“Although the far territory of the extreme can exert an intoxicating pull on susceptible individuals of all bents, extremism seems to be especially prevalent among those inclined by temperame...”
Work
<b>NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of <i>Into the Wild</i> and <i>Into Thin Air</i>, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. <b>• Now a</b>n<b> acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.</b></b><br><br><b>“Fantastic.... Right up there with <i>In Cold Blood</i> and <i>The Executioner’s Song.</i>” —<i>San Francisco Chronicle</i></b><br><br>Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. <br><br> At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
Quotes
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Jon Krakauer
Canonical work source
“Although the far territory of the extreme can exert an intoxicating pull on susceptible individuals of all bents, extremism seems to be especially prevalent among those inclined by temperame...”
“There are some ten thousand extant religious sects--each with its own cosmology, each with its own answer for the meaning of life and death. Most assert that the other 9,999 not only have it...”
“Common sense is no match for the voice of God.”
“Neither Emma's tears nor her rage were enough to make Joseph monogamous, however; nor were the prevailing mores of the day. He kept falling rapturously in love with women not his wife. And b...”
“You have to remember what a comfort religion is. It provides all the answers. It makes life simple. Nothing makes you feel better than doing what the prophet commands you to do… If you want...”
“…such criticism and mockery are largely beside the point. All religious belief is a function of nonrational faith. And faith, by its very definition, tends to be impervious to to intellectua...”