Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

At the time this book was published in 2003, Mormons outnumbered mainline Protestant denominations such as Presbyterians and Episcopalians in the United States. Presided over by a group of fifteen male elders in Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) claims that Dan and Ron Lafferty are not and should not be thought of as Mormons. The LDS does not support or associate with Mormon Fundamentalism (FLDS), even though both religious sects follow the same books and the teachings of Joseph Smith, and both believe themselves to be God’s chosen people. The main distinction between the two sects is that Mormon Fundamentalists encourage and practice polygamy. Some experts believe there are as many as 100,000 practicing FLDS polygamists. The LDS vehemently opposes polygamy and fails to recognize that Smith, the religion’s founder, married at least 33 women.

In fact, polygamy played a key role in the church Smith was trying to build. Smith claimed that a man must take a minimum of three wives if he wanted the “fulness of exaltation” after he died (6). Smith was murdered by a mob in 1844, and Brigham Young took his place as leader of the Mormon Church. Anti-polygamist sentiments led President James Buchanan to invade Utah, a move that led Young and some Mormon polygamists to view the U.S. government with contempt. When Mormons began to separate themself from this practice after years of persecution, Mormonism gained legitimacy in the eyes of the U.S. government and the American people. Mormon Fundamentalists see this abandonment of polygamy as a betrayal of Smith’s teachings. Modern-day FLDS view LDS followers as hypocrites and wicked.

Colorado City, Arizona is mostly populated by Mormon fundamentalists, providing a home for three sects including the largest, FLDS, also known as the UEP. In this chapter, Krakauer shares interviews with former UEP members. Rulon T. Jeffs, known to his followers as their prophet and as “Uncle Rulon,” outlined a set of commandments taking a fundamentalist approach to Smith’s teachings. Members are forbidden to consume any type of media, and Rulon ruled all aspects of Colorado City life, including exerting influence over city employees and the public school system. UEP members are forbidden from practicing homosexuality and having relations with non-white partners. They believe Earth is a mere 7,000 years old and do not believe man has ever walked on the moon. They are not permitted to speak to anyone outside of their UEP family, known as apostates. Members are not allowed to contradict or challenge the words of the prophet.

Rulon married approximately 75 women and sired at least 65 children. He demanded absolute obedience from his followers. Most UEP members marry only their first wife and then commit to their other wives through a religious ceremony. This allows them to stay within Utah and Arizona’s laws forbidding polygamy and to collect multiple welfare checks in one household.

Originally called Short Creek, Colorado City was established in the 1920s by Mormon fundamentalists as a place where they could live out Joseph Smith’s teachings, including polygamy. The population soared, and the Arizona government became nervous, sending approximately 100 officers and troops to Short Creek to arrest polygamous families. National headlines looked upon the action unfavorably, showing pictures of crying children being torn away from their families. The media attention brought more people to the FLDS. The sect thrived until 1988 when Mary Ann Kingston, a teenage girl who had been forced to marry her uncle at the age of sixteen, called 911 after being beaten by her father for attempting to run away from her 32-year-old husband. The Kingstons were convicted in 1999, and the FLDS found itself at the forefront of negative public attention. Tom Green, an FLDS polygamist in Snake Valley, brought further negative publicity for marrying and impregnating a thirteen-year-old girl.

Krakauer also explores the FLDS community of Bountiful, north of Colorado City. Bountiful is ruled by Prophet Rulon Jeffs and traffics women and girls for marriage between its community and Colorado City. Debbie Oler Blackmore Ralston Palmer grew up in Bountiful with her father. As a young girl, she was treated cruelly by her father’s second wife and was molested at the age of six by a family friend. At the age of 14, Debbie asked to marry Ray Blackmore, Bountiful’s community leader and brother to her sexual assailant. After Ray passed away, Debbie was forced to marry a violent and abusive man named Sam Ralston. When Debbie tried to run away from Ralston, she was returned to him.

Debbie began abusing prescription medication to cope with her depression, and her father took advantage of her lack of awareness, raping her. After attempting suicide twice, Debbie fell in love with another FLDS member named Michael Palmer while she was in the hospital. Debbie married Michael, but her relationship with her sister wives was fraught with jealousy and resentment. Michael’s gentility soon wore off, and he sexually assaulted one of Debbie’s sons and her daughter. At the prospect of losing her daughter, Debbie arranged to set the house on fire. At the last minute, Debbie gathered her children and left the burning home. Soon afterward, Debbie left Bountiful with her children.

Obedience is a key component of Jeffs’s teachings and the culture of the FLDS community of Bountiful. Community members are taught the motto “Keep Sweet, No Matter What” (33). Women and girls are taught to wear long dresses and practice extreme chastity; they are only allowed to have sexual intercourse while they are ovulating. Sexual repression in the community leads to incest and high rates of sexual assault.

Elizabeth Smart was a 14-year-old who was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City. Nine months later, she turned up alive. Dan Lafferty, who followed the story of the child abduction from jail, suspected immediately that a fundamentalist polygamist was the culprit. Similarly, a former FLDS member named Flora Jessop also suspected Mormon fundamentalism was at play in Elizabeth’s kidnapping. Flora’s sister Ruby was forced to marry at the age of 14; despite Flora’s best efforts, she was not able to rescue her sister.

Lafferty and Jessop’s assumptions were correct: Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped by a  49-year-old Mormon fundamentalist who had become disillusioned with the Latter-Day Saints. Mitchell believed he had received a revelation from God, telling him to take seven more wives and took on a new name: Immanuel. Mitchell met Elizabeth’s mother and was soon employed by the Smart family, performing odd jobs around the house. During that time, he spied on Elizabeth.

Mitchell and his wife kidnapped Elizabeth and forced her to participate in a wedding ceremony. Mitchell then raped her to consummate the marriage. Elizabeth was kept hidden and slowly indoctrinated. Mitchell psychologically manipulated Elizabeth, and when she was discovered, she worried that Mitchell would get into trouble. Those who knew Mitchell described him as charismatic and could understand why Elizabeth became so wrapped up in his story.