Faith is indeed the most the powerful force in the ancient world and today. Faith has given people the strength to endure unimaginable hardship, suffering, persecution and ordeals. It can keep a people striving long past the point where the strength of flesh and spirit would otherwise give out. Faith can build cities, nations and empires.

Faith can also allow people to commit the most unthinkable crimes without the slightest remorse, as well as compel victims to not only endure soul-crushing abuse but to defend their abusers.

In his book, “Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith,” author and journalist Jon Krakauer gives readers a look at the dark and ugly side of faith.

The book relates the story of Ron and Dan Lafferty, Mormon fundamentalists who acted on a divine revelation from God instructing them to murder their sister-in-law Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter, Erica.

Krakauer’s book also relates the history of the Mormon Church from its wildfire founding to the church’s present status as one of the great growing religious powers of the world. The characters of founding prophet Joseph Smith and his successor, Bringham Young, are painted in detail, as are the church’s founding principles, most especially the divinely-inspired practice of polygamy, which the mainstream church only abandoned at great pressure from the government and which is still practiced today by many Mormon fundamentalists. Krakauer demonstrates how the tradition of polygamy, as well as other conventions such as blood atonement, provided an environment where the seeds of the Lafferty brothers’ murderous intentions could thrive.

Unbending faith saw Mormonism through trials, tribulations and persecution to establish a kingdom on United States soil, in direct contradiction to the principles of democracy, under the protection of religious freedom guaranteed by the same secular law they disparage. This is the true story of men who considered themselves subjects of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than citizens of the United States, and God’s law comes first.

Through painstaking study and numerous interviews, Krakauer examines the mentality of fundamentalism in the Mormon faith and in a broader context the book sheds light on extremism in all religions. He also argues that Mormonism’s contemporary origins lend valuable insight about the spread of other dominant religions, which have their genesis shrouded in the ancient past.

Methodically researched and beautifully written, Krakauer takes an unflinching look at the price of faith and dares to ask that question which every reader must answer for him-or-herself: Is it worth paying?

Anyone tempted to think their religion is 'perfect.' Anyone interested in an interesting and vital part of US history.

The sense of history unfolding in the country's past and in 'real time'

On a personal note, this was a very hard book for me to read, especially those scenes where Dan Lafferty describes the murder itself and relates how the spirit of God was with him as he assumed the role of divine executioner. Here is a pleasant, polite, sincere, hardworking all-American boy who would cheerfully stop in the rain to help a stranded motorist change a tire and then depart with a hearty ‘God bless you.’

He could also cut a baby’s throat without a qualm.

Especially difficult were the portions dealing with polygamy and the fundamentalist practice of marrying multiple ‘wives’ at as early as twelve years old. Their minds caged by scripture and their wills ground to dust beneath the heel of the devout, these girls are raised solely for the purpose of breeding as many children as possible in true Old Testament/medieval/Puritan fashion.

I confess that I had to put the book aside several times in order to deal with a sense of white-hot anger and a desire to punish those perpetrators of this abuse. This rage dwindled to frustration when I realized that any harm meted out to them would only confirm their view of themselves and martyrs and of the heavenly paradise that awaited them after death. What I most wanted - to make them understand and admit that they had done wrong – I would never get.

These people have a disease, contracted from an environment which infects and incubates that disease. I would pity them, if their sickness harmed only themselves.

Granted, like all such books, “Under the Banner of Heaven” must be taken with a grain of salt. The reader must remember that Krakauer is the filter through which passes all information which appears in his work. As such, readers are dependent on the writer’s perceptions of people he has interviewed and the events he researched. Obviously, it was his choice which quotes and pieces of information to include and how to arrange them. In addition, he does not shy from editorializing on occasion or offering a theory of his own now and then, but his research material is listed clearly and he does not omit the positive aspects of religious life.

Especially recommended is the paperback edition, which includes a copy of a negative review by a defender of Mormonism, followed by Krakauer’s rebuttle.

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Created May 21, 2006 at 11:16pm • Submit your own review...