Under the Banner of Heaven

Posted on 09 January 2018 by Jon Krakauer

A multilayered, bone chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith This is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.Jon Krakauer s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits In Under The Banner of Heaven A Story of Violent Faith, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this divinely inspired crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, 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.Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some forty thousand Mormon Fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy five plural wives, several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties , fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents.Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear eyed look at Mormonism s violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior. Free Read [ Under the Banner of Heaven ] by [ Jon Krakauer ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I don t know where to start with this book I couldn t put it down It was enthralling A quick note about Krakauer this was the first book I ve read by him and I was duly impressed with his story telling ability and his writing style I will definitely add his other books to my reading list.Now for the book holy shit Like most people I didn t know much about Mormons beyond the basics And let it be known right off the bat that I am a devout atheist who thinks all religions ar I don t know where to start with this book I couldn t put it down It was enthralling A quick note about Krakauer this was the first book I ve read by him and I was duly impressed with his story telling ability and his writing style I will definitely add his other books to my reading list.Now for the book holy shit Like most people I didn t know much about Mormons beyond the basics And let it be known right off the bat that I am a devout atheist who thinks all religions are a load of bull I can certainly understand after reading this book why the church thinks this book was a hatchet job on the religion All that said, the LDS church is some scary shit Certainly Krakauer doesn t mean to say that all Mormons are dangerous, pedophiles, rapists and killers just the fundamentalist ones and history proves this point When he asks one of the main subjects of the book, a man who is serving a life sentence for the brutal slayings of a woman an...This is a hard book for me to review given that I have quite a few Mormon friends and that although my own philosophy leanstowards existentialism than anything else, I feel its differents strokes for different folks I am led inescapably by this book to view Mormonism as a cult that has changed and adapted as was expedient given the various political currents ebbing and waning.I ve seen, here in the West Indies, how a cult can gain both the practice and the legitimacy of an est This is a hard book for me to review given that I have quite a few Mormon friends and that although my own philosophy leanstowards existentialism than anything else, I feel its differents strokes for different folks I am led inescapably by this book to view Mormonism as a cult that has changed and adapted as was expedient given the various political currents ebbing and waning.I ve seen, here in the West Indies, how a cult can gain both the practice and the legitimacy of an established religion within a few generations There are two routes to this The first is the government is willing to recognise it and allow it tax exempt status in which case it becomes part of the establishment The second is that it becomes an issue of political correctness and people and the media must appear to pay the cult at least the lip service of respect whether or not it deserves it I m talking about Rastafarianism of course And I ve read it here in this book as a cult develo...I read this book for the book club at my local library Afterwards, I felt indignant, confused, intrigued, and disgusted about all forms of faith So, I sincerely hoped that a Saint or two would show up at the book club meeting, to nullify my extremely negative view of the church Alas, no LDS believers showed, so I am left to my own conclusions about the book and faith in general Here are some of my conclusions and questions after reading this sprawling, fascinating account of the history of p I read this book for the book club at my local library Afterwards, I felt indignant, confused, intrigued, and disgusted about all forms of faith So, I sincerely hoped that a Saint or two would show up at the book club meeting, to nullify my extremely negative view of the church Alas, no LDS believers showed, so I am left to my own conclusions about the book and faith in general Here are some of my conclusions and questions after reading this sprawling, fascinating account of the history of polygamy and violence within the Church of Later Day Saints There is a certain appeal to having no choices Sometimes religion is comforting because obedience to a provided list of rules removes personal responsibility Strict adherence to a religion removes personal doubt When you believe so fully in a church, you are no longer forced to question your own actions after all,...4.0 to 4.5 stars For non fiction, this book had me absolutely riveted from the very beginning This true crime narative has three main themes, all of which I think Krakauer accomplishes extremely well First, this is a true crime story of the brutal double murder of Brenda Lafferty and her 15 month old baby girl at the hands Ron and Dan Lafferty the older brothers of Brenda s husband Second, is a survey of the origin and early history of Mormonism and the basic doctrines of the Mormon fait 4.0 to 4.5 stars For non fiction, this book had me absolutely riveted from the very beginning This true crime narative has three main themes, all of which I think Krakauer accomplishes extremely well First, this is a true crime story of the brutal double murder of Brenda Lafferty and her 15 month old baby girl at the hands Ron and Dan Lafferty the older brothers of Brenda s husband Second, is a survey of the origin and early history of Mormonism and the basic doctrines of the Mormon faith Third, the book details the deep divide and animosity between the Mormon church and the various fundamentalist Mormon sects, including the one to which the murderers belonged These three story lines are not broken down into sections but are interwoven throughout the book However, for simplicity...The Spirit of AmericaHarold Bloom has called Mormonism the American Religion Not only was it created in America, Mormonism also articulates the American Dream in both its history and its doctrine the ultimate deification of its members united in a theocratic independence of civil authority Mormonism, although a relatively small sect, represents the mainstream of American evangelical, perhaps national, consciousness What Under the Banner of Heaven demonstrates, if nothing else, is just how strang The Spirit of AmericaHarold Bloom has called Mormonism the American Religion Not only was it created in America, Mormonism also articulates the American Dream in both its history and its doctrine the ultimate deification of its members united in a theocratic independence of civil authority Mormonism, although a relatively small sect, represents the mainstream of American evangelical, perhaps national, consciousness What Under the Banner of Heaven demonstrates, if nothing else, is just how strange and sync...You know, I probably shouldn t have read this directly after finishing In Cold Blood I m not saying the combination brought out the homicidal psychotic in me, but I did have to pay for stabbing the hell out of a turkey in the Albertson s meat section the other day Is there a stranger sect out there than the Mormons I mean, golden plates lost tribes Nephites battling Lamanites Orrin Hatch Well, yes, I guess one look at Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah s couch suggests that Scient You know, I probably shouldn t have read this directly after finishing In Cold Blood I m not saying the combination brought out the homicidal psychotic in me, but I did have to pay for stabbing the hell out of a turkey in the Albertson s meat section the other day Is there a stranger sect out there than the Mormons I mean, golden plates lost tribes Nephites battling Lamanites Orrin Hatch Well, yes, I guess one look at Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah s couch suggests that Scientology has a lot to answer for, as well For that matter, I ve never understood how a burning bush speaks to someone Why a burning bush Why not, say, a burning acacia tree But if mainstream Mormonism is a little on the far out side, then fundamentalist Mormonism sort of like regular Mormonism withfanaticism,racism,welfare cheating,taking of wives, andchild rape is like the spast...This book makes a lot of big promises, but it suffers from several serious flaws 1 Lack of focus.2 Too long.3 Preposterous claim.4 BoringThis is a true crime novel maybe set against the history of the Mormon Church but not really trying to tie in a couple of murders committed by a couple of sickos all too common into an historical and political climate of post terrorist, millennial religious revival unsuccessfully.For true crime, i This book makes a lot of big promises, but it suffers from several serious flaws 1 Lack of focus.2 Too long.3 Preposterous claim.4 BoringThis is a true crime novel maybe set against the history of the Mormon Church but not really trying to tie in a couple of murders committed by a couple of sickos all too common into an historical and political climate of post terrorist, millennial religious revival unsuccessfully.For true crime, it s shockingly dull, and the crime is committed by the middle of the book, but you already know it s going to happen because it s committed in the prologue, too The characters aren t interesting, their motivations are the ordinary motivations of religious sickos, and the detail is presented tediously.The Mormon...Hmmmwhere do I start First of all, I didn t finish reading this book It was intriguing in the beginning to learn about the Fundamentalist Mormons and the interestingly odd things they believe and practice It was also interesting to contemplate the power of faith Faith in something or someone, regardless of what or whom they are, can make people do unbelievable things This is true.I can see how Krakauer would have been frustrated when access to historical documents and intervi Hmmmwhere do I start First of all, I didn t finish reading this book It was intriguing in the beginning to learn about the Fundamentalist Mormons and the interestingly odd things they believe and practice It was also interesting to contemplate the power of faith Faith in something or someone, regardless of what or whom they are, can make people do unbelievable things This is true.I can see how Krakauer would have been frustrated when access to historical documents and interviews with prominent LDS leaders weren t granted to him In order to tell all sides of a story, you must be able to research all sides I think in the past 5 10 years, the LDS church has beenforthcoming and open with their history and archives, thanks largely to the prophet Gordon B Hinckley So perhaps if Krakauer were to have written this book now, he would not encounter these same road blocks Some people may feel that if some aspects of the churches history were to be exposed to the general membership of the church, it...

English
09 January 2018

Jon Krakauer