I had hoped to recover all of the original photos from the Banner of Heaven blog, but alas, it was not to be. However, below are some of the pictures that came into my possession during the course of putting this all together. There are obviously other pictures around–including the Obey Aaron! t-shirt and the photo of Aaron, both of which can be seen here. (more…)

Here at long last is the final entry in the series of podcasts devoted to the Banner of Heaven scandal. In previous entries, I interviewed DKL, Rusty Clifton, and Geoff J. In this entry, we finally hear from Steve Evans, who has shouldered most of the blame (credit?) for the hoax. (more…)

Next we hear from a random John, one of the most prolific participants at Banner of Heaven and a permablogger at MormonMentality.org.

If you are reading this post and have not internalized the many meanings of this cartoon you are in danger. That is because you are on the internet without understanding something very basic about it and you’re certain to run into trouble. Stop reading now and go meditate on the truths contained in this simple drawing and don’t come back to the internet until you understand. (more…)

The following submission comes from annegb, one of the most-recognized names in the BoH scandal, and current permablogger at MormonMentality.org.

I’m a practical joker. I have an evil side. I wonder sometimes if I have an alternate personality because for about oh– 95% of the time, I’m really nice and considerate. I have my Sybil side that I hate when I lose my temper.

And then there’s that side that made me tell a friend that another friend had Alzheimer’s and we needed to be very considerate of her and not judge her no matter what she does and try not to upset her in any way. The supposed Alzheimer’s person almost wet her pants laughing when I told her but my “mark” still hasn’t forgiven me. Well, talk about taking oneself too seriously.

Which brings me to my Banner of Heaven experience. (more…)

Note: This podcast episode was intended to be the second part (as you’ll notice in the introduction), but after recording with Rusty and Geoff J, I decided that it actually fit better as the third episode.

From: [Person] <[Person@email].com>
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2005
Subject: [Person] wants to talk to you using Google Talk
To: Jennifer Mailer <jenn.mailer@gmail.com>

Jenn/Steve…. I grew infurated at the fakeness of your blog, called
you out, and you wrote me personal email full of lies. I thought about
being nice, but it comes down to this: You’re an asshole.

I hope you lose your position in the bloggernacle completely.

(more…)

BT is thrilled to present a submission from Kurt, aka The Snarker, who played a key role in exposing the hoax.

Pre-takedown

When BofH first arrived, it was immediately considered suspect by cynical people such as myself. Early indicators were the fact that none of the participants had commented anywhere else beforehand and they wouldn’t comment on other blogs. This suggested they were trying to hide their IP addresses. The other oddity was all of them posted pictures, except Septimus, which isn’t typical, especially for female bloggers. Their content was also suspect, and got increasingly wacky over time. Aaron’s posts were borderline insane, Miranda’s were way too TMI, Septimus’ were florid and prosey, Jenn’s were obsessing about her singleness, and bland Mari was so bland it was just too bland. The non-member, (former Quaker?) Greg was the most real of them, and he wasn’t even a member. None of the people came off as real, they were all kooky caricatures. (more…)