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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (ISBN 1-4000-3280-6) is an investigative non-fiction book by best-selling author Jon Krakauer, first published in July 2003. It is a juxtaposition of two stories: the origin and evolution of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and a modern double murder committed in the name of God by brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who subscribed to a fundamentalist version of Mormonism. The Laffertys were formerly members of a very small splinter group called the School of the Prophets, led by a man named Robert C. Crossfield (also known by his prophet name Onias). The group accepts many beliefs of the original Church at the time when it ceased the practice of polygamy in the 1890s and call themselves fundamentalist Mormons. The book examines the ideologies of both The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the apostate polygamous groups, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ("FLDS").
Contents [hide]
1 Synopsis
2 Controversy
3 Derivation of the Title
4 References
5 External links
[edit] Synopsis
The book opens with news accounts of the murder of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter Erica. Brenda was married to the youngest Lafferty brother, Allen; older brothers Dan and Ron targeted their sister-in-law because they believed she was the reason Ron's wife left him (after refusing to allow him to marry a plural/second wife). Both men's extremism reached new heights when they helped found the School of the Prophets with the prophet Onias. Ron claims that God sent him revelations (communication with God is a core belief of both fundamentalist and mainstream Mormonism) that told him to kill Brenda and her baby. The murders were particularly cruel, with Dan slitting the victims' throats. While Ron has asserted that he killed Brenda and Dan killed the baby, Dan's story seems more credible than his brother's.
After opening with the Lafferty case, Krakauer goes into the history of Mormonism, starting with the early life of Mormon founder and prophet Joseph Smith, following his life from a criminal fraud trial to leading the first followers to Jackson County, Missouri and Nauvoo, Illinois. While violence seemed to follow the Mormons wherever they went, it wasn't necessarily the Mormon's doing, as Krakauer points out. Early Mormons faced severe religious persecution, due to their exclusive lifestyle and tendency to only deal economically and personally with other Mormons. This led to violent clashes between non-Mormons and Mormons, culminating in Smith's death on June 27, 1844 at the hands of a mob while he was jailed in Carthage, Illinois, awaiting trial for destroying the printing press of a local publication that painted the prophet in a negative light.
From Nauvoo, the Mormons trekked westward to modern-day Utah, led by Smith's successor (after some controversy) Brigham Young. Arriving in what they called Deseret, many Mormons believed they would be left alone by the federal government, as the territory was under Mexican rule at the time. This hope died soon after their arrival, when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848, ending the Mexican-American War and ceding the land to the United States.
Mormonism's problems weren't all external, as Smith's highly controversial revelation of plural marriage threatened to tear the faith into two. While Wilford Woodruff, the fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly known as LDS), officially banned the practice of polygamy, some extremist factions broke away from the mainstream to form the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly referred to as FLDS), the most popular form of fundamentalist Mormonism. The FLDS church allows—even encourages—polygamy and is harshly criticized by the mainstream LDS.
Constantly comparing the mainstream and fundamentalist forms of Mormonism, Krakauer examines events in the LDS history and compares them to modern day FLDS doctrine (or even more extreme versions of Mormonism, such as the Laffertys' group, the School of Prophets). One of these events is the Mountain Meadows massacre, in which it's alleged that Mormons, with the help of local Paiute Indians, rounded up the Fancher Wagon train of emigrants from Arkansas heading to California and murdered approximately 120 of them. While the Mormons went to great lengths to conceal any involvement in the massacre (including dressing as Paiute Indians and painting their faces in similar fashion), the only person successfully convicted in the affair was John D. Lee, a member of the LDS Church who was executed by the state in 1877 for his role in the crime.
The book cites information gleaned from several interviews with Dan Lafferty and former members of his group, as well as other fundamentalist Mormons. It also pulls from several books about the formation of Mormonism to tie the origins of the religion to the modern iterations of both The Church and the fundamentalists. [1]
[edit] Controversy
There is a great deal of controversy over Krakauer's book. Before the book was even released to the public, the LDS Church pre-emptively criticized it. The criticism by Richard E. Tuley, managing director of the Family and Church History Department of the LDS Church, was among the most notable; he points out mistakes and incorrect assertions in the book and accuses Krakauer of "condemn[ing] religion generally," while saying that "although the book may appeal to gullible persons who rise to such bait like trout to a fly hook, serious readers who want to understand Latter-day Saints and their history need not waste their time on it." [2] In the new paperback edition, published by Anchor in 2004, Krakauer refutes most of Tuley's criticisms, while ceding five factual mistakes that Tuley pointed out in his review; the remaining disagreements, according to Krakauer, can be chalked up to differences of opinion.
[edit] Derivation of the Title
The title is drawn from an 1880 address by John Taylor, the third president of the LDS Church, defending the practice of polygamy: "God is greater than the United States, and when the Government conflicts with heaven, we will be ranged under the banner of heaven against the Government. The United States says we cannot marry more than one wife. God says different..."[3]
Mountain Meadows massacre v • d • e
Backgrounds of the Fanchers and the Mormons
War hysteria · Conspiracy and siege
Killings and aftermath · Trials · Remembrances
LDS public relations · Media depictions
Precursors
Haun's Mill massacre · Mormon pioneers
Paiutes · Kingdom of God (LDS) · Utah War
Blood atonement · Plural marriage · Theodemocracy
Books and films
The Mountain Meadows Massacre
Blood of the Prophets
Burying The Past
Under the Banner of Heaven
September Dawn
Massacre at Mountain Meadows
[edit] References
^ Krakauer, Jon (2004). "Author's Remarks". Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. Anchor Books. p. 337. ISBN 1-4000-3280-6. "I availed myself of this rich history by draining my bank account in bookstores near and far."
^ "Church Response to Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven" LDS Newsroom [1]
^ Krakauer, Chapter 20, p.250 (quoting John Taylor, address, Jan. 4, 1880, Great Salt Lake City).
[edit] External links
Official Doubleday Website for Under the Banner of Heaven (Retrieved 22-2-2008).
LDS Church Response to Under the Banner of Heaven
Krakauer's response to LDS Church response
Bookbrowse.com Reading Guides.
New York Times Review
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Categories: 2003 books | Mormon fundamentalism | Criticism of Mormonism | Mountain Meadows massacre | Non-fiction crime books | Portrayals of Mormons in popular media | LDS stubs | Religious studies book stubsViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsLog in / create account Navigation
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