54 pages • 1-hour read
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
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Chapters 5-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Second Great Awakening”
In this chapter, Krakauer asserts that to understand the religious extremism of Ron and Dan Lafferty, one must understand the history of the Mormon faith. Joseph Smith, born in 1805, was the son of a tenant farmer. Smith’s mother was keenly interested in mysticism, and the religious experimentation of this era was quickly spreading. Smith was smart and self-taught; he spent his time learning about black magic and attempting to make money quickly through a search for buried treasure. In many cases, the treasure he found came from Native American burial grounds. Smith’s digging was illegal, but he persisted. Using a seer stone given to him by a girl on a neighboring farm, Smith hired himself to travelers to find treasure mystically. In the March 1826 trial People of the State of New York v. Joseph Smith, Smith was found guilty of “being a disorderly person and an imposter” (59).
At the age of 17, Smith claimed to have been visited by an angel named Moroni who revealed to him the whereabouts of an ancient text written on gold plates. Smith found the plates but was instructed not to remove the plates or reveal them to anyone. Smith was also told by God that he must marry a young girl named Emma Hale. Unimpressed by Smith’s treasure-hunting background, Emma’s father refused to allow Smith to marry his daughter. Smith convinced Emma to run away with him and elope. With Emma by his side, Smith found the gold book again and translated the text using a special pair of spectacles given to him by the angel Moroni. After returning the plates, Smith could make the words reappear by using the seer stone. He published the manuscript after God told Smith that his friend should pay for the publication; the book was titled The Book of Mormon.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Cumorah”
The hill where Joseph Smith found the sacred tablets is called the Hill Cumorah and is the site of a huge modern-day celebration each year. Produced by the LDS Church, the Hill Cumorah Pageant brings Mormons on a pilgrimage to watch a highly produced retelling of Smith’s experiences and the story of The Book of Mormon. The pageant boasts major special effects and draws in more than 10,000 Latter-Day Saints during the week of its production.
In the story described in The Book of Mormon, an ancient Hebrew tribe, led by a man named Lehi, understood that to earn God’s love, individuals had to obey God's every commandment. The tribe split into two groups under Lehi’s two sons: Nephi and Laman. The book describes the Lamanites as “idle people, full of mischief and subtlety” (69). This section of the tribe did not follow God’s commandments and descended into disbelief, eventually attacking and murdering the Nephites. The book also claims that Lamanites came to be Native Americans. The leader of the Nephites was named Mormon, and he fought against the Lamanites. His son, Moroni, became the angel who appeared to Joseph Smith.
Critics of The Book of Mormon point to its dubious origin story and inconsistencies. Krakauer suggests, however, that this criticism is pointless as all religion is dependent upon faith, not facts, to uphold its foundation. Capitalizing on the Second Great Awakening and the willingness of Americans to view their country as God’s chosen place, Smith’s new religion was instantly popular. Smith’s religion also differed from other popular religions of the time because it emphasized having an intimate relationship with God. Followers of Mormonism believed that they could speak directly to and hear directly from God. Followers felt elevated by the ability to receive guidance and revelations from God.
Chapter 7 Summary: “The Still Small Voice”
While Smith emphasized intimate and personal relationships with God, he later reconsidered his belief that all Mormons could speak directly with God. He found the many revelations of his followers confused the message and order of his church. Robert Crossfield, also known as Prophet Onias, wrote and published the book The Second Book of Commandments with over 200 commandments revealed to him through an intimate relationship with God. Crossfield is a Mormon fundamentalist but does not associate with the FLDS or Rulon Jeffs. He claims that his brand of Mormonism does not promote violence and is much kinder. Crossfield describes reading The Book of Mormon for the first time as a young boy and “the still small voice” that compelled him after he finished it (76). Crossfield was excommunicated from the LDS after publishing his first book of commandments based on revelations given to him by God. Crossfield believed that his version of the Mormon faith was the correct one, ordained by God, and he quoted Smith’s revelation that “one mighty and strong” would restore order to the Mormon church (77).
Close to Salt Lake City, Brigham Young University (BYU) is in the city of Provo. BYU is a university devoted to the Mormon faith and is controlled by the LDS. While many associate Salt Lake City with Mormonism, most Mormons consider Provo to be the center of the Mormon faith. Dan Lafferty was born and raised just a few miles south of Provo, close to the Dream Mine, a site prophesized to contain enough gold to carry the Mormons through the Second Coming of Christ. Crossfield heard of the Dream Mine and bought shares in it, believing in its spiritual history. Crossfield put together a group called the School of the Prophets, a place to discuss and participate in fundamental Mormon principles. Members of the School of the Prophets were encouraged to receive revelations directly from God. The group recruited new members, including the Lafferty brothers.
Chapters 5-7 Analysis
Krakauer spends a large portion of the book examining the history and origins of the Mormon faith. The story of Joseph Smith is riddled with mysticism and manipulation. Krakauer suggests that the foundation of the Mormon faith creates a perfect storm of factors that lead to religious extremism. He also asserts that dissecting the faith itself and looking at it both scientifically and rationally is fruitless; such an action fails to acknowledge the fact that religion itself is irrational and has nothing to do with facts. By establishing a faith in which followers can communicate directly with God, Smith designed a system in which anyone at any time could profess to be receiving directives from the Almighty, uninhibited and without limitations.
This intimate relationship with God and the impact of revelations is profoundly important in the story of the Lafferty brothers. As shown in later chapters, Ron Lafferty believes he received a revelation calling for the blood atonement of Brenda and Erika Lafferty as well as two other LDS Saints: Chloe Low and Richard Stowe. Prophet Onias also plays a major role in the extremist project of the Lafferty brothers. The School of the Prophets became a support system of extremist faith upon which the brothers and other proponents of the Dream Mine could feed off one another and push one another further and further into radicalism. Onias established a sect of fundamentalist Mormon faith that depended on personal revelations from God.
Although Onias believed that Ron’s revelation did not come from God, it was too late to stop him. Onias had encouraged the brothers in their direct communications with God and affirmed the messages they had been receiving. He inflated Ron’s ego by emphasizing that he was to lead this new church and shared that he believed God had sent the Lafferty brothers. By the time Ron Lafferty received the revelation that he should commit murder, Onias had fostered an environment that was so volatile and extremist that there was no turning back.
Krakauer explores the patriarchal authoritarianism of the Mormon faith and how its unwavering adherence to obedience breeds further violence. The leader of the LDS faith is described as the “President, Prophet, Seer, and Revelator” and is believed to have a direct communication line with God. This means that this leader has control over the direction of the faith and complete influence over his followers. In the eyes of Mormons, a word from the Prophet is the word of God. This fact, combined with a belief that the Lafferty brothers were the mighty and strong men sent by God to bring order to the Mormon church, inflated Ron and Dan’s sense of self. Their actions were above reproach as they were self-perceived to be under the directives of God. Even after years in prison, Dan maintained that he committed no crime because he was following the will of God.
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