# Lifestyles & Discussion > Family, Parenting & Education > Books & Literature >  The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World

## muzzled dogg

i guess (?) glenn beck recommended this to some people cause i saw it all over tax day protests out here.

any idea what this book is?

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## silverhawks

> The 5000 Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World. For many years in the United States there has been a gradual drifting away from the Founding Fathers original success formula. This has resulted in some of their most unique contributions for a free and prosperous society becoming lost or misunderstood. Therefore, there has been a need to review the history and development of the making of America in order to recapture the brilliant precepts which made Americans the first free people in modern times.
> 
> In this book, discover the 28 Principles of Freedom our Founding Fathers said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desire peace, prosperity, and freedom. Learn how adherence to these beliefs during the past 200 years has brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5000 years. Published by National Center for Constitutional Studies, a non-profit organization.


28 Principles of Freedom?  Without actually reading the book, it sounds almost like an attempt to re-define the Founding.  If that's the case, I think I'll stick with the Bill of Rights, thanks very much.  It's written by Cleon Skousen, a Mormon author, professor of religion at Brigham Young University, and ex-police chief of Salt Lake City - no surprises coming as a recommendation from Beck.

Also, its interesting to note that the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" books include the Federalist Papers, but not the Anti-Federalist Papers, as well as books by Beck and Levin.

The book is published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, which was previously known as the Freemen Institute.  Interesting to note that a regular donor to the Center was impeached Arizona Governor Evan Mecham.

Going to guess that the 28 Principles of Freedom are the same as the ones on the Constitution Party of PA website...which by the way notes:




> The Constitution Party is the only party which is completely pro-life, pro-gun, pro-American sovereignty and independence, and in favor of a strong national defense. It is also the only party that is anti-globalist, anti-free trade, anti-deindustrialization, and anti-unchecked immigration. We also oppose special rights for homosexuals, the constantly increasing expansion of unlawful police laws, and both foreign aid and military interventionism.

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## Original_Intent

Theocrat posted about this book recently. I own it and read it years ago - I don't remember a ton about it, but ir seems in essence that the thesis is that mankind has been wallowing around for ~5,000 years with very little technological advancement and have by and large been living hand to mouth if living at all, and that the circumstances of freedom provided by the founding of the US are mostly if not completely responsible for the world rising out of abject poverty.

I may read it again soon, but I have so many books that I want to read...

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## silverhawks

> * Principle 1  - The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.*
> 
>     Natural law is God's law. There are certain laws which govern the entire universe, and just as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, there are laws which govern in the affairs of men which are "the laws of nature and of nature's God."
> 
> *Principle 2 - A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.*
> 
>     “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin
> 
> *Principle 3 - The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.*
> ...


Hm...

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## silverhawks

Is it just me, or do those principles have a distinct Christian dominionist slant?

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## Theocrat

> Is it just me, or do those principles have a distinct Christian dominionist slant?


That is the nature of our country's heritage. Check the link in my signature for more information about that.

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## silverhawks

> That is the nature of our country's heritage. Check the link in my signature for more information about that.


Theocrat, don't think for a second I don't respect your religious beliefs, but isn't it a fairly well known fact that a good number of the Founding Fathers (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin) were Deists? With a majority being Episcopalian? (I know a good number of them were Protestant or Presbyterian as well.)

That's a bit different from the spirit of Christian dominionism, which from my understanding promotes adherence to biblical law?  Doesn't dominionism also promote the religious supremacy of Christianity in the United States?

If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me; I'm always open to learning new things. 

I don't mean to spark a religious debate or discussion either; though I don't mind PM's if you want to discuss that there

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## 1000-points-of-fright

My whole problem with all this morality/virtue/religion stuff is that it assumes that religious people are inherently more moral and virtuous than non-religious people.  We all know that is not the case.  Being a "person of faith" does not increase the odds of being a virtuous leader.

Just like hate crimes, it's the behavior not the thoughts that count.

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## DamianTV

...and just because a religious person that follows their morals doesnt mean that they have to write their god into the law that governs everyone.  To do so would be an insult to anyone of a different faith or like me, no faith at all.

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## 1776Patriot

I was given the book during the primaries from a fellow RP meetup associate. Scousen was a mormon as was mentioned and the book follows mormon doctrine that the US constitution is somehow a "Divine" document and that failure to follow it results in all sorts of evils Almost all of the RP meetup folks out here in Idaho were all, surprise, mormon, that is w the exception of me. 

WO getting too religious, as I know that it seems that the overwhelming majority of RP are secularist or at least are not into wanting Christianity to have much influence on things, I adamantly must disagree with this whole "The Constitution is biblical" or "is based upon biblical foundations" as a Christian I disagree entirely. For further research on this idea see author Ted Weiland's latest series and forthcoming book "The Bible vs Constitutional Law" ( http://www.missiontoisrael.org / http://missiontoisrael.org/constitut...tionsurvey.php ) .

In short, the book I think is based largely on mormon teachings or ideas and doesn't convince me in the slightest of this idea. And yes, it is no surprise that the neo-con and mormon Glen Beck pushed this book a good bit.

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## DirtMcGirt

I'm almost finished with the book, easy read.  There is definitely a strong religious preference in the 1st half of the book.  All in all the book relates topics very well, has exceptional references and quotes; I learned a thing or two from reading it.  

Would recommend it as a quick summer read.

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## Expatriate

I have Skousen's other book, _The Making of America_, and I thought it was great. I haven't seen this one, but don't let a little religious content turn you off. If it's at all similar to his other book it should be well worth the read.

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## TER

Reading it now and am learning a lot. The quotes from the founding fathers are plentiful!

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## Young Paleocon

Principle 12 - The United States of America shall be a republic.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the republic for which it stands...."

Nothing like quoting a pledge written by a socialist one hundred years after the founding during the rise of nationalism to back up that point....

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## Matt Collins

Hmmm... why do people feel the need to mix religion and politics? 
 While I tend to agree with most everything in the book, the problem is that liberty is not a faith based or religous based philsophy. I wish people would quit trying to hijack/ hitch / tandem their personal agendas onto something else.

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## Sola_Fide

My Dad just sent me this book in the mail after he took a Constitution class.  Should I read this?

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## erowe1

> Is it just me, or do those principles have a distinct Christian dominionist slant?


It's a distinctly Mormon book.

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## Sola_Fide

Erowe1, 

Is this something I should read or is it a waste of time in your opinion?

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## RforRevolution

^^It's ok if very introductory. I liked it when I first started learning about history and politics. I found it particularly enlightening regarding the constitution.

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## erowe1

> Erowe1, 
> 
> Is this something I should read or is it a waste of time in your opinion?


I haven't read it personally. I probably shouldn't have made that claim, but I base it on what I've heard from people I trust on the matter, including a devout Mormon who thinks its Mormon-ness is obvious to people with that background.

But I've also heard it was pretty good overall. You might as well read at least some of it and see what you think.

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## Sola_Fide

> I haven't read it personally. I probably shouldn't have made that claim, but I base it on what I've heard from people I trust on the matter, including a devout Mormon who thinks its Mormon-ness is obvious to people with that background.
> 
> But I've also heard it was pretty good overall. You might as well read at least some of it and see what you think.


UPDATE:
Wow.  Erowe, you were right.  Just finished the book.

The Mormon undertones were PLAINLY obvious. The author loves to quote the old Roman statesman like Cicero, who were polytheists too of course.

There is also this overriding theme of the importance of maintaining the formality of religion, something which the Mormons do exceedingly well (this is a bad thing, as you know)


There is little talk of the TRUE foundations of constitutionalism, which sprang from the covenentalism of the pilgrims.  Instead, the secular and racial components of constitutional history were emphasized (which led to talk of the superiority of anglo-saxonism and Grecian statism).

The Founders were WRONG for worshipping the Greeks!  The Greeks were Statists and so were the Romans.  Both Greece and Rome were welfare-state bankrupt empire basketcases!  The Pilgrims were closer to complete voluntarism than the Greeks or Romans ever were.

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## Bruno

> It's a distinctly Mormon book.


That would explain Beck's fascination.

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