Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

“There is a dark side to religious devotion that is too often ignored or denied. As a means of motivating people to be cruel or inhumane—as a means of inciting evil, to borrow the vocabulary of the devout—there may be no more potent force than religion.”

Krakauer suggests that religious devotion should be approached with caution rather than associated with virtues of righteousness and goodness. Religion has been used throughout history to justify acts of violence, and Krakauer recommends that religion may be the driving force of inhumanity rather than mental illness or other outside forces.

“And it shall come to pass that I, the Lord God, will send one mighty and strong, holding the scepter of power in his hand, clothed with light for a covering, whose mouth shall utter words, eternal words; while his bowels shall be a fountain of truth to set in order the house of God.”

This passage comes from The Doctrine and Covenants, Section 85. These sentences, believed to be revealed to Smith on November 27, 1832, became a catalyst for many Mormon fundamentalists to believe they were chosen by God to restore order to the church. Dan and Ron Lafferty both, at different times, believe that they were the fulfillment of this prophecy.

“Extreme and bizarre religious ideas are so commonplace in American history that it is difficult to speak of them as fringe at all. To speak of fringe implies a mainstream, but in terms of numbers, perhaps the largest component of the religious spectrum in contemporary America remains what it has been since colonial times: a fundamentalist evangelicalism with powerful millenarian strands.”

This quote by religious scholar Philip Jenkins reveals a component of Krakauer’s thesis that religious extremism is not that different from mainstream religious faith. He asserts that the Mormon faith, from its inception, had its roots in extremist ideals and created a foundation upon which fundamentalist sects could thrive.

“His sermons frequently stress the need for total submission. ‘I want to tell you that the greatest freedom you can enjoy is in obedience,’ he has preached. ‘Perfect obedience produces perfect faith.’”

Rulon Jeffs of the FLDS encouraged his followers to submit to complete obedience. Krakauer points to Jeffs as an example of how patriarchal expressions of religion flourish through enactments of complete power. Obedience to individual church leaders often replaces obedience to God.

“‘What goes on in our homes here is nobody’s business,’ asserts Sam Roundy, Colorado City’s polygamous police chief. ‘We’re not infringing on anybody. Don’t we have the right to practice our religion?’”

A major theme of the work—Turning a Blind Eye—explores how the minding of one’s own business may further advance the victimization of others. The idea that the freedom to practice one’s religion while inhibiting the freedom of others is in opposition and, yet, is used as an excuse for violence and dominance.

“The essential principle of Mormonism is not polygamy at all, but the ambition of an ecclesiastical hierarchy to wield sovereignty; to rule the souls and lives of its subjects with absolute authority, unrestrained by any civil power.”

This quotation opens a chapter that details the atrocities occurring within the FLDS community of Bountiful. Krakauer asserts that Mormonism was always about power and control, as when Joseph Smith attempted to create his own militia and run for U.S. President. In this interpretation, polygamy is not a spiritual principle but an instrument for controlling women.

“All religious belief is a function of nonrational faith. And faith, by its very definition, tends to be impervious to intellectual argument or academic criticism.”

Krakauer boldly suggests that all religious belief is nonrational. He states that one cannot attempt to understand faith rationally or logically and that in attempting to do so one cannot understand the full story of what happened with Dan and Ron Lafferty.

“It is evident that by [abandoning the sacred principle of plural marriage], an endless catalogue of crime has been created that otherwise could never have existed; and that does exist at this moment in these States. Husbands forsake their wives, and often brutally abuse them. Fathers forsake their children; young maidens are seduced and abandoned by the deceiver; wives are poisoned and put to the death by their husbands; husbands are murdered by their wives; newborn babes are cruelly murdered to hide the false shame created by the false, and wicked, and tyrannical law against polygamy.”

The quotation comes from the book The Peace Maker. Here, the author makes a case for how the abandonment of polygamy has corrupted the American family. This text was highly influential on Dan Lafferty who used it as a justification for the pursuit of a second wife in his wife Matilda’s oldest daughter.

“Although Joseph may not have ordered Rockwell to shoot Boogs, it was commonly understood by the faithful that it was a Saint’s sacred duty to assist in the fulfilling of prophecies when the opportunity arose. Once Boggs’s death had been foretold by the prophet, nobody needed to tell Porter Rockwell what to do.”

By believing that the Prophet was without flaw and that his directives came from God, Joseph Smith established a faith in which his followers would act out his every word. Porter Rockwell’s actions here closely mirror Dan’s as he enacted his brother’s removal revelation on Brenda and Erika Lafferty. Prophecy thus becomes self-filling. The prophet doesn’t see the future but rather creates it by foretelling it and then relying on followers to carry it out.

“Upon Joseph’s divine installation as ruler of the world, there would be no further need for democracy because God, for all intents and purposes, would be in charge. Surely, Joseph believed, the American people would understand this once they were given an opportunity to hear his message—the righteousness and undeniable truth of the Mormon faith.”

Smith was a strong proponent of the Constitution, especially where freedom of religion was involved. However, he also believed in authoritarian rule by himself, falsely assuming that once everyone heard the Mormon message they would fall in line.

“In Dr. Groesbeck’s learned opinion, this revelation was a delusional artifact, as were all Ron’s revelations, spawned by depression and his deeply entrenched narcissism, with no basis whatsoever in reality. Which is, of course, what nonbelievers typically say about people who have religious visions and revelations: that they’re crazy. The devout individuals on the receiving end of such visions, however, generally beg to differ, and Ron is one of them.”

Krakauer suggests that all faith is irrational and that it is a mistake to align faith-based delusions with mental illness. In the case of Ron, although his religious views at first seemed far-reached, psychologists were able to show how his faith was not that different from established mainstream religions.

“I was completely comfortable that things had happened the way God intended them to happen. Ron was very shaken and very weak. He kept talking about the smell of blood on his hands. I put my hand on his shoulder and tried to comfort him.”

Dan describes how he felt after murdering Brenda and Erika Lafferty. Ron was disturbed, but Dan felt calm and confident in his actions. Because he was so conditioned to believe that he could receive direct revelations from God and that God was guiding his hands, Dan felt no remorse about what he had just done. Even after years in prison, Dan maintained that he was merely following God’s will and had, therefore, committed no crime.

“I was guided in all that I did which is called criminal, by the orders of the leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have never knowingly disobeyed the orders of the Church since I joined it at Far West, Missouri, until I was deserted by Brigham Young and his slaves.”

This quote was delivered by John D. Lee, a devout follower of Mormonism and Brigham Young after his arrest for the massacre of the Fancher party. Brigham offered up Lee as a scapegoat for the murders. Lee’s statement here exemplifies both themes The Prevalence and Inevitability of Religious Extremism and Violence and Power in Patriarchal Expressions of Religion. Lee was so indoctrinated into religious extremism that he followed orders blindly, leading to a violent outcome and his demise. 

“God is greater than the United States, and when the Government conflicts with heaven we will be ranged under the banner of heaven and against the Government.”

LDS leader John Taylor believed in strict adherence to the principle of plural marriage and challenged the idea that the United States government could enact authority upon the Mormon people. This belief exemplifies religious extremism and mirrors Ron and Dan’s insistence that the laws of the government were in direct contrast with their religious beliefs and freedoms.

“Both revelation and delusion are attempts at the solution of problems. Artists and scientists realize that no solution is ever final, but that each new creative step points the way to the next artistic or scientific problem. In contrast, those who embrace religious revelations and delusional systems tend to see them as unshakeable and permanent.”

On the title page of Part 4, Krakauer introduces this quote by Anthony Storr. The quotation harkens to the improvisational and reactionary approach of the Mormon faith. It also contributes to the theme of The Prevalence and Inevitability of Religious Extremism and Violence. Each new step leads the believer down a rabbit hole of extremism, forcing the extremist believer to plant their feet firmly in a set of delusional ideals.

“Whether a belief is considered to be a delusion or not depends partly upon the intensity with which it is defended, and partly upon the numbers of people subscribing to it.”

The conclusion of Storr’s quote examines the curious double standard of belief. The word “delusion” here is interchangeable with “extremism.” Religious extremism is often defined by its placement as an outlier, a fringe sect.

“Joseph Smith bequeathed his followers a troublesome legacy, the conviction that it was ‘the Kingdom or nothing’ and the belief that any act that promoted or protected God’s work was justified.”

Krakauer suggests that the inception of Mormonism paved the way for religious extremism and expressions of violence. This black-and-white view of the world enabled Mormon fundamentalists to feel justified in all manner of actions so long as they felt they were furthering the message and teachings of Joseph Smith.

“Brigham Young’s relentless commitment to the Kingdom of God forged a culture of violence from Joseph Smith’s theology that bequeathed a vexatious heritage to his successors. Early Mormonism’s peculiar obsession with blood and vengeance created the society that made the massacre possible if not inevitable.”

Ron Lafferty became increasingly obsessed with the idea of blood atonement and convinced himself that he had received a revelation calling for the removal of those persons whom Ron felt had wronged him, and, therefore, wronged God. Krakauer suggests that Ron’s violent faith comes from a predisposition of the Mormon faith toward violence, a component of the religion as old as the seer stone Smith used to justify an unsanctioned marriage to Emma Smith.

“The bench was troubled by Ron’s belief that because he answered to the laws of God, he need not answer the laws of man.”

Like his brother Dan, Ron believed that his faith was at odds with the government and that he should not be convicted in state courts. He believed that he should be tried by the family, namely Brenda’s husband and Ron’s brother Allen, for what he had done. The opposing forces of Ron’s belief system with the U.S. government closely resembles the early struggles of the Mormon faith with governmental laws.

“Saying that anyone who talks to God is crazy has enormous implications for the whole world of religion. It imposes a secular view of sanity and means that all religions are insane.”

A large portion of Ron’s defense was devoted to the idea that he was mentally unwell based upon his outlandish and extremist religious beliefs. This quotation by Peggy Fletcher Stack questions the stability and ethics of this idea as it places all religious beliefs within a category of mental illness.

“Gardner explained that what makes Ron Lafferty’s religious beliefs ‘so striking is not that they are somewhat strange or even irrational, because all religious people have [...] irrational ideas; what makes them different is that they are so uniquely their own.’”

Ron Lafferty’s unique take on the Mormon faith exemplifies the way religious extremism can expand and inflate an idea to its breaking point. Ron’s beliefs, at their core, are not far off base when put into the realm of Mormon historical context. They are rooted in Joseph Smith’s teachings and the ideas set forth by the religion’s previous leaders. It is what Ron did with those beliefs that put them into the category of religious extremism.

“Wootton acknowledged that Ron ‘has a tendency to take things of a religious nature and carry them to a real extreme. However, I would add that I know dozens and dozens of people who do the same thing and never commit any crime. So it’s not unusual to find people who take some religious ideas or other ideas to an extreme.’”

Krakauer shows again how religious extremism is inevitable. While Ron’s actions were horrific and based on extremist views, Krakauer shows how those views are not that different from the belief system of any follower of mainstream religion.

“Even more perhaps than other kinds of genius, religious leaders have been subject to abnormal psychical visitations. Invariably they have been creatures of exalted emotional sensibility. Often they have led a discordant inner life, and had melancholy during part of their career. They have known no measure, been liable to obsessions and fixed ideas; and frequently they have fallen into trances, heard voices, seen visions, and presented all sorts of peculiarities which are ordinarily classed as pathological. Often, moreover, these pathological features in their career have helped to give them their religious authority and influence.”

Krakauer suggests that Ron Lafferty had narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). He controversially claims that many religious leaders—including Mormonism’s founder Joseph Smith—also had NPD.