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1984 Lafferty case still haunts

Not only did Allen know about the "removal revalation" before the murders and not do anything so did the other brothers and their mother, two accomplisses, and some members of the fundementalist group to which they the belonged. What makes the story even more horrifying, than what is presented in this informative article, is that none of those people tried to stop the murders.

Incredible that there are such evil people in the world.
How twisted can you get ? To declare yourself a prophet of the Lord, and kill an innocent woman and her baby because you feel you are doing Gods work is simply mind boggling. How much better are those who knew of this horrendous plot beforehand but kept silent ? The things that people do in the name of religion is chilling.

I read the book about this story and it made me ball my eyes out. I havent cried in over 8 years since I served my mormon mission. May god be with the wright family and all those who are innocent in this tragedy.

I just read Under the Banner of Heaven and wanted to express my sorrow over the tragic deaths of Brenda and baby Erica. How sad that such religious extremism is rampant in our own society. Ron and Dan Lafferty are really no different than the terrorists that flew planes into the WTC and the pentagon on 9-11.

Catholic, Mormon or Protestant we're all Christians and Satan has vowed to destroy us all. The Lafferty brothers, along with Brenda and her baby, are all victims of the devil. False revelations aren't nvented- they come from hell's throne. Praise Jesus that we have not yet fallen victim as well. Or have we?

Under the Banner of Heaven has opened my eyes to what i can honestly say are terrifying possibilities. The murders that this book were centered around were chilling to say the least, however with crimes of passion occuring every year these murders weren't what rattled me the most. The history of the Mormon church including both the modern and fundementalist sects is extremely disturbing. Any devote member of Mormondom who frowned upon the people who knew of Ron's removal revelation and did not warn Brenda should take a look at themselves for supporting a religion based on murders, rape, adultery, theiving and brainwashing. A religion whos leaders and founders share all share the same qualites as the latter and infact the famous Brigham Young himself has a major university named after him. Its beyond me how a religion less than 200 years old, created in an era of journalism and the printing press where their corrupt history has been documented could evolve at the rate at which it has today. If supporters of this religion were honest with their history, they wouldn't be shocked by these murders at all, in fact such acts are the foundation for the mormon church.

Hey Ben Meachen, i agree with everything you have said! It's true, i can't believe that a religion that young could still be around today and it seems more violent than any of the older religions.

I believe that all religion is evil, it forces people apart, and starts wars.

Both the author and the Lafferty brothers claim to be seekers of truth. When seeking truth, belief systems must be held to basic truths and examined under that magnifying glass. What happened to "loving your neighbor as yourself" and "turning the other cheek" and loving and praying for those that despitefully use you? If Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and Watson Lafferty and his sons had held their belief systems up to those righteous directives, they would have to question the validity of the tenants they espoused.

Sad and sick. I hope their cellmates "like" them a lot.

This is really sad... My question to everyone though is: Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Issac and almost did. Why would God put someone to such a test, maybe these crazy brothers thought God was testing them?
See, I am a Mormon and I don't have all the answers...nobody does. I don't understand how people go mental like that after they grow up in the church.
Ben Meachen you yourself are filled with hatred and don't seem to know anything about the LDS faith. I believe there will always be things in history that we are not proud of. Man is not perfect...well, you might be, the rest of us are just trying to be the best we can be and understand God's will.

I would like to say something concerning Under th Banner of Heaven. The author of that book skewed so much of the information, he wanted every bit of it to fit his point of view, making his 'non-fiction' book really a fiction novel. He pretty much says at the end he wrote it the way he wanted to write it whether it fits with the facts or not, so you base your opinions of the Mormon church off a guy who says he isn't using the straight facts but the morphed facts? Its like would you rather listen to a CD that is new and without flaw or a CD that has been scratched and been sitting in the sun and has water damage that messes the entire sound? I have to agree with Sam

Reading Under the Banner of Heaven, it appears Mormonism grew up during a time of incredible fervor, passion, persecution, zealotry and violence (all of it caused by religion, not all of it caused by Mormonism). The Lafferty's to that extent are simply the "reductio ad absurdum" of this history.

Through religion, rational people can become unhinged.

Cami - you probably derive great comfort from believing Under the Banner of Heaven is "fiction". Believing something doesn't make it true.

I just finished reading The Banner of Heaven in almost one sitting and came downstairs for coffee, and to wander around the internet for more data. I have rarely been moved so much by a book - and I read constantly. The book is clearly meticulously researched non-fiction, and the author of course expresses much of his own opinion along the way - how could that be avoided when he is pouring his heart into the book like that. The writing is breathtaking - I cannot imagine a person reading chapters in the book like "Evangeline" and not be broken down emotionally, and terribly frightened by what abysses might be (and probably are)lurking in the most "sane" and stable human mind. The book reaches a feverish pitch in the trial in "Judgment in Provo" - Dr. Gardner says how as a boy "I learned the earth was 6,000 years old, just like two plus two is four." This theme is carried over into the last chapter, perhaps the most frightening. That we can learn to accept any sort of horror as normal and even righteous, if it is ingrained in at a young age.

I just finished Under the Banner of Heaven and found it fascinating. For what it's worth, I don't think the book is unfair to mainstream LDS. I've grown up with LDS members in northern California and I have always thought they were decent and hard working people, though a bit clannish. I think any thoughful reader can see that Krakauer makes a careful distinction between the main LDS chruch and the nutty fundamentalists. And every religion has a few nuts.

It's about high time we put down the religion pick up the peace pipe and sit together as men, and discuss, openly & honestly what is truly the worth of rightesnouss in this world. YHWH said where 3 or more are gathered there I am in the midst of them, so how about we just stop this absurdity of listening to people preach stupid crap and we just discuss fact vs fiction. Opinion vs theology and figure out what it is that is best for society as a whole. I think the answer would all boil down to 10 simple easy little commandments and nothing more would be necessary. But let us come to that conclusion through discussion, not preaching or teaching, but by conclusive measures through conversational methods.

i think they are eveven worst than moslem fundementalists may be equall to talibans

I am a devout Mormon (mainstream) and have read "Under the Banner of Heaven". It is a wonderfully written book. I would recommend it to all my friends in the church as well as my non-member friends. I agree with gulliver. It is a fair look into the the mind set of fanatics. Religous or otherwise.

I don't know how half of these comments got in here. We're not talking about "Under the Banner of Heaven" or whether the Mormon Church's teachings caused the Lafferty's to do such a thing. No normal Mormon is taught this way.
I am enraged after learning about what happened. Both of them need to be on death row, and they need to be executed quickly. I don't want my tax money paying for these scumbags to be alive. I'm glad they're going to die by firing squad, but why can't they die the way they did? Can we hang them, suffocate them, slit their throats or something like that? I wish the chair were legal in Utah.

I was fascinated by the book Under the Banner of Heaven and surprised to find myself reading it all. Krakauer identified sources in the book as anti-LDS, anti-US govt, anti-FLDS, anti-American Indian, etc. Sometimes you had to consider the source of the quotations a little more to detect these biases. It was easy to find imperfection in human behavior, especially religious behavior, but as the final chapters attempt to illustrate in the interview with Deloy Bateman and in the author's own thoughts: Can we really quit all believing, praying, wishing for luck, fearing death, hoping for greater things, seeking beauty and goodness?

After reading I really just want to find out: Is Ronald still on death row???

Kudos to Krakauer! Finally an unbiased history of the LDS church, right up there with Brodie's.