Under The Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

I watched the series and wanted to know more about the Mormon religion. This was a well balanced and informative read

TRIGGER WARNING: rape, incest, domestic abuse, child abuse, animal abuse, child murderI’m speechless. (OK, maybe not). What the heck did I just read? You’re telling me this is non-fiction? ...How? HOW? This isn’t just some freak incident either, people live like what’s described in this book, I’m baffled by it. I mean I’m a little baffled by strict religious following anyway (no offence meant) but Mormonism is just on another level.The story of Mormonism is so strange because Joseph Smith was a control freak and swindler but also the way society got away with treating him and his followers was awful. You really can’t pick a right and wrong side, they’re both pretty terrible.This book's main focus is on how people's strong faith in Mormonism makes them believe they're above the laws of the land, so they go and commit crimes they think are justified and right. For example, Dan and Ron Lafferty, who truly believe God has spoken to them and told them they need to kill their brothers wife and young baby. A deed done by them so brutally, the poor baby was basically beheaded. Clearly this book isn’t for the faint hearted.One of the saddest moments in this book is when Krakauer meets a Mormon family and their young daughter (I think she was between 8 to 12) comes into the room with floor plans of her dream house, where she's drawn out several different rooms for the other wives of the husband she is going to share. How awful is that, to believe that you must share your husband with other women, because for men of the Mormon faith, women are just child bearers, nothing more. Joseph Smith actually declared God said "women shall be man's handmaid". For this young girl to be planning her life with a shared husband and feeling that's normal, even feeling happy about it, is a terrible, terrible thing to think about.This took me around 3 months to finish, not only because I accidentally left this in my dad’s suitcase when I came back from Spain, but also because this was such heavy non-fiction reading. Not only did it describe, in gruesome detail, the crimes committed by those under the Mormon faith, it was also a long historical timeline of how Mormonism was created and has grown to where it currently sits today. (Did you know, there are currently more Mormons on this planet than Jewish people?) Not to mention the confusion it causes when trying to remind you who everyone is and how everyone is related, because they’re pretty much all related through marriage.This is certainly an interesting read. I'm sure you’ve heard about Mormon’s and the Book of Mormon and polygamy, etc, but never really looked further into it. Well, for those of you that would like to look further into it, then this is the book for you! It's incredible to read all about how Joseph Smith magicked up Mormon faith and how gruesome and evil polygamy really is.I really recommend this book for all of you who love learning about religions or just love to have some random shocking facts to dish out around the dinner table. A seriously interesting, if not disturbing read.

Great film, about the Mormons murder

Having already read most of Krakauer's books i was at least left with this one in which he recounts the history of Mormonism and of religions effect on people. The story opens in a small house in Utah county in the 1970's. By the chapters end a young mother is dead, brutally beaten and with a slashed throat, her 15 month old daughter is also dead, her head almost decapitated in a single knife stroke. The killers were members of an off-shoot fundamentalist branch of the Church of latter day Saints, better known as the Mormons. The reason for the murder?God told them to do it.Going back to its roots, Krakauer recounts the entire history of the Mormon church. Founded in the early 19th century by a convicted fraudster named Joseph Smith who claimed to have found gold plates inscribed with the history of a lost tribe of Israel. This new religion would grow into a massive beast within a few years. The fascinating thing about the Mormon church is that since it was founded so recently and has plenty of documentation, it allows us to study how a religion starts and how it spreads so easily. Its history is one of persecution, religion bigotry and beliefs which people were willing to die and kill for. Krakauer does not just recount the whole history of Mormonism but also looks into its present day communities. The fundamentalist sections which still practice poligomy, treat their wives and daughters like sexual slaves and await the final judgment when Jesus will return to Missouri and save his chosen people from the end of days. It should be noted this is not an easy read at times, the whole history of Mormonism includes events of terrible slaughter and bigotry as well as the shocking accounts of the fundamentalist communities who's only difference with a Taliban ruled afgan village is that they call god by a different name. Krakauer is at his usual best with a gripping account that keeps you drawn in all through the book, his simple yet dramatic writing style continues to hold readers in such suspense that you'll often forget you reading non-fiction.I knew next to nothing about Mormonism before i started this book yet now i have a full understanding of its history, a better understanding of how a religion starts and spreads and the dangers of any faith based system that can lead to fundamentalism. Once you start to believe god is talking to you and giving you orders, your capable of almost anything, as the Murder of Brenda and Erica Lafferty shows. It is my hope that this book will serve as another nail in the coffin of religious belief and that it will wake more people up to its dangers.

Good material and reach chapter is so written. I found it jumped around a bit more than I found enjoyable, and missed some narrative links between the episodes related, but certainly eye opening

Brilliantly researched and written ,provides an incisive overview of the Mormon Faith and its power to justify even the most horrific of crimes . If you were ever in doubt that religion is indeed the most divisive element on earth, this book will put paid to such doubts.

I wanted to read this book before I watched the TV show, I'm not a religious man, but i do respect those who follow their God having read this book the Mormons worry m

Can religious beliefs be taken too far? Looking at examples from history, the answer is a resounding yes, and while acts of religious violence are less common today than in the past, atrocities continue to take place in the name of religion all the way up to the current day. One such event that happened in the 1980s involved two brothers who claim that they were divinely ordered to kill their sister- in- law and her baby. The details of this event and the history of the religion that inspired the brothers is the subject of Under the Banner of Heaven.Dan and Ron Lafferty are the two brothers responsible for these gruesome deaths and their actions can be traced to the fundamentalist Mormon church. The two had become increasingly engrossed in their religious beliefs and are convinced that the decision to commit these murders was a direct order from god, and that meant it had to be carried out, no questions asked. They carried out the deed, were eventually arrested, and sent directly to prison. They showed absolutely no remorse for what they did and continued to show no remorse even after years behind bars.This book covers the background of the Lafferty brothers and some of their relatives well, offering the reader a glimpse inside of the minds of divinely- inspired killers. But the book is more than that. The author also includes a good deal of history on the Mormon faith, showing what the early Mormons did to combat the persecution they often faced, everywhere they went. These early Mormons were often harassed, yes, but they responded with vengeance and revenge, doing what they could to ‘get even’ whenever possible.The trials of the two brothers are bizarre to read about and the book includes many direct quotes from Dan and Ron, both in the court room and from prison. The book raises many questions and that is probably its strongest point. How far should religious freedom be allowed to go? Should polygamy be legal if one’s religion calls for it? What defines insanity? Dan and Ron Lafferty obviously had off- the- wall ideas, but is that insanity? And what about kids who are raised as fundamentalist latter- day saints? Is what they go through a form of child abuse, or should parents be allowed to raise their kids any way they choose?Under the Banner of Heaven is a chilling book that is written in a direct, no- nonsense way. It’s an excellent book for understanding more, not just about the fundamentalist latter day saints church, but also about the founding of the Mormon church. The edition of the book I read even includes criticisms of the book’s accuracy, and I really like the author’s responses to these LDS criticisms, as he really puts these critics in their place. It’s a worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in the subject and it succeeds at getting the reader to think long and hard about religious freedom and what it should entail.

Just a little too much history of LDS, I was expecting more about the murders. I was a little disappointed, probably wouldn’t recommend it.

Libro perfetto per chi vuole conoscere la storia della religione LDS . Si parla un po' di tutto dal fondamentalismo, alla storia, si parla di Joseph Smith . Insomma è completo. Forse può non piacere a LDS, ma è molto avvincente e sembra ben ricercato e l'autore ammette il suo essere agnostico. La lettura è scorrevole e avvincente. Peccato non esista in italiano.

This book is a real eye opener. Get it if you are a Krakauer fan. Five stars, ten if it was available.

Was afraid of starting reading as I had heard that the book gets boring. For me, it was really good. Completed it in 3 days but still wanted more. Most of it is history of Mormonism . If you don't like reading history, you may not like the book. It got some psychological aspect, especially at last during the trial of the brothers . Really worth reading