by Jon Krakauer
“I was doing God’s will, which is not a crime.”
And now for something completely different. I needed a break from Romulans, Remans, and Vulcans (oh my!). I’ve been wanting to read this, so here’s my break.
In 1984, Dan Lafferty used a knife to slit the throat of his 15-month-old niece Erica in her crib. Then he and his brother Ron brutally beat to death Erica’s mother, 24-year-old Brenda. She was their youngest brother’s wife. The brothers claimed God told them to do it. What caused these men to murder their sister-in-law and her innocent child? The five Lafferty brothers are fundamentalist Mormons. Jon Krakauer examines how religion can lead people to commit atrocities.
Random Thoughts Written Down as I Read:
Many of these are quotes from the book. Please do not cite me as the creator of any of these thoughts.
“Under the Banner of Heaven” is not an anti-Mormon diatribe. But hey, I’m an atheist. I’m opposed to all religions.
Faith is the antithesis of reason. Common sense is no match for the voice of God.
“Perfect obedience produces perfect faith.”
Most Fundamentalist Mormon sects practice Celestial Marriage: polygamy. A man needs at least 3 wives to gain exaltation in the afterlife.
The punishment for homosexuality and miscegenation is immediate death.
HERE are the GOP’s ‘welfare queens.’ Since polygamy is illegal, there are many ‘single mothers’ collecting welfare. THERE’s your fraud, a$$holes: old white guys using their child brides and resulting children to acquire more than $6,000,000/year in public funds.
In Colorado City, Utah/Hildale, Arizona 78% of the town’s residents are on food stamps. It’s called “Bleeding the Beast,’ and it’s considered a virtuous act. The area also has the world’s highest incidence of fumarase deficiency, also known as “Polygamist Down’s.
Many compounds practice incest to keep the bloodlines pure. Birth defects are rampant and considered punishment for the mothers’ sinful behavior.
The men in the enclaves divorce and remarry, basically moving the women around among them at whim.
LDS is responsible for the movements against the ERA and Prop8.
Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by an excommunicated fundamentalist Mormon.
The Garden of Eden was not located in the Middle East, but near Independence, Missouri, USA. Well, I’ll be!
The Mormon Church has been treated violently in the past. They were chased out of MO through murder, theft, rape, incarceration, and harassment.
Nauvoo, Illinois became the promised land circa 1840. Joseph Smith moved his followers to Nauvoo and anointed himself “King, Priest, and Ruler over Israel on Earth.”
He ran for President of the United States in 1844.
In 1843, God revealed to Smith the new and everlasting covenant of Spiritual Wivery, also known as Celestial Marriage, Plural Marriage, and polygamy. He had already been practicing it for at least a decade.
The revelation was not acknowledged until 1852, 8 years after Smith died. By the time of his death, Smith had married around 40 women and girls. His first wife left him over the issue.
Smith was killed by an anti-Mormon mob after being arrested for treason and promised safety.
The revelations of God given to the Lafferty brothers seem overly concerned with the brothers’ seed.
God told the Lafferty brothers to gamble instead of getting jobs. He told them to bet on the wrong horse. Literally.
Nine people were told of the ‘removal revelation’ which told Dan to kill Brenda, Erica, and two others. Three of them agreed with the revelation; six disagreed. None of them told the authorities or the people who were to be ‘removed.’ One of those people was Allen Lafferty, Brenda’s husband and Erica’s father.
The brothers’ mother was also eventually told and knitted while it was being discussed.
After Joseph Smith’s murder, Brigham Young became the Mormon’s 2nd president. Once again, the Mormons were harassed, burned out, killed, until they fled to Utah territory. They came to believe in blood atonement.
They became vindictive, inclusive, untrusting. In 1857, they committed the Mountain Meadows Massacre, attacking and killing all but 17 of the Baker-Fancher wagon train, about 120 men, women, and children. They blamed the attack on local natives, divided up the spoils, and covered up all the evidence they could.
Brigham Young’s Mormons were murdering thieves, liars for the Lord, bribers, betrayers…
In 1890, the President of the Church repudiated plural marriage. By 1920 most Mormons had renounced it. Celestial Marriage was Church Practice for less than 50 years, yet the fundamentalist split-offs from the main church insist upon it.
Looking beyond the pedophilia, incest, wife-swapping, and misogyny engendered by plural marriage (difficult), it seems such a stupid thing to be insistent upon. Their god changes his mind often. Why not accept this decision as well?
The Manson Family killed 11 people. Fundamentalist Mormons go around massacring people, including their own parents, siblings, children, wives. They resort to violence to settle things very easily.
They have no problem marrying step-relatives, adopted children, even their own daughters. They are physically violent to their families.
They claim plural marriage prevents adultery. They claim it is a religious freedom.
Dan Lafferty became interested in Fundamentalism and was ex-communicated from the LDS as a result of his views. When he insisted on a plural marriage, his wife left him and took the kids with her. His sister-in-law Brenda helped his wife when she decided to leave. Brenda refused to let her own husband practice polygamy and wanted him to stop associating with his brothers. Dan received a revelation from God that told him to ‘remove’ Brenda, her daughter, and 2 other people who had helped his wife leave. Dan convinced his brother Ron the revelation was true, and Ron slit his niece’s throat while she stood in her crib. The two brothers then beat Brenda, strangled her, and slit her throat.
Revelation from God? Revenge? Spite? Delusion?
WTF:
“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.”
Brave New Book Blog 