6th post?

Apparently we need a sixth... and final blog post about our book. Even though I about 99% positive Mr. Kramer told us we only needed 5 even though the sheet said 6.  Well although I already made my closing post a post early I might as well say some more of the repetitive things I keep saying. This one is going to be brief. Basically, if there is anything I have learned from reading Under the Banner of Heaven, it is this. Never move to Utah, they will try and convert you. They try and persuade you by saying that they are one of the lost tribes of Israel and that they are brothers to the Jewish people. LIES. They are brothers to the people over in those Lunatic Asylums. That is really how I would compare them. People always believe that they are entering to get help and the end result will be good, people always try to leave, and they always keep dragging you back in. Its the truth, haven't you ever seen Shutter Island. Haha, obviously I am exaggerating a little bit, but when looking back on what I read all of the stories were about people who wanted to get out of the religion... not get in. We owe that to Krakauer being pretty good at his job of investigative journalism. Putting aside the past. The past is the past, Joseph Smith was, and now he isn't. Looking at the LDS and FLDS of today's world, it is not a religion you would want to get caught up in. It is a religion that relies on violence and incest. It is a religion that when you read between the lines you read DANGER. Maybe that is just Krakauer's point, but he is very good at what he does and is very well known, so I am guessing that he knew what he was doing when he wrote the book.

Under the Banner of Heaven: Final Post

After finishing Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, I have very mixed opinions about the Mormon religion. I believe that LDS (Latter Day Saints) is a more normal religion than the FLDS (fundamentalists). They definetly do not put the 'fun' in 'fundamentalists'. The LDS practice their religion the way it was meant to be, not harming anybody, just going on there way, being a part of everyday normallity in the United States. However, the FLDS practices a much more gross mormon practice. They are isolated from the rest of the country in there little compounds, they home school their kids, and they believe in plural marriage. If you do not follow the rules you will be banished from the religion forever and never be allowed to speak to your family again. We learn this through stories much like the ones of the Lafferty Brothers, Rulon Jeffs, and the Elizabeth Smart kidnapper. A lot of the things they take part in is a gross misconduct of the law. Putting aside the fact that a lot of these "prophets" have way too many wives, most of the time when they are married into the family they are under the legal age. Most of these women have been raped before the age of 16, and most of these women have kids by that age. Incest is also a very common practice in this religion. Very often you get the daughters marrying their fathers' brothers. When they question why their son or daughter has disabilities, the logical reasoning is because of incest, but not their logic. Their logic is that God was punishing them for something they did wrong in the past.

My father summed the religion up for me very nicely. Joseph Smith was given a commandment from God. This commandment was delivered by an angel. The Angel's name was Moroni. The Angel Moroni delivered the commandment that told Joseph Smith to start the mormon religion. My dad summed it up by saying this, "If you drop the I from Moroni's name, you get Moron. The 'Angel Moron' was the basis for the whole religion. Morons created the religion. A religion by Morons for Morons." Now you might think that my dad was being a little harsh here. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. The truth does not lie though, you read what I read, then maybe you will come to terms and see it my way. The mormon religion is a very interesting religion to learn about, and it is good for a laugh every now and then. The big issue with this religion is that it breaks a lot of laws, and I believe that was the point of me reading this book, to determine what should come first, the laws or the religion. There is a way of practicing this religion right, and the way the FLDS practice it, is not the right way. They should take some notes on how the LDS practice it, they do it the right way. There is obviously a growing concern with this religion and how the women of the mormon religion are treated, and it is something that everybody should be aware of. I believe that the only way you can make a strong argument and a valid opinion on this topic is to do some research and read the book for yourself.

Until next time...

Under the Banner of Heaven Post 4 of 5

After my latest reading, there are really just two things I feel the need to touch upon; the craziness of Dan Lafferty and Joseph Smith.
Dan Lafferty was an LDS Mormon, he believed in the practices of Mormon and lived a fairly normal life besides the fact that he was a Mormon. At some point when he went to a church meeting in his small town in California he decided it would be a good idea to change the way he practiced. He turned off all of the gas and electricity in house, pulled his kids out of school, and took on his step-daughter as his second wife. This is a JOKE! I know that is what he believes and all, but, come on, this is the silliest thing I've heard. Wait, it gets better though. He started treating his kids when they were ill.... by prayer and herbal remedies. He even birthed his own child and did the circumsition himself.
I feel that when reading this book, with being how great it is, it is making me more and more stupid by even thinking about the beliefs.
Here is why:
Joseph Smith explained to his followers that God had told him two things. One; the Garden of Eden was actually in a town in Northwest Missouri, and not in the Middle East. Two; he told him that Jesus would soon walk again in this place. Upon recieving this messasge, Smith told everyone that they should move the religion to this place and think of it as a New Jerusalem. Smith made enemies in Missouri, a lot of them. To the point where they had to move from place to place to avoid mobs of death. Eventually, after being arrested and escaping from jail, they moved back to Illinois, where he became a prominent politician. Again as he did in Missouri though, he made more enemies, which lead to his untimely death. He was in jail when a mob came at him and shot him and shot him some more. Joseph Smith believed that he was the second coming of Mohammed to the Muslims. I laughed when I read this.
Stay tuned for the final post.

Under the Banner of Heaven Post 3 out of 5

Let me just start this post of by explaining how the "Book of Mormon" was written. Joseph Smith looked into a hat filled with golden plates and a peeping stone. When he looked into a hat he saw a phrase of words and had his scribe write it down. He did this over and over again until the "Book of Mormon" was completely written. However crazy Smith might have been, he was convincing enough to get people to follow him. Krakauer in the chapters that I have most recently read explains how the Mormon religion was created and the meaning of why it is called Latter Day Saints. The reason that the religion is called Latter Day Saints is because according to Smith and the Book of Mormon, God had chose them to be the sons and daughters and that they would be needed in the time of the millenium. Smith called these sons and daughters of the mormon religion, Latter Day Saints. He explains of how when Smith was a young boy in Palmyra, when he was excited by black magic, he went to this girls house who had peeping stones, and went out to find peeping stones of his own. It also explains of this big party they have at the most sacred place in the religion. The Hill Cumorah. The gathering, supposed to be a tool of conversion, really has in attendance of people about 90 percent of them are already practicing mormons. At this gathering they do an entire recreation of the creation of the religion. There was one thing that did catch my attention about this gathering. Krakauer explains what goes on there and in doing so he says the smell of marijuana smoke. This has me curious because I would have just assumed that the use of drugs of any sort, being tobacco, alcohol, or others, would be illegal in the religion and grounds for being thrown out of the religion. Again, as I have stated in the first two posts, this book is very interesting and I do reccomend it, The investigative journalism of Krakauer gets so deep its almost creepy how much he does. It adds for a great and exciting read.