Under the Banner of HeavenA Story of Violent Faith

At what point does religion become delusion?
A vicious murder opens John Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, an examination of faith in America. Two Mormon fundamentalist brothers slaughter their sister-in-law and her daughter because God tells them that they had been obstructing His plan. Throughout the book, both the jury and Krakauer find themselves pondering the point where religion becomes delusion.

Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in the 1830s, at a time when Americans were still shaking off dusty European ritual. To Americans, it must've sounded reasonable to find out, according to Mormon doctrine, that we were the center of the universe: Jesus visited here after his Resurrection, the U.S. Constitution was divinely inspired and Eden was somewhere in Missouri.

In fact, it all sounds good until you get to that polygamy thing. Although rejected by the official church for over a century, it is still the source of prejudice against the religion, and the main issue behind every schism. The book relies too much on the prurient details of polygamy to entertain (Child brides! Incest! Murder!), but it is a fair history and an engrossing look at the eternal question: Is everyone who hears God crazy?