Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Like the mangled remains of a car wreck, Jon Krakauer's investigation of the murder of a mother and her baby by fundamentalist Mormons is magnetically hypnotizing. One is appalled and horrified by the carnage, but the author's ability to get inside the mind of a killer echoes conversations Capote and Mailer had decades ago with equally hideous men—and this book is every bit as engrossing as those earlier works.

In the process of shining a light on the mind of Dan Lafferty, one of the two Utah brothers convicted of murdering their sister-in-law and her child in 1984, Krakauer also illuminates the fanatical religious thinking that led to these savage acts. The fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) is actually comprised of several sects of Mormons who adhere to a strict interpretation of the prophet Joseph Smith's teachings. Most American readers will be familiar with the FLDS' controversial embrace of polygamy—and that is one of the main points of divergence from the mainstream Mormon Church, but Krakauer's research shows to what comically absurd lengths "plural marriage" has led to:

"As his sixth wife, Debbie became a stepmother to Blackmore's thirty-one kids, most of whom were older than she was. And because he happened to be the father of Debbie's own stepmother, Mem, she unwittingly became a stepmother to her stepmother, and thus a stepgrandmother to herself."

Sadly, what may get lost in our eye-rolling derision is how tragic this can be, particularly for girls unlucky enough to have been born into an FLDS life:

"Before she vanished, Ruth Stubbs was living in the Phoenix home of her aunt Pennie Peterson, who ran away from Colorado City herself at the age of fourteen, when the prophet commanded her to become the fifth wife of a forty-eight-year-old man. Sixteen years later, Peterson remains very bitter about the UEP's polygamous culture. 'Polygamists say they are being attacked because of their religion,' she told the Salt Lake Tribune, 'but where in the Constitution does it say that it's OK to molest and impregnate young girls?'"

Ultimately, it's this cruelty in the name of God that the book highlights so effectively, and how formerly functional members of society such as Dan Lafferty can be reduced to barbarity by their quest to live in accordance with what they perceive to be a divine plan. In these times of widespread religious violence, Under the Banner of Heaven is a cautionary tale about the dangers of dogmatism. Even those of us who are spiritually unaffiliated would be wise to heed its warnings.

View all my reviews.