Arizona immigration law sponsor Russell Pearce and Skousen
(there’s much more info at the link about Pearce, I just picked the paragraphs that had to do with Skousen)
Russell Pearce and Skousen:
Pearce’s interest in the law and politics stems from boyhood and his Mormon upbringing; he recalls no particular political epiphany.
But during the 1970s and 1980s, Pearce gravitated toward a right-wing political guru [W. Cleon Skousen] whose teachings served to cement Pearce’s beliefs in law and order and make him even more immovable when it came to defending those beliefs.
….Indeed, Pearce’s philosophy echoes Skousen’s book “The Five Thousand Year Leap,” which asserts that God inspired the Founders to create a society that has fostered more human progress in 200 years than in all the previous 5,000 years put together.
The book has become a favorite of talk-show host Glenn Beck and others in the “tea party” movement.
Skousen believed in an obscure prophecy attributed to Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith that held that in the final days of the world, the Constitution would be hanging by a thread and would only be rescued by “the elders of Israel” - Mormon men.
While the prophesy is considered outside the mainstream of the church, it resonates in Pearce’s comments.
“I love this country. I love this republic,” Pearce said. “I believe it was inspired by God by our Founders to put together the freedom-loving constitutional republic that we have, recognizing certain God-given rights. I’ve believed that from a young age.”
Remember where this law came from.