|
|
Website © 2005-2011 Compiled With: Caligra 2.0.2  |
|
Containing 4,827 Articles Spanning 341 Topics Ex-Mormon News, Stories And Recovery Online Since January 1, 2005 |
|
PLEASE NOTE:
If you have reached this page from an outside source such as an
Internet Search or forum referral, please note that this page
(the one you just landed on)
is an archive containing articles on
"CLEON SKOUSEN".
This website,
The Mormon Curtain
- is a website that blogs the Ex-Mormon world. You can
read
The Mormon Curtain FAQ
to understand the purpose of this website.
|
|
 | Tuesday, Nov 15, 2011, at 09:03 AM Cleon Skousen: Mormon Nutjob And "Intellectual" Original Author(s): captainmoroni CLEON SKOUSEN -Guid- | ↑ |
| Here is an excellent article from Salon from a few years ago at this link.
http://www.salon.com/2009/09/16/beck_... "Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck’s life - Cleon Skousen was a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised. Then Beck discovered him." It discusses how Glenn Beck was deeply influenced by Skousen's conspiracy theory wackiness. Beck even claimed that Skousen is his favorite author and through his advertising made Skousen's 5000 Year Leap a best seller. The article describes how Skousen, a far right-wing hack, created his own apocalyptic view of a vast Communist conspiracy and, with the help of Joseph Fielding Smith, Ezra Taft Benson, and Bruce R McConkie, he was able to yank the church sharply to the far right side of the political spectrum. There are some interesting tidbits about Skousen's life. For instance: -J Edgar Hoover maintained a 2,000 page FBI file on Skousen and considered him an extreme right wing threat to the Republic. -Skousen worked in the FBI for 15 years which he claimed allowed him to see the top secret information that detailed the vast Communist conspiracy. However, the FBI said that he mostly did clerical work and that he was never trusted with high level information. -J Bracken Lee, the ultraconservative mayor of SLC in the 50s, hired Skousen to be the police chief, but fired him after four years because he was excessively zealous in raiding clubs where the Mormon elite indulged their vices. He said that "Skousen conducted his office as Chief of Police in exactly the same manner in which the Communists operate their government. The man is a master of half-truths. In at least three instances I have proven him to be a liar. He is a very dangerous man [and] one of the greatest spenders of public funds of anyone who ever served in any capacity in Salt Lake City government." -Skousen published The Naked Communist which claimed that a vast conspiracy was on the verge of turning America into the USSR. He became a star on the far right lecture circuit and made serious money touring the John Birch Society and other far right groups. -Skousen claimed that Harry Hopkins, FDR's advisor, gave the Soviet Union half of America's supply of uranium and 50 suitcases of nuclear secrets. This was ridiculous of course. -Skousen became so nutty, that he was banned from the ultraconservative American Security Council. One member, Judge Mott, said that Skousen was "money mad … totally unqualified and interested solely in furthering his own personal ends." -In 1969, Skousen found a new enemy. He decided that the world was under threat by a "New World Order" of the ultra-rich and powerful. He distributed books to all the faculty at BYU describing this menace. Skousen became one of the first proponents of the New World Order conspiracy theory. -Skousen cited anti-Semites and former Nazis in claiming that the American banking system (and its Jews) were dedicated to destroying capitalism and forcing the world to become a collectivist society. -One of Skousen's main sources was a man named Carroll Quigley. However, Quigley claimed that he meant to critique extremists like Skousen. In fact, he said, “Skousen’s personal position seems to me perilously close to the ‘exclusive uniformity’ which I see in Nazism and in the Radical Right in this country. In fact, his position has echoes of the original Nazi 25-point plan.” -Rob Lauer, a leader of the Reform Mormonism Movement, said “Skousen worked to change Mormonism from a new and unique American-born faith into an evangelical form of fundamentalist Christianity." This was an interesting article. It is disturbing that a nutjob like Skousen would have so much influence on church leaders and members. Skousen is the genesis of many of the most dangerous far right wing ideas in the church. Anyone who wants to understand why many Mormons are outliers on the political spectrum must understand this man. |