Under the Banner of Heaven
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
The endowment is the central Masonic ritual performed in Mormon temples.
One of those covenants is to give everything you have to build up Gods kingdom, the church.
A woman older than Jesuss sandals just put oil very, VERY close to my private parts.
It took me by surprise, too, Diana tells her.
Having apprehended Sarah, Pyre questions her about her sister-in-law Brendas faithfulness.
Heavenly Fathers law is black or white, she retorts, and Brenda is an ugly shade of gray.
But Sarah wasnt having it, taking Brendas irreverence in the temple as a sign of gross dereliction.
According to prophets Joseph and Brigham, there are some sins beyond repentance, she tells Pyre.
And the only way to forgive these sins is through the doctrine of blood atonement.
More on that later.
You have every right to feel angry.
I know how the authorities have treated our most faithful.
When they slaughtered our kind at Hauns Mill, did our prophet Joseph ever fire back?
Did he resort to violence?
No, he surrendered, he ensured the future of our faith.
And heres where the rubber meets the road.
But Sam is more of a militant, Brigham Young-style Mormon, so he refuses.
Luckily, Pyre and his deputies are able to infiltrate the cabin without harming anyone.
Older brother Ron tries to intervene, but Ammon aint gonna have it from his wayward eldest.
I will do anything and go anywhere!
he repeats and repeats.
Most bishops are moderately successful businessmen or just, like, regular guys, a.k.a.
not theologians who have a firm grasp on nitty-gritty church history or doctrine.
I dont go digging into the past, and neither should you, Pyres bishop tells him.
What else are you not telling me?
Who are you protecting?
Your typical cop line of questioning.
(Joseph Smith ran for president at one point.
Imagine if, like, Jim Jones or L. Ron Hubbard had run for president.)
But to do that, he tells her, theyll need to start a family of their own.
You have your degree; people are always going to want to hire you.
My brother in Christ, thats not how degrees work!
Isnt that another surrender we push them to in the name of God?
But surrendering to God is the whole idea, as we remember from our temple covenants.
Shes changed by the news and wants to fight to keep the whole family together.
