In the wake of the success of this year's Tony-award winning musical "The Book of Mormon", I highly recommend John Krakauer's book "Under the Banner of Heaven", published in 2003, regarding Mormon fundamentalism. This is amazingly (and I know that is an overused word, these days, however, in this case, the word is sufficient and appropriate) intense non-fiction reading. Jeff and I recently listened to the book-on-tape version in May during our High Sierras road-trip. I am a big fan of Krakauer's books, having read "Into the Wild" and "Into Thin Air" years ago. This is his first of all his non-fiction books that is not about the wild outdoors, but about getting into the deep-seeded root of religion, specifically, religion at it's pure, basic early form and how it is so influential in causing people to do evil acts such as murder.
The premise is a true account, based on countless years of research and court transcripts, of the Lafferty brothers and their murderous acts felled upon their very own sister-in-law and her baby girl back in 1984. The victim was a strong-willed wife of one of their brothers who was attempting to dissuade him from falling under the influence of Mormon fundamentalism. Ron Lafferty, the instigator in this heinous crime, had received a "Revelation from God" stating that he had to get rid of this young woman and her baby was simply collateral damage who would probably grow up to be just like her "bitch mom".
The book is hauntingly real, extremely educational, with an accurate description of the founding of Mormonism in the late 1800s by Joseph Smith and his gold tablets. It covers the history of America's very first homegrown religion and how it is the fastest growing religion in the U.S., how the Church condemned polygamy and how that led to the birth of the Fundamentalists and their justification for polygamy. In light of the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping (which the book covers in detail) and the hit musical, and of course, Krakauer's brilliantly explained writings, this is a must read for anyone whether they are religious or not. Though I had listened to the taped version, I was distracted by nature's scenic beauty in the car and upon our return, I checked out the hard-back version at the library, and found myself fully immersed in this fascinating book.
And as my fellow fan-of-Krakauer friend Glenn states: Warning: It is not quite as funny as that musical or the "South Park" episode about the Mormon family."
Thumbs up, all the way, 5 stars for sure.
