In2-MeC

Helsinki, Finland
30 October 2004

Under the Banner of Heaven

To me, the most fascinating part of this book starts on page 298 and ends on page 311. These pages recount the testimony of experts at a 1996 murder trial in the US state of Utah. On trial was a member of the FLDS, for Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints.

"FLDS" is not a designation for one particular sect; it refers to all persons who have broken away from the Mormon Church (known also as the Church of Latter-Day Saints) over the issue of polygamy, or plural marriage. Within the FLDS there are different communities, some of which have been in violent disagreement with one another, but which stand on one common ground: that God wants His chosen people (the Mormons, who accept Joseph Smith and his disciple Brigham Young as prophets of the latter days) to multiply throughout the world. To this end a man should have many wives and through them produce many, many children. The mainstream Mormon Church headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, outlawed polygamy within its ranks 114 years ago. The FLDS did not accept this ruling and so formed their own denominations.

The FLDS man was on trial for murdering a mainstream Mormon mother and child. The prosecution had a very strong case that showed he committed these murders because he believed God told him to. The strategy of the defense was to put experts on the stand who argued that the accused was insane and thus not competent to stand trial because of his bizarre beliefs. For example, he lived in dread of the angel Moroni, whom he thought would invade his body. The prosecution, on the other hand, put its own experts on the stand to testify that any person of strong religious faith has beliefs that to outsiders appear insane. Therefore strange religious beliefs should not be a criteria for judging whether a person accused of a crime is mentally incompetent.

Under the Banner of Heaven (2003) by Jon Krakauer is two things at once: an examination of the murder case, and a history of Mormonism. (By the way, Mormon is the name of an ancient prophet whom the Mormons believe was something like our Srila Vyasadeva--a compiler and organizer of scripture. The prophet Mormon is supposed to have lived in America long ago. ) The Mormon Church, as we see in the appendix, was not pleased by this book. Krakauer shows fairness by publishing a lengthy criticism by a Mormon spokesman. He goes on to answer the spokesman point by point, admitting that on some points he was wrong. But on the most important points Krakauer believes himself correct, and accuses the Church spokesman of juggling words in his treatment of these issues.

I'm a Hare Krsna, not a Mormon, so I'm not about to comment on this debate. In addition I understand that Srila Prabhupada's attitude to other religions was in the main supportive. Sometimes he would compare Krsna consciousness with another doctrine to show the theological superiority of the former. But he appreciated and encouraged the elements of faith and devotion in other religions.

One thing can be said about Mormon theology: it has characteristics that are reminiscent of demigod worship and karma-kanda. Mormons aspire to be not merely saved by being taken up to heaven like other Christians; they aim to become lords in heaven. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica they even believe that God evolved from man (and therefore, in turn, they believe man can evolve into a god). They accept that the soul pre-existed before the conception of the body. The mainstream Christian doctrine, as far as I know, holds that the soul is created along with the body. But like many mainstream Christians the Mormons are apocalyptic; they await the second coming of Jesus Christ at the fast-approaching End Time, and the establishment of his kingdom on earth. Mormonism is supposed to be the fastest-growing religion in the world today. If the church continues to expand at its present rate, by the end of this century there will be 300 million Mormons.

I think Under the Banner of Heaven offers a useful read for thoughtful devotees. The Mormon Church is a strong and respected institution today, but it gained that status only after passing through a long period of persecution from outside and fanaticism from within. The book raises large questions that ISKCON devotees also grapple with. One of Krakauer's principle concerns is the question of how a meaningful history of a religious movement should be put to record. He writes on page 383:

The men who run the modern LDS Church deem the history of their religion to be sacred, and have long tried to retain tight proprietary control over how that history is presented to the world. Indeed, LDS leaders have explicitly stated that they believe account of Mormon history should be, above all else, "faith promoting"--that is to say, accounts of Mormon history should be celebratory rather than critical, and should downplay, omit, or deny sensitive or unsavory aspects of that history.

Krakauer quotes a contemporary Mormon leader who said in 1981:

There is a temptation. . . to want to tell everything, whether it is worthy or faith-promoting or not. Some things are not very useful. . . In an effort to be objective, impartial, and scholarly, a writer or a teacher may unwittingly be giving equal time to the adversary. . . In the Church we are not neutral. We are one-sided. There is a war going on, and we are engaged in it.

I think there is something to be said for this point of view. We have Vedic histories, the 18 Puranas, in which many of the same narratives are retold in terms of different modes of nature. The Bhagavatam narrative is considered to be the spotless narrative. One way of stating this is to say, "The Bhagavatam is purified of things that are not useful, worthy, and faith-promoting. "

Purifying a narrative, removing the overlay of the modes of material nature, is a valid principle. Srila Prabhupada said in London on 12 July 1973,

Everything has two sides, black side and bright side. We are interested with the bright side. Black side we can point out, but anyone who is sincere, he'll take the bright side. Sajjano gunam icchanti dosam icchanti pamarah. There are guna and dosa, fault and good qualities. So those who are sajjana, they take the good qualities, give up the bad qualities. Then there, gradually things will come out. But if we accept God, "God is all-good," then all good qualities automatically manifest. Yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana sarvair gunais tatra samasate surah. All good qualities manifest.

In Calcutta in 1974 he said:

So Krsna takes only the bright side of your devotional service. He never takes the dark side because anyone in this material world, he has got only dark life. So try to serve Krsna. Svalpam apy asya dharmasya trayate mahato bhayat: "Even little service rendered to Krsna can save you from the greatest dangerous life. "

We are encouraged to be good when the good in us is encouraged. Finding faults is discouraging. That doesn't mean that faults are best ignored, even when they are glaringly apparent. Since faults are manifestations of ignorance, they are to be removed with knowledge. That means knowledge of perfection, not knowledge that a fault is there.

Purifying the narrative does not mean whitewashing it, perpetrating a coverup. It is what the acaryas do when they comment on Sri Krsna's pastimes--when they explain, for example, that His lila with the gopis is not impelled by material lust, though it may appear that way to some. In much the same way, when an ordinary man hears from the acaryas, his personal misconceptions about himself--"I am this body", "I am a helpless servant of lust", "I am too sinful to become a pure devotee"--are removed by transcendental knowledge.

Anyway. . . an interesting book. Grappling with the questions Krakauer raises strengthened my mind.

siddhanta baliya citte na kara alasa
iha ha-ite krsne lage sudrdha manasa

A sincere student should not neglect the discussion of such conclusions, considering them controversial, for such discussions strengthen the mind. Thus one's mind becomes attached to Sri Krsna.

Cc Madhya 2. 117

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