In the Belly of the Beast.
In These Times blogs live from the Republican National Convention September 1 - 4.

In God’s Country

By Mark Engler

Early on July 24, 1984, Dan Lafferty, a fundamentalist Mormon living near Provo, Utah, got out of bed, prayed for guidance, and then “felt prompted by the Lord to saw the barrel and stock off a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun that he had been storing in his mother’s house.” The absurd revelation would be comical if, later that same day, Lafferty… return to article

  • subscribe to print magazine

  • Zoom OutZoom In Reader Comments (7)

    Page 1 of 1 pages

    You do not provide enough information about the author for me to evaluate His/her authority in this or any other area.  Therefore I cannot give credence to the story.

    United States Posted by Harmon Chamberlin on Aug 19, 2003 at 9:43 PM

    I read the article anyhow and have one question.  The last paragraph states:” It is equally despairing to pick between self- rightious absolutism and the abandonment of faith ...” I must protest that if one cannot pick between those two positions one is an absolute nothing.

    United States Posted by Harmon Chamberlin on Aug 19, 2003 at 10:12 PM

    This is a perfect example of fundamentalism and what it can do to the human pshche. There is only a fine line between what this guy did and the christian church in general. I belive if they could get away with killing so called heathens and non-belivers they would.Travis

    United States Posted by Travis on Aug 20, 2003 at 10:09 AM

    Polygaphobia is encoded in law in the U.S.

    United States Posted by Pat on Aug 20, 2003 at 10:50 AM

    Though sad, this behaviour is in no way shocking when one looks carefully at what organized religions teach. Women have long been the scapegoats for organized religion and the story related here is merely the tip of the iceberg. There is far more evil and hate in the teaching within organized religions than there is love and compassion. Far more blind, self-serving adherence to dogma than self-examination or introspection.
    Consider the fact that the Jesuits, that is, the Society of Jesus, had a “racial purity” requirement known as the “pure-blood decree” which began in 1593. Under this decree, you could only join the Jesuits if you could prove that your lineage did not contain a single drop of Jewish blood over 5 generations. This requirement was reduced to only 4 generations in 1923 and was deeply admired by the Nazis as an example of the validity of their propoganda against Jews. And we wonder how millions of Christian Germans could be whipped into a frenzy of genocide to remove the “Jewish threat”? How? They were all indoctrinated Christians who had been taught since birth that the Jews killed Christ and that they were evil, dirty, and forever damned creatures for it. Imagine no religion, folks. It is truly our only hope. (for the record, I said imagine no religion, not imagine no spirituality)

    Switzerland Posted by Douglas on Aug 25, 2003 at 10:52 AM

    A “religion” is a social construct created to nurture and convey a specific truth (or truths). Unfortunately, too many people get seduced by the construct and jettison the truth—if indeed there was any to begin with. This is an ongoing phenomenon. It takes place in all religions at all times.

    When this occurs, whatever truth there is may reformulate and move on.

    United States Posted by Tim Snyder on Aug 27, 2003 at 2:48 PM

    people who talk to god are usually committed.
    troops are bein killed every day but this jesus junkie joan of arc manchurian
    candidate w/ his protestant jihad is sleeping with the oil companies weapons manufacturers
    corporate god bless amerikan devil.

    United States Posted by larue on Aug 27, 2003 at 6:51 PM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

  • register a new account »Posting Security

    To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.
     

    Retreive lost password »

Article Appeared in this Issue

Full contents
Past issues

Popular Discussions