“The way Krakauer weaves the stories of the creation of the Mormon church and the murders in the book together makes for a very engaging tale. This was my first real look into what drives religion, and the Mormon church was probably one of the best possibilities for modern society to understand how a lasting religion is formed.
With that said, it's pretty scary for a person who doesn't follow any religion, and has no real tie to God. I found myself asking the question over and over while reading: do these guys actually believe this? As for the formation of the church, it just seemed like so, so many of the proclamations that supposedly came from God were also incredibly self-serving. It could be cherry picking on the author's part, but that doesn't make the proclamations any less true.
The purders themselves are horrifying. It's pretty easy to just step back and proclaim the guys who committed them crazy, but the trial of the two murderers made me reconsider that position. Calling them crazy could well excuse the actions, but they're inexcusable. Are all religious people crazy? I'm sure there are people who would argue that, but that just relegates them to the same class of faithful believers in whatever principle they're preaching. So I can't do that.
All in all, if this book just makes you dismiss religion as insanity, then you're not thinking. It should make you consider your own beliefs, what drives them, and how committed you are to them. Ultimately, maybe that's the difference between religious people and non-religious people--their commitment.”
mrjerz wrote this review Sunday, September 9 2007.
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