Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith | Jon Krakauer

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith | Jon Krakauer | Thought provoking

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Under the Banner o...

	Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith Jon Krakauer Anchor, 2004 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 720 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent Account of America's Subculture!

Jon Krakauer has climbed Mount Everest and lived to write and tell about it. Now, he writes about the subculture of America's polygamous culture. He writes about the FLDS and UEP who are both discommunicated by the official Mormon Church who stopped the practice of polygamy in 1890s. Remember, the official Mormon Church does not condone or condemen enough of the polygamous practice of their discommunicated members of the FLDS. Krakauer writes about the growth and the secrecy for obvious reasons. Most escapees refuse to return to their compounds and former lives. They might dress like the Amish but they are not Amish at all. They are taught to fear the outside world and outsiders or gentiles which includes Jews and other Mormons. The FLDS and UEP believe that the Mormon Church has sold the practice of polygamy out as a way for acceptance in America. THe Mormons have grown and flourished in the world despite the polygamous monkey on their back. Not all polygamous families are like the ones depicted in the fictional cable show, Big Love. Not all are functioning. Women are treated like cattle and breed babies. The girls are brought up to be mothers and wives at young ages. The boys who are seen as a threat to the older men in the community as competition are often sent to exile to live on their own in the streets. There are hundreds of lost boys whose only crime was to be teenagers, like girls, catch a movie or television show. In the polygamous communities of FLDS and UEP in Colorado City, ARizona; Hildale Utah; El Dorado, Texas; Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada; there are taught to live without television, radios, or read newspapers. The education system is flawed with edited books and manuals. The children are not taught properly about science or sexuality in general. Sexuality is seen as a necessary evil in order to reproduce more. They are expected to wear long skirts, long pants, long sleeved shirts, and the women's hair is not supposed to be cut but styled like in a braid or like Little House on the Prairie. Even the men must endure heat with long pants and long-sleeved shirts, life is hard enough for both men and women. I don't support the idea of polygamy but I am concerned about the women and the children. The women are mostly mothers and are often victimized by the men if they leave and return. The crimes are numerous and unspoken outside the compound until now. The women who are polygamous wives are almost all born into it. They know of no other life and they have never had the opportunities that other women outside the community. The polygamous wives from outside the communities might have the opportunity and choice after generations of polygamy within their families to make that fateful decision. Not so in the FLDS and UEP, women are assigned husbands at an early age by the head prophet.

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Thought provoking

Under the Banner of Heaven is an in depth and eye opening historical account of the Mormon church. I am looking at the Church of LDS in a different perspective. It has made me question my own religious beliefs.

You Won't be able to put it down!

Incredible this is going on in America!! Greta book well written! Please write more on this subject! Especially liked the unbiased historical overview of morman religion!

Compelling Non-Fiction

This is the most compelling non-fiction book I have read. This is a true crime told stunningly, a great weave of the history of the Mormon church, amazingly well-researched. Krakauer is a true authority on his subject. What he does best is stay out of the way of the narrative, letting his interest drive the book, and allow him to tell the most important and crucial parts of the stories.

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Compelling

This book really left me marveling at the situation Mormons find themselves in - there is so much to recommend the culture that has grown up around the religion, and yet it's based on what is, to an outsider, silly stuff. I didn't understand until reading this the dynamics around the Smart kidnapping. The sexism which is inherent in LDS (fundamental or not) is invidious.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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