Under the Banner of Heaven - Essay Example

Irshad Ahmad Academia-Research.Com Order # 746682 November 12, Under The Banner Of Heaven Jon Krakauer wrote this nonfiction book which published in 2003. The book is the encyclopedia of extremism associated with religion. It tells how the religion has been exploited for one’s special benefits. The book reveals the consequences when people adopt religions in extreme sense. The fundamentalist are the extremist version of the religion and they are so different from the rest of the community that every word of religion is eternal truth to them and everything except that is but a ridicule to them.

Mormon is the religion of the extremists of Christianity. They entered in the history in 1820 when they doubted the Protestants. They asserted that the very structure of Christianity had been changed by the course of history. The scholars of Christianity then placed Greek philosophies in the holy book. They were of the view that none of the schools of thought of Christianity reflected the true image of the religion. They declared that God had entitled them the authority to run the systems of the world according to His wishes.

To fulfill the said wishes, Mormons were the selected people. The book begins with a story of the two brothers who killed their sister in law with her infant child on the grounds that she had interrupted in the second marriage of one of the two murderers. What is tragic is the reality that both of them did not get ashamed of their cruel act. They in fact took pride and happily narrated the story of their cruelty. One of them was heard thanking the other for killing the baby. They told that they had got orders from the God as revelations to kill their sister in law.

This is cruel and the extreme fundamentalism in Mormon religion formed the reason of the tragic event. One thing is sure; all the divine religions teach patience and forbearance. Mormon religion, as depicts the story, encourages its followers for polygamy whether it is by force or with underage. In Christianity, Judaism and Islam, marriages are allowed only with the mutual consent of the couple. Mormon religion can therefore not be accepted as divine because divine religions convey mercy, kindness and mutual respect.

Their intentions in the initial stages were praiseworthy which aimed at the purification and restoration of the actual Christianity. The latter spiritual leaders of the religion however turned its direction to the extremes; they were committed enough to go for the words of God at any cost. No doubt it was the extremist faction of the Mormon religion that killed the lady and her child however the silence within the ranks of the religion implies upon their satisfaction. Mormon religion may be good in the sense that it is a revivalist movement but thinking of it as a religion which does all the harms in the name of God is but unacceptable.

May be there are soft corners in the community for Mormons but yet another example proves their barbarism beyond doubts. “Mountain Meadow Massacre” refers to the event in which the Mormons gathered around a party going to California from Kansas. They murdered ruthlessly more than 120 of the party members. The Mormons insisted they were not part of the massacre. The person convicted was however a Mormon naming John Lee. He was finally executed by the State in 1877 for his involvement in the massacre.

It means the course of Mormons towards the revival of Christianity has adopted an ugly shape not acceptable to humanity. Religions are the codes of life. They are the laws of social interaction and the principles of religious tolerance and extremist behavior well settle inside it like the state; sometimes it shows harmony, sometimes the use of force is the requirement. However laws of all the divine religion are addressed with sympathy, kindness and mutual tolerance. Patience forms the topmost priority of religion.

Patience has always been termed the key to peace, happiness and satisfaction. However when the situation demands a strict action that is to say that evil needs to be stopped from expanding, religion returns aggressively. The culprits are severely punished. Punishment is the last option with religion and it works as a warning for the rest of the society. Religions and tolerance are often closely connected. Religions always claim to have the words and wishes of God. These words and wishes require accomplishment.

The followers of religion take every world of religion as coming from God. The words therefore take immense importance and to the follower, any slight violation of the words of God is but the greatest crime. He cannot see the insult of the words of God and commits every possible act as to bring into effect the sacredness of those words. In the course of events, he forgets that God teaches that tolerance and kindness are more important than all other things. Mormon religion is an example of extremism in faiths.

Religions are meant to cure the ills of humanity and not to add to their miseries. The reason behind the violence and the religion are interconnected is that the spirit of religions has never been attempted to be comprehended. The purpose of religions is to form a peaceful and harmonious society on the surface of the earth. Some however misinterpret it saying religion is the forceful imposition of God’s will. This is to be understood that there is no forcefulness allowed in religion. Religion is but love, sincerity, respect and devotion.

Works cited Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith. New York: Doubleday, 2003. Print.