Under the Banner of Heaven : A Story of Violent Faith

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes the truth told by history is hard to accept
Review: I found that this book opened a new era of thinking for me. It provided a view into a church that I had little understanding before. After reading this book and seeing the extremes that are in the church I feel fully confident in holding a conversation about this particular church. It gives a straight forward history as well as a story to show the full picture of what the writer is pointing too.

Rating:
Summary: You won't want to put it down!
Review: I loved this book. Part true crime novel, part Mormon history. Jon Krakauer is the guy who wrote the bestseller Into Thin Air several years ago, and as good as that was, Under the Banner of Heaven is better. Reading like a great novel, it explains the Mormon church, its history, its factions and its juicy dark side, polygamy. The Latter Day Saints are the worlds fastest growing religion, yet most people know little about the beliefs of this secretive faith. This book teach you everything you need to know about the Mormons, but will never bore you. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An frightening descent into religious extremism
Review: Just as mountain climbers are addicted to the thrills of pushing their bodies, minds and spirits to the extreme limits of endurance, so do SOME human beings when confronted with issues of fundamentalist beliefs.

In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, journalist Krakauer takes great (sometimes TOO great as his admirable and considerable care causes his narrative to drag in places)pains to confront the issues that underpin Mormon Fundamentalism. Krakauer is considerate enough to constantly restate that he is not condemning any ONE religion or practice, but rather seeking to scale the heights of the human pscyhe when dealing with issues of religious faith and practice.

This is NOT an attack on people of faith in general or Mormonism in specific. Again Krakauer makes the case that extremist beliefs abound in ALL religions.

That said (after reading so many of the derogatory comments on this product, I feel I must clarify), UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN is a nail biting and fascinating journey into the hearts and minds of the Lafferty Brothers two Mormon Fundamentalists who, in 1985 slit the throats of both their infant niece and sister in law.

Krakeur combines painstaking historical research with objective and yet empathetic insight to portray a true to life thrilling saga that is still a story in progress. His ability to place specific individuals within the broad sociological context of American History is an admirable trait that makes for an excellent read.

A fine work of journalism not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: God is indeed an imaginary friend for grown-ups...
Review: This book seems to have two distinct themes: On one level, Krakauer has written a chilling report from the lunatic fringe of Fundamentalism within our own borders. This in itself is very interesting as a sociological/psychological study of conviction gone terribly wrong. That particular theme may have benefited from a closer comparison to Islamist fanaticism, for example, but would probably have turned the book into a multi-volume tome.
On another level, by researching the history of the Mormons, both the `mainstream' and fundamentalist factions, he's taken a very critical look at religion as a cultural phenomenon, and it's this aspect of the book that really stuck with me. I can see why some Mormons might not appreciate the picture he painted, but as a non-religious person, I have to say I found the story interesting. I knew very little about the Latter Day Saints, just as I at one point knew little about the Jehovah's Witnesses, or Quakers, or numerous other groups of believers that I find just as kooky as the Mormons.
Did he make the origins of Mormonism look violent, hypocritical and somewhat ridiculous? Sure, but I'll bet the birth of Catholicism, for example, wasn't any more pure or righteous.

Though not the main thrust of the book, Krakauer thoughtfully and carefully defies Political Correctness to explore a view that millions of people share: Religion is basically comfort food for the soul; that the need for an organized faith has very little to do with the actual search for objective (self) knowledge but everything to do with wanting easy answers to unanswerable questions. Though understandable, this urge to banish insecurity and doubt at the cost of logic becomes, at best, laughable like when a Mormon scientist actually believes that the world is 6 thousand years old, and, at its worst, delusional and dangerous as when a charismatic leader calls every whim that pops into his mind a "revelation".
As a person who has never believed that I needed a religion to be a `good' person, this view was refreshing, and if you feel differently, you probably won't like this book very much. (Having a Scandinavian background, I'm always amazed at how so many 'ungodly' social-democrat welfare states come so much closer to achieving the virtues that Christianity likes to claim, when in practice, almost every Christian group maintains an "us-against-the-rest-of-the-world" mentality, and the Church of Latter Day Saints appear no different)

A comment on some of the other reviews: Krakauer did not grow up as a Mormon. He merely states that he had many Mormon acquaintances in his youth. I'm not sure why some of the readers interpreted this book as some kind of "getting back at Mormons", it plainly isn't.



Rating:
Summary: Interesting look into Mormon Fundamentalism
Review: Very interesting look into the lives of Mormon Fundamentalists. To understand Mormon Fundamentalism, Krakauer delves into the very beginnings of Mormonism and the historical events that allow the readers to better understand how such break-off groups could emerge.

Some active Mormons who have written reviews of Krakauer's book have criticized it for being warped, twisted, untruthful, and fictitious regarding Mormon history. However, as a Mormon for over forty years and one who has been involved in Mormon history, I must admit to these Mormon reviewers that almost all of what Krakauer wrote about early Mormonism is quite accurate.

Most Mormons have a very limited understanding of their own church's history. The LDS church goes to great lengths to suppress any history of their religion that is not "faith promoting" and have even "changed" history to make it less troubling. They discourage members from reading material they deem inappropriate. Because of these policies most church members are taught a very simplified, sanitized and inaccurate version of history. Then when they read a book such as this that exposes some of what really happened, they lash out by exclaiming they are "lies" and "anti-Mormon" propaganda and they give the book a poor rating. If you look at the one star ratings of this book, you will notice that they are almost all by Mormons who feel the history of their church has been wrongly depicted.

Although there are a few minor errors in the book and some "subjective" pronouncements, as a whole, I have found the book quite accurate and richfully insightful about the rather troubling aspects of religious fanaticism which, to this day, are still entrenched in our societies.