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    Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
    Unavailable
    Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
    Unavailable
    Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
    Audiobook12 hours

    Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

    Written by Jon Krakauer

    Narrated by Scott Brick

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    This extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America's isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities, where some 40,000 people still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.

    At the core of Krakauer's book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 10, 2003
    ISBN9780736698221
    Unavailable
    Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
    Author

    Jon Krakauer

    Jon Krakauer is a mountaineer and the author of Eiger Dreams, Into the Wild, (which was on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year and was made into a film starring Emile Hirsch and Kristen Stewart) Into Thin Air, Iceland, Under the Banner of Heaven and Where Men Win Glory. He is also the editor of the Modern Library Exploration series. He has received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to the award citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer."

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    Reviews for Under the Banner of Heaven

    4/5

    2,419 ratings134 reviews

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    • 4/5
      nonfiction narrative about a murder within a fundamentalist Mormon cult, peppered with quite a bit of history about the origins of the Mormon church. I really like Krakauer’s writing voice.
    • 4/5
      This is certainly as frightening a tale as I care to read! We just moved to Utah so that adds to the fright. I'm slowing learning about the whole Mormon scene since we moved here. This was a valuable step in the process. I didn't find any of Krakauer's perspectives to be extreme at all. Surely he picks and chooses evidence and interpretation, but it is all well within the bounds of reasonableness.I am a Buddhist of mainly the Tibetan Vajrayana variety. We've certainly got beliefs and practices that are about as nutty as anybody else's. There are lots of warnings and tales about the dangers of an overly literal interpretation. I'd like to think that'll inoculate us against the kinds of abuses portrayed here, but probably not. Too many of those tales are non-fiction, and too many too recent. Where Krakauer's book falls short - he really doesn't analyze the tale in any depth. These days there is a lot of anti-religious sentiment around. Krakauer asked Dan Lafferty if he could see the parallel between his violence and that of Islamic terrorists. But what, after all, is religion? For example, is Buddhism even a religion? Or, might we ask, can science, hmm,. become an object of religious faith? Krakauer includes some nice epigraphs from William James, but he doesn't really engage with the matter. It's OK, it is an excellent book as it is. The book poses a crucial question for our time, but doesn't really attempt to answer it. That'd take a whole other sort of book. We may not be ready for that yet. It's like, Montaigne wrote decades after Luther. We're just entering the Savonarola era. Fasten your seat belts! Yeah, how about a book like this about the Bundy family?
    • 4/5
      Ecellent, troubling read
    • 4/5
      I think the title is misleading, while the book somewhat centers around the violent acts committed in the brief history of the LDS Church, religious violence is far from unique to this religion. Furthermore, while I found myself in shock at some of the accounts, I had to realize that these aren't the first people to make such claims. At the end of the day, my original opinions about faiths other than my own hold. We all have a place in this world; there are good and bad people everywhere. The stories that survive are highly selective, for those like us the positives will be highlighted but for those opposed to us the negatives will be highlighted. Neither makes the opposite untrue.
    • 2/5
      Interesting True Crime novel.
    • 3/5
      This book raises important epistemological questions to the effect of how we are to know the will of God. This concept is very powerful, as people can be very terrified that their behavior will lead them to Hell or some other form of punishment. This book shows the lengths people will go if they are under the impression that God has a purpose, and how confused people can become in their religious seeking. The religious seeking of the Lafferty brothers obviously needed safeguards. Many churches and religious groups have hierarchical organizations with people appointed to interpret religious revelation and this can keep people aligned with basic tenets of truth and goodness.
    • 4/5
      A review of the history of the Mormon church, wrapped around the examination of a particular incident in which two brothers violently killed a woman and her baby because God had told them to remove her. Well researched and well written, it flows almost like a novel, though the frequent lurches in time can be a bit disconcerting at first, when you're reading about 1984, then 2003, then suddenly you're back in the colony of Nauvoo in the time of Joseph Smith. Perhaps the book didn't fit linearity, and after you get used to it, it works, but it can lead to a bit of vertigo at first. It is also a bit disconcerting to have a scholarly examination of the faith present the story of Joseph Smith in much the same way as Joseph himself would have told it, talking about him finding the golden plates as if it were a real event about which there is no skepticism, rather than addressing it as what he says happened. The author does later mention that there is no historical verification of the golden plates, but never mentioned the many different versions of the story that have been assembled over the years; he presents it as historical reality, though it is certain from his afterword that he himself does not believe the story. This work may be more relevant now than people realize, even though the murder was 30 years ago; the ideas discussed by the murderous brothers sound strangely similar to those of Cliven Bundy and his sons in their war with the federal government. It was rather eerie at times.
    • 3/5
      Krakauer explores the polygamist culture of Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, through the lens of a murder by two brothers of another brother's wife. The murderers claim they were led to their actions by God. Krakauer points out the danger of a religion that recognizes and encourages each individual to develop his (or her) own divine inspirations. He traces the origin of the violence and misogynism of the Fundamentalist to the very roots of Mormonism, and even, less directly, to religion itself. Krakauer's exploration of the history of the Latter Day Saints takes up so much of the book that for a while you lose sight of the original murder that starts off the book, but it is thorough and fascinating. Somehow the intertwined history of families and settlements begins to make sense, and is actually needed to begin to comprehend the horror of the Lafferty brothers' actions. I learned a lot about Mormonism, which is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world. It was worth the read for that in itself.
    • 2/5
      Interesting but repulsive.
    • 5/5
      I can't recall a book that I've read that had got a reaction out of me. Very relevant to today's "religious freedom" issues ...
    • 4/5
      On July 24, 1984, Dan and Ron Lafferty murdered their sister-in-law and her baby girl. Why? Because god told them to do so.Jon Krakauer provides a fascinating look at the religious environment that created them. The author begins with a history lesson. Her follows the creation of the Mormon Church by Joseph Smith two centuries ago and traces how the religion has become what we know today. The family were members of a fundamental branch of the LDS Church - a branch that broke away from the mainstream church and was horrified at the direction the church was taking - away from the comfort of patriarchal monotheism, away from the subjugation of women, away from the tenets of polygamy. The brothers blamed Brenda Lafferty for speaking up for herself and other women. The book is a terrifically interesting blend of history and true crime."Under the Banner of Heaven" isn't so much an indictment of Mormonism (mainstream OR fundamentalist) as it is an illustration of how excessive faith, or extremism in ANY religion can lead to corruption, immorality, and unreason. Towards the end of the book, the author provides a quote from a former member of a fundamentalist branch of the LDS, "If you want to know the truth, I think people within the religion are probably happier, on the whole, than people on the outside But some things in life are more important than being happy, like being free to think for yourself".
    • 4/5
      An excellent book on a very dark subject. Persons interested in learning more about Mormon fundamentalism and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints would be well-served by reading this book.The book is well documented, includes a bibliography, and a helpful index.
    • 4/5
      I read this book as a matter of curiosity. It was actually recommended to us by my husband's brother, who is married to an ex-Mormon. And really, I've learned more about Mormonism in the last 5 years that I've known my whole live. And not just from my sister-in-law "” my sister also married a Mormon. So, I feel like I came into the book with a little bit of information.When my husband read the book, he thought it was about how Mormonism as a whole is a bad faith. That wasn't the impression I got from it. The impression I got was that Krakauer was pointing out the bad in fundamentalism. And fundamentalism is bad in *any* religion. The Mormons are certainly not the first faithful to spill blood in the name of their god. I was a little disappointed that the book didn't really address today's mainstream Mormonism at all, which is an entirely different animal. I felt he was a little disengenous by leaving that out, because most people are going to read the book and come out with the equation "Mormons = EVIL!!", which really is not true. Not unless "Catholics = EVIL!!" because the Crusades happened x number of years ago, or "Protestents = EVIL!!" because they burned a bunch of women they thought were witches x number of years ago.
    • 5/5
      As a person that grew up Mormon and have five generations of Mormons behind me, I found this fascinating. It illuminated many of my experiences growing up and the Short Creek refuges that resided with our community for a time. Having said that I left the church one day during sacrament when I looked at the 12 year old deacons and said out loud to my daughter, "do you think we should go to a church that gives 12 year old boys more spiritual authority than women?" I got up and left. I now am a practicing Buddhist Tantra teacher who works with men and women of the Mormon Faith who have been wounded by Mormon views on sex.
    • 4/5
      Deeply disturbing but very very interesting true story.
    • 4/5
      Mormon fundamentalism. Not being particularly religious, this book really made me think about the "idea" of religion. I find fundamentalism of any form terrifying, and this was no exception. This is one of those books that will make me think for a long time.
    • 5/5
      I can't recall a book that I've read that had got a reaction out of me. Very relevant to today's "religious freedom" issues ...
    • 4/5
      A really fascinating story. Although the narrative is focused on fundamental Mormonism, much of this book strikes shockingly close to what it is to be American. The bravado and charm of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young's unflinching and tenacious belief that his doctrine was right. The sort of grim optimism of a people who look forward to the day that what they know to be true is confirmed, woe to those who didn't believe. It can all be reinterpreted shades of Manifest Destiny and the making of America. Of course there are major diversions: plural marriage, child abuse, rape, religious extremism, and a terrible and shocking murder. But the strength of Krakauer's writing lies in his ability to relay sensational information, without sensationalizing the narrative.
    • 4/5
      This book was not what I expected it to be but was still very interesting. I expected it to be more about the murder case but this book was comprised mostly of Mormon history, with bits about the murder thrown in when it made sense. Still, this was a very interesting topic. My family is not particularly religious so I don't know much about any religion, let alone Mormonism. I don't always love Krakauer's writing style. I find it to be a bit too whimsical sometimes. You can almost imagine it as a bad documentary with really cheezy music in the background. This is one of his earlier books so those issues are definitely there but I didn't have any major complaints about the writing. Some of the Mormon history sections were quite tedious. A lot of it was necessary and helpful for getting a true picture of the religion but some of just felt too in-depth for this story and I was bored at some parts. I did like this story and it was a very interesting read.
    • 3/5
      I tried to take Krakauer's interpretations of Mormonism and religious topics in general with a huge helping of salt. Still, I found the book fascinating, though chilling and hard to take at times.
    • 3/5
      Quite disturbing, especially from the perspective of a person of faith. This is a book I wish I'd read in the context of a college or seminary classroom, so that I'd have a context for processing and discussion.

      I did, however, learn a lot about Mormon history.
    • 4/5
      Although it tries to present itself as a general history of Mormonism, it's really focused on the *violent* parts of the history of Mormonism. The later chapters seem made to prove an agenda that Mormonism, or maybe religion in general, is illogical. I'm not sure that I agree.
    • 4/5
      Not at all what I thought it would be, but this was still a great book. I think anyone interested in faith or the dark side of belief should read this book.
    • 3/5
      Though definitely not the most focused narrative I've ever read, I understand at least partly why Krakauer felt like he had to go all the way back to the beginning to tell the story of a murder in the fundamentalist Mormon community. It was interesting to read the origin story of what I've always found to be a fascinating world. At the same time, I'm not sure that he always treated the subjects in his book with enough respect – mostly I felt uncomfortable sometimes with the way he described young women and girls in the book. Did it really make an important point that an 18 year old who had been raped by her father looked "exotic" and spoke with a "slight Mexican accent"? Maybe he was trying to emphasize the objectifying way the men in the book viewed women. Or, maybe he wasn't. Elements like that made this book feel outdated to me, and like maybe the author missed a point or two about the universe he wrote about.
    • 4/5
      Started reading this audiobook on a long trip to Europe. It was an enjoyable and not very challenging read. I thought that the story petered out somewhat towards the end, felt that Krakauer struggled with a good place to come to a stop. Also the book struggled somewhat to stay on topic, since the murder in question just would not have had enough meat to form an entire book without the additional history on Mormonism and look at the Elizabeth Smart, Tom Green, and other cases.
    • 5/5
      This was the first Krakauer book I've read; I know he has an excellent reputation. I was really drawn into the book and read almost the first half in one setting; then it seemed to bog down.I'm not a Mormon and I'm not familiar with their beliefs; however, I do know some Mormons and they are certainly nothing like the individuals portrayed in the book. Yes, this book is about the extremists -- the fundamentalists, but by pulling out what seemed to be nothing but negative elements of their history, it certainly paints a grim picture of the entire denomination. I'm sure if one looked, one could find radical individuals in almost any belief system; there's probably a militant Methodist out there someplace. This "guilt by association" went over the top in one short paragraph on page 294 when Krakauer compared George W. Bush to the Lafferty murderers. Oh, come on, Jimmy Carter also claimed to be born-again as do many other respectable individuals. Krakauer was attempting to get philosophical about the role of religion and mental health, but I found it very disconcerting that in the middle of a book in which the author claims is factual that he would inject such a blatant political barb.With that aside, the book is interesting and readable and does shed light on a unique American-born religion. The lifestyle of the fundamentalists is sad but intriguing. The book was worth the time to read and does provoke interest in radical religion.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating and fair, well-researched and well-written. Great read. I also suggest one reads the LDS' review of it as an addendum to the text.
    • 4/5
      Jon Krakauer's storytelling is at its usual high level in this well-researched and thoughtful history of the Mormon faith. Using the 1984 murders of 24-year-old Brenda Lafferty and her 15-month-old daughter Erica as a springboard to explore the territory of fundamentalism, which he carefully sets within the context of the mainstream Mormon church and its dramatic growth in just two centuries, Krakauer effectively walks the line between stating the facts and commenting on their meaning. Like Timothy Egan, Krakauer brings history alive, developing his characters and describing settings and events with just a bit of novelistic flair. I particularly appreciated Krakauer's treatment of the tension, in religion, between faith and verifiable fact. After describing the origins of the Mormon faith in Joseph Smith's experiences -- his communications from God, his discovery of golden tablets and interpretation of their ancient script through miraculous insight, and his ability to persuade others that he was a prophet -- all of which sound absolutely unbelievable to me (I mean, the story is unbelievable enough, but the fact that other people believed the story is incredible!), Krakauer nudges the reader's likely incredulity. He notes that, indeed, The Book of Mormon, the religion's sacred text, is "riddled with egregious anachronisms and irreconcilable inconsistencies." He tells us how Mark Twain ridiculed the text. Then he says:"But such criticism and mockery are largely beside the point. All religious belief is a function of nonrational faith. And faith, by its very definition, tends to be impervious to intellectual argument or academic criticism. Polls routinely indicate, moreover, that nine out of ten Americans believe in God - most of us subscribe to one brand of religion or another. Those who would assail The Book of Mormon should bear in mind that its veracity is no more dubious than the veracity of the Bible, say, or the Qur'an, or the sacred texts of other religions. The latter texts simply enjoy the considerable advantage of having made their public debut in the shadowy recesses of the ancient past, and are thus much harder to refute."That is certainly true and I, as a relative nonbeliever, appreciated Krakauer's clear attempt to provide an objective history of Mormonism while exploring the emergence of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. Virtually all religions have fundamentalist fringes, and we can hardly judge all of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints based on the FLDS, but Krakauer is committed to understanding how this fringe of radical fundamentalists have developed, and how they produced the Lafferty brothers, Dan and Ron. Yes, it was Brenda's brothers-in-law who murdered her and her child, and they did it in the apparent belief that they were following the commandments of God. Many other radicals have killed in the belief that their actions were holy, but the intimate nature of these murders and the specificity of Ron and Dan's apparent communications from God make these murders particularly good territory for Krakauer's brand of storytelling. This intimate and specific nature also make these murders ripe territory for exploring the intersection between radical faith and insanity. The chapter in which Krakauer tells of Ron Lafferty's retrial (his initial conviction was overturned because the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the prosecutors had not adequately proven that Ron was competent to stand trial) was particularly interesting. How do we determine where lies the line between radical faith and madness? If Ron Lafferty is determined not guilty by reason of insanity, are we never able to find someone guilty if their actions are based in religious conviction? Is anyone who talks to God crazy? If Ron Lafferty is insane, are not millions of Americans who hold as firmly to improbable religious convictions (such as, for example, the notion of immaculate conception) also insane? The testimony of the psychiatrists and psychologists, for both the defense and the prosecution, is fascinating. I'm leaving out all kinds of important issues in this review. The role of polygamy in the history of the Mormon church, and the associated ethical and legal issues, are infuriating and interesting. Krakauer fails to full separate the issue of plural marriage from the issue of age-of-consent, but this may be because our society has not adequately separated these issues, one from the other. I suspect that most of us would have a less extreme negative reaction to the concept of plural marriage if so many of the "wives" were not so young! Still, this is a difficult facet of Joseph Smith's original doctrine to present objectively and Krakauer acknowledges this. His concern about the possible future in which Smith's orthodox (fundamental) theology dominates is evident. And I admit that it's a concern I share.
    • 2/5
      I like Krakauer's other books but found this one tedious and poorly organized. I learned a lot about the history of the Mormons and the polygamist fundamentalist sects that exist today, but the book was heavy going. I finished feeling that I did not know why he felt compelled to write this book.
    • 5/5
      Excellent - well researched and informative. For a new religion it has an already calculated murderous history. Why kill children, women and men who don't even know who you are? Confirmation that people will belive anything despite solid evidence to the contrary.