by today's standards and Krakauer does nothing to spice them up. There is no mystery, there is no drama, and those involved are happy to tell anyone who will listen any detail. Hardly enough there on which to base a book...unless, of course, you've got something else in mind. Krakauer must have recognized that too because the murders take up about 20% of the book while the history of the church is covered in the rest.
But, that's okay. Until I read this book I knew nothing - besides the name Brigham Young and that Mormons practiced polygamy - about Mormons, their church, their religion, their anything. So, for me, the fact that the majority of Banner is written like a Freshman intro to Mormonism course was not much of an issue. I was cool with reading where it started, who started it, how it evolved, the key players, the key events and a smattering of commentary.
As evidenced by my 4-star rating, I liked this book. I was interested in learning about the roots of Mormonism and how it evolved. For a neophyte (me) it made for some very interesting reading.
For someone already in the know however, you'll not likely find anything new here. Or if compelling true crime stories are what turn you on then this one will leave you still looking for a fix.
What I didn't like was feeling like I'd been baited and switched and Krakauer's sometimes very overt opinions creeping into the writing from time to time (I wish I had saved an example, because sometimes it was like a wtf moment).
Great, informative read and history about homegrown terrorists. March 2, 2010
UniversityDoc (USA)
In no-nonsense manner, Krakauer puts to the written page everything you ever wanted and didn't want to know about the Mormon religion. Though, I never wanted to know anything about Mormons before, this book told me more than I could ever have imagined. Evidently, a great deal of research went into this work.
The setting:Imagine brutally killing someone- a relative, including one that is a baby and then saying you did it because God wanted you to. This is what the book is about. Two brothers, grown men walked into their younger brother's home and brutally murdered his wife and young daughter.
Krakauer looks at the violent history that spanned over more than a hundred years and finally led to the murder. Many religions, not all have a violent histroy, but none so much as Mormonism. I couldn't help but be appalled by their actions throughout history and claiming it was all God's will. This is a great example of a religion gone wild and in reality, a cult hiding under the guise of a religion. Mormons claim to be Christians. However, the Book of Mormon they claim to come from God doesn't follow the Bible nor mention it in any way. In fact, they follow something entirely different.
This book will more than open your eyes to the dangers of Mormonisn. You'll surely be more cautious when you see two young Mormon missionaries at your door in the future. I know I certainly will. Sadly, as in all regigions, I'm sure there are a number of people that are sincere in their beliefs, yet are misguided. As everywhere, the fanatics ride herd over everyone else.
Forget the dangers of Muslim terrrorism. Mormons are homegrown terrorists. They counsel their followers to go on welfare under the guise of "bleeding the beast." They get away with not paying taxes, etc, all under the guise of following God's will. If this is what doing God's will means, I'd rather be an athesist.
 Non-fiction? February 22, 2010
Lew Craig (Payson, AZ, USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Anyone who accepts this book as fact should read the review available at [...]. This review points out errors and biases that are more than "small errors (as one reviewer stated)."
Krakauer, who may have some strengths as a author, states his biases in the introduction. Why would I accept as fact a book written about a group by someone who has an axe to grind about that group? If those seeking reliable information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints read only this book, they are being about as fair and objective as learning about general Christianity from Richard Dawkins. You might, in forming an opinion, touch on Dawkins, but you wouldn't want to form conclusions on Christianity from Dawkins alone. That wouldn't be honest. Krakauer missed badly in this one.
INTERESTING HISTORY February 16, 2010
Ladonna Milliner (Scottsdale, AZ)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As an ex-Mormon originally from Utah, I found this book stimulating. VERY interesting read!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 788
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