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Mormons are not alone. In fundamentalist branches of all the major religions, crimes against women take place egged on by the patriarchal tenets of the religions themselves. If you think religion had nothing do do with Mitchell’s actions against Smart, just imagine if he were a fundamentalist Muslim (or even an Hasidic Jew) who had captured a young woman to be his child bride in the United States of America. The outrage in such a case would probably focus too much on the religion and not enough on the individual. But religion can’t be factored out. What motivates criminals like Mitchell and Lafferty—and even fanatics George W. Bush and Osama Bin Laden, a weapon-wielding settler on the West Bank or a suicide bomber—to do so much lasting harm is the belief that God is on their side and will actually reward them.

As Krakauer writes in his prologue explaining why he tracked down these fundamentalist Mormon murderers: “Faith is the very antithesis of reason, injudiciousness a crucial component of spiritual devotion. And when religious fanaticism supplants ratiocination, all bets are off. Anything can happen. Absolutely anything. Common sense is no match for the voice of God, as the actions of Dan Lafferty [And one might add, Brian David Mitchell] vividly attest.”

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