UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN A Story of Violent Faith Jon Krakauer        This book attracted me for several reasons. For one thing, Jon Krakauer grew up in Corvallis, the son of a local Physician. He also wrote the chilling and interesting book, “Into Thin Air.” I am also interested in his take on Mormon religious faith, especially Fundamentalism. An added draw for me is that one of the Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—on which this book centers—is a remote ancestor of mine. My grandmother Anna’s maiden name was Woodruff.        Wilford Woodruff actually made a major contribution to the direction of Mormonism. Prophet, leader, and founder, Joseph Smith, had a revelation before he was killed. He declared multiple marriages to be the will of God. That was to become a popular practice and one that the Congress ultimately declared illegal. My remote ancestor, to his credit, was the one who wrote the “Woodruff Manifesto,” revoking Joseph Smith’s revelation, and submitting to the law of the land.        The book centers on a splinter group of fundamentalist Mormons who, among other things, insisted that God’s laws were higher than man’s laws. Therefore, they insisted that obedience to God required obedience to God’s revelations, including the revelation to Joseph Smith allowing taking of multiple wives.        It is a sordid story as Krakauer tells it, one that ends with the murder of a mother and infant by men “obeying God’s will.”        The theological debate centers on whether, in fact, anyone actually hears and knows God’s will. Are some truly prophets, as a number of Mormons claim to be? A basic tenet of Mormonism is that God still speaks to men (not women) that he chooses as prophets.        The religious debate centers around how one might choose between conflicting prophecies, and thus between different groups or sects. In Krakauer’s report it seems that the personality of the “prophet” has a lot to do with whether the prophecy is believed or not. The “prophet” most skilled at writing in a biblical style seems most likely to find believers.        The psychological debate centers around whether those who claim to hear God and know God are sane or mentally ill. As a practicing minister, who has listened to many troubled people over many years, I usually assumed that anyone who claimed to hear God was suffering some kind of delusion. I was also aware that the same was thought of Old Testament prophets and even of Jesus by his own family. One psychiatrist declared that most charismatic clergy are psychotic. I’m not sure what he thought about the rest of us. Some would say that anyone who is seriously “religious” is delusional, trusting in something without provable factual basis. Reading this book leads one to wonder about the psychological stability of both leaders and followers.        The book helps non-Mormons learn something about Mormon history as well as its goals. It seems bizarre and impossible that such a religion could gain much of a following. 60,000 good looking young men go on two-year missions seeking converts. They average two converts per mission. Mormonism is the fastest growing “denomination” in America and is expected to become the dominant religious and political force in America by the end of the twenty-first century.        One wonders how the continued abuse of young girls, incest, pedophilia and sexual exploitation of women is allowed. The considerable political and economic clout of Mormonism must have something to do with it.         The confusion about what constitutes freedom of religion and separation of church and state allows this kind of religious practice to exist.         As in all religions we should not paint the whole religion with the brush of its fundamentalist offspring. Nevertheless, features of the offspring often appear first in the founders. Mormonism, with its original claims of secret revelations both through written documents and visions of prophets, allows for the later beliefs that result in this gripping and sad story. — Art Morgan, Summer 2003