“This is a history of Mormonism, one that all Republicans should read before November. The basic thesis is that Mormons are expected to obey their leaders, but they are also answerable to God over the laws of man. OK, I guess lots of Christians feel that way, but this goes to extremes. Any Mormon priest (i.e., any adult male who has not been excommunicated) can receive orders from God directly, and those orders can be anything. Literally anything.
The modern murder story that runs through the book is about the Lafferty brothers who murdered one of their wives and her baby on "orders from God." But it turns out there were plenty of precedents in Mormon history. It's a terribly bloody religion.
There's also permission to lie to Gentiles (i.e., all non-Mormons), which may explain why it's so hard to know what Mitt Romney is thinking.
I'm not sure it's possible to read this book without coming away with a permanent revulsion to the entire Mormon religion. That's OK with me, as I am an atheist and feel the same about most religions to one degree or another. But it might be quite disturbing for someone who clings to a religion and therefore wonders whether the Mormons are really any worse than others, only more recent and therefore more documented.”
AuntB93 wrote this review Saturday, June 16, 2012.
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