Under the Banner of Heaven

On a sweltering July morning in 1984, two brothers walked into a quiet suburban home in Utah, convinced they were carrying out God's direct commandment. What they left behind would shock America and expose a hidden world of religious extremism that had been festering for over a century. The brutal murders of a young mother and her infant daughter weren't the work of common criminals, but of men who believed they were instruments of divine justice, following revelations as real to them as any biblical prophecy.

This horrific crime opens a window into one of America's most complex and misunderstood religious movements. How does sincere faith transform into deadly fanaticism? What happens when the pursuit of religious purity collides with modern society's demands for tolerance and law? And perhaps most troubling of all, how do we distinguish between legitimate religious freedom and dangerous extremism when both claim divine authority? Through the lens of Mormon fundamentalism, we witness the eternal American struggle between individual revelation and institutional authority, between absolute faith and democratic governance, between the promise of salvation and the reality of violence that can emerge when believers place God's law above human compassion.

The roots of Mormon fundamentalism stretch back to the charismatic founder of the faith, Joseph Smith Jr., whose revolutionary theology would forever alter America's religious landscape. Emerging from the "burnt-over district" of western New York during the Second Great Awakening, Smith claimed direct communication with God and angels, promising his followers that they were chosen to restore true Christianity and build God's literal kingdom on earth. His translation of golden plates into the Book of Mormon provided Americans with their own sacred scripture, but it was his later revelations that would prove most controversial and enduring.

Smith's genius lay in his ability to adapt divine revelation to changing circumstances. As his movement grew from a handful of believers to thousands of devoted Saints, he received new commandments that expanded Mormon practice far beyond conventional Christianity. The most explosive of these was the "new and everlasting covenant" of plural marriage, revealed in 1843 as essential for achieving the highest degrees of celestial glory. Smith himself practiced what he preached, secretly marrying at least thirty-three women, some as young as fourteen, while publicly denying the practice to avoid persecution.

The prophet's theology contained seeds of violence that would bear bitter fruit in later generations. His doctrine of blood atonement taught that certain sins were so heinous that Christ's sacrifice could not cover them, requiring the shedding of the sinner's own blood for redemption. Smith also organized the Nauvoo Legion, a private army that at its peak numbered over 5,000 men, making it one of the largest military forces in America. As both commanding general and prophet, Smith wielded unprecedented power, teaching his followers that God's law superseded earthly authority.

The introduction of polygamy created internal tensions that ultimately proved fatal. When dissenting church members published a newspaper exposing Smith's plural marriages, he ordered the printing press destroyed, an act of censorship that sparked the chain of events leading to his arrest and death at the hands of an Illinois mob on June 27, 1844. Smith's martyrdom transformed him from a controversial religious leader into a sacred figure whose blood sanctified the Mormon cause, leaving his followers with a troubling legacy: the conviction that building God's kingdom justified any means necessary, including violence against those who opposed the work of the Lord.

Brigham Young inherited a traumatized people thirsting for both refuge and revenge. Unlike the visionary Joseph Smith, Young was a pragmatic empire-builder who transformed Mormon theology into a blueprint for theocratic rule. Under his iron-fisted leadership, the Saints embarked on their epic exodus to the Great Basin, seeking a promised land where they could practice their religion without interference from hostile neighbors or federal authorities. The establishment of the Utah Territory marked the beginning of nearly five decades of open defiance against the United States government.

Young ruled as both territorial governor and church president, creating a theocracy where religious law superseded civil authority. He openly embraced polygamy, taking dozens of wives himself and encouraging other church leaders to follow suit. From the pulpit, he preached the doctrine of blood atonement with increasing boldness, declaring that some sinners could only be saved by having their blood spilled upon the ground. The Saints believed they were building Zion in preparation for Christ's Second Coming, and any opposition to their work was opposition to God himself.

The doctrine of blood atonement reached its horrific culmination in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. When a wagon train of Arkansas emigrants passed through southern Utah during a period of heightened tensions with the federal government, local Mormon leaders orchestrated their systematic slaughter. Under the pretense of Indian attacks, Mormon militiamen murdered approximately 120 men, women, and children, sparing only those too young to bear witness. The massacre represented the logical extreme of a theology that divided humanity into the righteous and the damned, with the Saints serving as instruments of divine justice.

Young's defiance of federal authority over polygamy created a decades-long conflict that would define Mormon-American relations. The church's practice of plural marriage became a symbol of Mormon otherness, marking them as fundamentally un-American in the eyes of their countrymen. The Republican Party's 1856 platform condemned the "twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery," while federal legislation increasingly targeted polygamists with harsh penalties. The pressure finally broke the institutional church's resistance when President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto in 1890, officially ending the practice of polygamy. This capitulation marked the beginning of the Mormon Church's long journey toward mainstream American respectability, but it also created the conditions for the rise of Mormon fundamentalism among those who refused to abandon what they saw as God's eternal commandments.

The Manifesto of 1890 created a profound crisis of faith within Mormondom that reverberates to this day. While church leaders publicly renounced polygamy to avoid federal persecution, many continued to practice it secretly, creating a culture of deception that would poison Mormon credibility for decades. More significantly, a dedicated minority of Saints refused to accept that God's eternal commandments could be suspended for political expediency. These Mormon fundamentalists saw the Manifesto not as divine revelation but as apostasy, marking the beginning of the mainstream church's fall from grace.

The fundamentalist movement crystallized around the figure of John Taylor, Smith's successor as church president, who claimed to have received a revelation in 1886 commanding the continuation of plural marriage regardless of earthly consequences. Taylor allegedly ordained five men with the authority to perform celestial marriages and ensure that the principle would never die out completely. This clandestine priesthood authority became the foundation for all subsequent fundamentalist claims to legitimacy, creating a parallel hierarchy that operated in direct opposition to the official church.

As the mainstream Mormon Church moved steadily toward accommodation with American society, fundamentalist communities retreated to remote desert settlements where they could practice their religion without interference. Places like Short Creek, Arizona, and Colonia LeBaron in Mexico became havens for polygamist families determined to live the "fullness of the gospel" as revealed through Joseph Smith. These communities developed their own culture, economy, and governance structures, creating parallel societies that operated according to nineteenth-century Mormon principles while the outside world modernized around them.

The fundamentalist movement fragmented into competing sects, each claiming exclusive authority and denouncing the others as apostates. Leaders like John Y. Barlow, Joseph Musser, and Rulon Allred established rival groups that often feuded bitterly over doctrine, authority, and resources. These schisms reflected the inherent instability of movements based on continuing revelation, where any charismatic leader could claim divine authority and attract followers. The isolation and insularity of fundamentalist communities created conditions ripe for abuse and extremism, as members became accountable only to their prophets rather than broader society. The stage was set for the emergence of leaders who would push the logic of fundamentalism to its violent extreme, transforming religious conviction into deadly fanaticism.

By the 1980s, Mormon fundamentalism had evolved into a complex ecosystem of competing sects and independent prophets, each claiming to possess the true keys of priesthood authority. Into this world stepped Dan and Ron Lafferty, brothers from a respectable Utah County family whose descent into religious extremism would culminate in horrific violence. Their story illustrates how sincere religious conviction can become indistinguishable from dangerous delusion when unchecked by community accountability or rational discourse.

The Lafferty brothers' radicalization began with their involvement in the School of the Prophets, a fundamentalist study group that emphasized personal revelation and the restoration of ancient Mormon practices. Under the influence of charismatic leaders like the self-proclaimed Prophet Onias, the brothers embraced increasingly extreme interpretations of Mormon doctrine, including the belief that they were living in the last days before Christ's return. They saw themselves as instruments of divine will, called to prepare the earth for the millennium through whatever means necessary, including violence against those who opposed God's work.

Ron Lafferty's personal crisis provided the catalyst for the tragedy that would follow. When his wife left him and took their children, unable to accept his fundamentalist beliefs and controlling behavior, his grief and rage transformed into a sense of divine mission. He began receiving revelations commanding the "removal" of those he blamed for his family's destruction, including his sister-in-law Brenda Lafferty, who had encouraged his wife to leave, and her infant daughter Erica. These revelations followed the classic pattern of religious extremism, providing supernatural justification for very human desires for revenge and control.

The murders of Brenda and Erica Lafferty on July 24, 1984, shocked Utah and forced Americans to confront the reality of homegrown religious terrorism. Dan Lafferty methodically cut the throats of a young mother and her fifteen-month-old baby, believing he was carrying out God's will as revealed through his brother. The crime demonstrated how the Mormon doctrine of blood atonement, filtered through fundamentalist theology and personal grievance, could justify the most heinous acts. The brothers' sincere conviction that they were serving God made their crimes all the more chilling and incomprehensible to those outside their theological worldview, revealing how isolation from mainstream society, combined with absolute belief in personal revelation, can create conditions where violence becomes not only possible but religiously mandated.

The story of Mormon fundamentalism raises profound questions about the nature of religious freedom in a pluralistic democracy that echo far beyond the boundaries of any single faith tradition. The Lafferty case and subsequent incidents like the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart by the self-proclaimed prophet Brian David Mitchell demonstrate that religious extremism is not confined to foreign shores or exotic faiths. It can emerge from the heart of American Christianity itself, nurtured by the same constitutional protections and cultural values that produce mainstream religious devotion.

The persistence of Mormon fundamentalism into the twenty-first century reveals the enduring appeal of absolute certainty in an uncertain world. Communities like those in Colorado City, Arizona, where thousands of believers practice polygamy under prophetic leadership, offer their members clear answers to life's biggest questions, strong social bonds, and a sense of cosmic purpose that mainstream society often lacks. The price of this certainty is individual autonomy and critical thinking, but for many believers, that trade-off seems worthwhile, especially when reinforced by geographic isolation and economic dependence.

The challenge for democratic societies is maintaining space for diverse religious expressions while protecting citizens from harm, particularly women and children who often bear the brunt of fundamentalist control. The Mormon fundamentalist experience suggests that isolation and insularity breed extremism, while engagement with broader society tends to moderate radical tendencies. This insight points toward policies that encourage religious communities to participate in civil society rather than retreating into separatist enclaves where abuse can flourish unchecked.

The broader implications extend to our contemporary struggles with religious radicalism of all kinds. Whether manifested in Islamic terrorism, Christian extremism, or other forms of faith-based violence, the pattern remains remarkably consistent: personal crisis creates psychological vulnerability, charismatic leaders provide simple answers through claims of divine revelation, and isolated communities develop their own moral frameworks that justify increasingly extreme behavior. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for protecting both religious freedom and public safety in our increasingly diverse and polarized society, where the line between legitimate faith and dangerous fanaticism becomes ever more difficult to discern.

The history of Mormon fundamentalism reveals a central tension that runs through American religious life: the conflict between divine authority and democratic governance, between absolute faith and pluralistic tolerance. From Joseph Smith's revelations about polygamy and blood atonement to the Lafferty brothers' murders in God's name, we see how sincere religious conviction can become a justification for violence when it places divine law above human reason and compassion. This pattern transcends any particular faith tradition, manifesting wherever religious certainty meets social resistance and individual revelation claims precedence over institutional accountability.

The fundamentalist trajectory from mainstream Mormonism to violent extremism offers crucial lessons for our contemporary struggles with religious radicalism. First, isolation breeds extremism while engagement moderates it, suggesting that policies should encourage religious communities to participate in broader society rather than retreat into separatist enclaves. Second, movements that claim exclusive access to divine truth and reject external accountability create conditions ripe for abuse and violence, particularly against women and children. Finally, the sincere conviction of religious extremists makes them particularly dangerous, as they genuinely believe their actions serve a higher purpose than human law or morality. Understanding these dynamics while preserving religious freedom remains one of the great challenges of democratic society, requiring constant vigilance to protect both the rights of believers and the safety of those who might fall victim to faith transformed into fanaticism.