Under the Banner of Heaven
Title: Under the Banner of Heaven
Author: Jon Krakauer
Genre: non-fiction: true crime/religion
Rating:
What they said: Links to reviews
What I say:
My first introduction to Mormons, like many folks my age who grew up in Eastern Canada, was from the commercials that aired during my childhood. They were always steeped in family values and left one with a warm, loving glow. "This has been a message from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
So before moving to Arizona I knew Mormons existed (though hadn't met any), but had little idea what the religion entailed. Most of the press they received in international and national news (Globe and Mail) was defamatory, usually involving the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints and their practice of polygamy both in Canada (Bountiful, BC) and in the US (Colorado City, AZ and elsewhere).
In Arizona, there are Mormons everywhere. I've met a gazillion of them. They're really nice, and have great family lives. But still the polygamy issue bothered me... I found "Under the Banner of Heaven" on sale at my local Borders and decided to read up a bit about the best and worst Joseph Smith's followers had to offer.
Random House categorizes this book as "True Crime - Murder; Religion - Mormonism". Do not take this lightly. Some of the anecdotes and histories told herein are gory, others just plain disturbing. Krakauer exposes the extremist LDS spinoff sects and explains the religious and societal atmosphere that spawned them. It's worth a read, and worth bearing in mind that religious extremists or fundamentalists of any kind are not necessarily indicative of mainstream adherents.
~a m i~
Author: Jon Krakauer
Genre: non-fiction: true crime/religion
Rating:
What they said: Links to reviews
What I say:
My first introduction to Mormons, like many folks my age who grew up in Eastern Canada, was from the commercials that aired during my childhood. They were always steeped in family values and left one with a warm, loving glow. "This has been a message from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
So before moving to Arizona I knew Mormons existed (though hadn't met any), but had little idea what the religion entailed. Most of the press they received in international and national news (Globe and Mail) was defamatory, usually involving the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints and their practice of polygamy both in Canada (Bountiful, BC) and in the US (Colorado City, AZ and elsewhere).
In Arizona, there are Mormons everywhere. I've met a gazillion of them. They're really nice, and have great family lives. But still the polygamy issue bothered me... I found "Under the Banner of Heaven" on sale at my local Borders and decided to read up a bit about the best and worst Joseph Smith's followers had to offer.
Random House categorizes this book as "True Crime - Murder; Religion - Mormonism". Do not take this lightly. Some of the anecdotes and histories told herein are gory, others just plain disturbing. Krakauer exposes the extremist LDS spinoff sects and explains the religious and societal atmosphere that spawned them. It's worth a read, and worth bearing in mind that religious extremists or fundamentalists of any kind are not necessarily indicative of mainstream adherents.
~a m i~
posted by miss canada @ 8:25 AM
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