Under The Banner of Heaven

by Jon Krakauer

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Under The Banner Of Heaven, while not a classic invoked so many emotions I had to post about it. Under The Banner Of Heaven is the story of the Mormon religion with a focus on fundamentalists, i.e. polygamy. The heart of the novel is the 1984 murders of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter Erica, murdered by Brenda's brothers-in-law Ron and Dan Lafferty, who believed they were fulfilling a revelation they received from God -- the removal of Brenda and Erica Lafferty.

To better understand these motives Jon Krakauer, the author flip-flops between the heinous, unbelievable actions of 1984 and the creation of the Mormon religion and its prophet, Joseph Smith. Discovering the golden plates and the start of the religion was very interesting but the disturbing subject of polygamy and how Fundamentalists behave then and now is what really set the story apart. On the first pages Krakauer describes Colorado City, a polygamy commune, he implies that the residents have been brainwashed that, tv is the devil's work and poo-poo the United States government, yet they collect welfare and see it as a gift from God, in short, sticking it to the man. How do they collect from this government program? Fundamentalists are legally only married to one wife, with the Sister Wives being "married" in a spiritual ceremony and are considered single mothers, and when you've married forty wives, with ten kids a piece... well you do the math. I could go on about this strange quality of living but it may be disrespectful. Although, I will say that my dad drove by the town and it was filled with gigantic homes to fit their large families and the town itself was deserted, almost like a ghost town with an eerie feel.

Growing-up, my brother had a friend who is a member of Latter Day Saints and I remember him telling us that he had once gotten stuck in a basketball hoop, and God talked to him and helped him through it. I was probably ten at the time and instead of thinking speaking to a higher being was strange, I thought getting stuck in a basketball hoop was even weirder. Obviously, not all persons in believe in some sort of spiritual being are told to marry a fourteen year or kill innocent people. Should all persons who pray, or speaks to God be considered crazy? No, we all need something to believe in, even atheists.

At the end of the novel, Warren Jeffs is the main topic of conversation with members of the sect even thinking he was too extreme. (Of course all of this was written before the shit hit the fan). I feel that this novel will always be timely after have been writing in 2003, as it is still going on today.