Jon Krakauer's true crime account of a double murder in Mormon country, Under the Banner of Heaven, has been serialized by Oscar-winning writer Dustin Lance Black for streaming on Hulu.
The series -- which features an Emmy-nominated performance by Andrew Garfield as a devoted Mormon who is the lead detective on the case -- is unsparing in its dissection of the psychoses that gripped the murderers, two brothers radicalized by Mormon fundamentalism, and that which directed the founders of the faith group -- Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
The result is a chilling and mesmerizing depiction of what appears to be a cancerous patriarchal religious tradition that demeans and subjugates women and empowers all of its members with the belief that God speaks to each individually, supposedly guiding their actions but actually endorsing their desires.
What a seductive doctrine! And one not exclusive to the Latter-Day Saints. Even taken out of the religious context, we recognize controlling manipulation that is so appealing to those craving power over others for their own enrichment. And how destructive this is on those honest souls seeking nothing more than truth.
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