“Under the Banner of Heaven” book review of Jon Krakauer's latest

[Wetzelbill]

“Under the Banner of Heaven”
Jon Krakauer

America is a nation at war with religious zealots that want to harm us. But America has their own terrorists, born and raised into one of the fastest growing religions in the world. “Under the Banner of Heaven” is Jon Krakauer’s newest book that examines religious fanaticism at its most violent — within our borders.

On July 24, 1984, two brothers murdered their sister-in-law and infant niece. The reasoning: they received instructions to do so in a revelation from God. Krakauer turns a single tragedy into an international epidemic. He investigates the brothers’ Mormon fundamentalist motivations and in doing so, recounts the birth of the Mormon religion itself.

Ron and Dan Lafferty were excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints after becoming more and more radical in their beliefs. Specifically, they had adopted an old doctrine and covenant of polygamy from the original Mormon prophet from the mid 1800s, Joseph Smith. Polygamy is the practice of plural marriage, where men are encouraged to marry as many wives as possible (Smith had around 49 wives himself).

Although no longer tolerated by the LDS church, there are an overwhelming number of Mormon polygamists today. More than 10,000 reside in Colorado City, Ariz. alone


http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/97/8/04_11.html

[barbaraann]

1. As I have posted before, I live very close to a "polygamous"

family (actually, they only legally marry one wife) and the wife and kids live secretive, paranoid, isolated lives. I can't believe this is a good way to bring up kids.

They do, however, keep their yard looking far better than mine. :-)

[Wetzelbill]

2. Yardwork? Hmmm....it does have some merits I see

A friend of mine wrote the review, but I have been interested in getting this book for awhile. Those hard-right nutbags interest me. Some things I just will never understand.

[RainDog]

3. I've read some of this one

Krakauer also notes that the polygamists make sure they marry off their daughters when they are very young (fifteen, in some cases) so that they are indoctrinated into the system before they can have access to more independence.

These girls are married off to men who may be thirty years their senior, with other wives.

fathers and mothers do this to their daughters. I consider this abuse.

I often wonder why and how religion is so often twisted to such horrible ends among so many different groups. the only answer which makes sense is that religion is simply a cover for abuse of power, for too many.

and this is, of course, why the founders of this nation knew separation of church and state was fundamental to democracy.

democracy, for the nation, has to take precedence over religion, imo, when current standards of human rights are violated, whether the groups are muslims, mormans, or southern baptists.

[florida_puppy]

4. Having been raised a mormon...

and read the book...It is a truthful depiction of the mormon church.