- Krakauer, Jon.
Under the Banner of Heaven.
New York: Anchor Books, [2003] 2004.
ISBN 1-4000-3280-6.
-
This book uses the true-crime narrative of a brutal 1984 double murder
committed by two Mormon fundamentalist brothers as the point
of departure to explore the origin and sometimes violent early history
of the Mormon faith, the evolution of Mormonism into a major
mainstream religion, and the culture of present-day fundamentalist
schismatic sects which continue to practice polygamy within a strictly
hierarchical male-dominated society, and believe in personal
revelation from God. (It should be noted that these sects, although
referring to themselves as Mormon, have nothing whatsoever to do with
the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, which excommunicates leaders of such sects
and their followers, and has officially renounced the practice of
polygamy since the Woodruff Manifesto of 1890. The “Mormon
fundamentalist” sects believe themselves to be the true exemplars of
the religion founded by Joseph Smith and reject the legitimacy of the
mainstream church.)
Mormonism is almost unique among present-day large (more than 11
million members, about half in the United States) religions in having
been established recently (1830) in a modern, broadly literate
society, so its history is, for better or for worse, among the best
historically documented of all religions. This can, of course, pose
problems to any religion which claims absolute truth for its revealed
messages, as the history of factionalism and schisms in Mormonism
vividly demonstrates. The historical parallels between Islam and
Mormonism are discussed briefly, and are well worth pondering:
both were founded by new revelations building upon
the Bible, both incorporated male domination and plural marriage
at the outset, both were persecuted by the existing political
and religious establishment, fled to a new haven in the desert, and
developed in an environment of existential threats and violent
responses. One shouldn't get carried away with such analogies—in
particular Mormons never indulged in territorial conquest nor
conversion at swordpoint. Further, the Mormon doctrine of
continued revelation allows the religion to adapt as society
evolves: discarding polygamy and, more recently, admitting black men
to the priesthood (which, in the Mormon church, is comprised of
virtually all adult male members).
Obviously, intertwining the story of the premeditated murder of a
young mother and her infant committed by people who believed they
were carrying out a divine revelation, with the history of a religion
whose present-day believers often perceive themselves as moral
exemplars in a decadent secular society is bound to be incendiary,
and the reaction of the official Mormon church to the publication
of the book was predictably negative. This paperback edition includes
an appendix which reprints a review of a pre-publication draft of the
original hardcover edition by senior church official Richard E.
Turley, Jr., along with the author's response which acknowledges some
factual errors noted by Turley (and corrected in this edition) while
disputing his claim that the book “presents a decidedly one-sided and
negative view of Mormon history” (p. 346). While the book is
enlightening on each of the topics it treats, it does seem to me that
it may try to do too much in too few pages. The history of the Mormon
church, exploration of the present-day fundamentalist polygamous
colonies in the western U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and the story of how
the Lafferty brothers went from zealotry to murder and their
apprehension and trials are all topics deserving of book-length
treatment; combining them in a single volume invites claims that the
violent acts of a few aberrant (and arguably insane) individuals are
being used to slander a church of which they were not even members at
the time of their crime.
All of the Mormon scriptures cited in the book are
available on-line.
Thanks to the reader who recommended
this book; I'd never have otherwise discovered it.
December 2005 