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Show Page 10 The Ogden Valley News Volume XXX Issue IX December 15, 2023 The Cleansing of America: A Book Review By Forrest Brown Rarely is a book written with strict instructions that it isn’t to be published until after the author’s death, but this is the case with The Cleansing of America by W. Cleon Skousen. The author obviously had his reasons for this as he neared the end of his mortal existence. Included in the pages of this volume are explanations of some of the events of the winding-up scenes of this world. This book helps the reader understand the nature of these prophecies, the known chronology of predictive events, and the importance of staying close to the Lord and his prophets during the difficult and challenging years prior to the Second Coming. We are fast approaching these prophetic events. Some are upon us even now. Join me as we review this thought-provoking book. In Chapter One, the author lists nine prophecies concerning the future of America and what to expect from future events. Much time can be spent reviewing each of these revelations, but other insights from this book can be obtained by looking at what else Dr. Skousen has to say. He writes that in latter times, most modern-day societies will have turned their backs on God and His moral code of conduct. He lists ten statements from the secular humanism culture that are counter to what our founding fathers taught and instituted into our Constitution. These ten declarations include: 1. There is no God. 2. Man has no soul and therefore no immortality. 3. Man must be his own savior. 4. In and of itself, no action is a sin. 5. Prayer is ine昀昀ectual. 6. Miracles don’t exist, and never have. 7. There was never a divine creation. 8. There is no last judgment. 9. The Bible is a composition of man-made writings. 10. The morals outlined in the Bible are outdated. As some mainstream religious denominations have gradually given up many of their biblical beliefs in favor of secular humanism, Dr. Skousen says we have seen a rise in the denial of the existence of God (33%), 36% expressed doubt about the deity of Jesus Christ, 31% doubt that there is life after death, 62% question that miracles occurred, and 77% deny the existence of a devil. The author points to two intellectuals who, through their writings, helped embellish the anti-theistic thinking that has spurred on the devastation of JudeoChristian beliefs among millions of people. The first was Sigmund Freud who lived from 1856 to 1939 in Austria. He developed a radical approach to the normal pressures of life by applying certain principles known as psychoanalysis. His theories were based on the premise that individual mental health requires that a person accommodate their impulses, which prey upon us most powerfully, such as the sex drive. He called this the “libido” and believed in the idea of uninhibited sex or total sexual gratification for sound health. The other scientist who picked up where Freud left off was Alfred Kinsey. He published two books in 1948 and both were combined into what became known as The Kinsey Report. What shocked Americans at the time were his alleged statistics that, supposedly, proved scientifically that homosexuality, promiscuity, and pedophilia were much more widespread and accepted than anyone had suspected. It later turned out that many of his interviews were with prison inmates, prostitutes, and others who were far from representative of the general population. Between Freud and Kinsey, a far-reaching revolution occurred in the minds of many and in the minds of following generations. Between 1950 and 1968, the number of outof-wedlock births among teenagers tripled to over 165,000 per year. Criminal sexual assaults on women increased 526% between 1960 and 1986. Adolescent suicides have increased 300% in the last thirty years, as well as crimes of violence such as murder, robbery, rape and assaults. Much of Western society, as the author notes, has lost its moral compass. Thus, we can see the need for the cleansing of America. Cleon Skousen believed that America needed to return to many of its founding principles in order to have peace, law and order, minimum poverty, and less crime. And if America is cleansed, he also supposes that it will once again prosper, have a sound and simple form of government, a healthy monetary system, and a virtuous social structure based on righteous principles. So where did Cleon Skousen believe Powder Mountain Water and Sewer Improvement District Transcript 84310 and Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District NOTICE OF INTENT for PARTIAL SNOWFLAKE SUBDIVISION BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE 1. Proposed no琀椀ce of intent for par琀椀al Snow昀氀ake Subdivision boundary adjustment. NOTICE is hereby given that Powder Mountain Water and Sewer Improvement District and Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District will hold a Public Hearing on December 19, 2023, at the District O昀케ces 298 24th St. Ste. 150 Ogden, Utah 84401 and 2580 N. Highway 162 Suite A Eden, Utah 84310 beginning at 6:00 P.M. (ALL BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF WILL BE PARTICIPATING VIA ZOOM) ID #3278889056. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2023 6:00 p.m. Mountain Time The purpose of the Public Hearing is to receive input on the Notice of Intent for partial Snow昀氀ake Subdivision Boundary Adjustment. Both Board of Trustees have adopted Resolutions indicating their intent to adjust the boundary of both Special Service Districts for partial boundary adjustment of the Snow昀氀ake Subdivision. All interested people will be given reasonable opportunity to be heard. Written comments are welcome. Please email comments to czenger@pmwsid. org and aames@wcwsid.com All comments will be accepted until December 15, 2023, by 12:00 P.M. for the Board of Trustees review. Copies of the referred-to documents are available for public review beginning December 1, 2023, in the District O昀케ces located at 298 24th St. Ste. 150 Ogden, Utah 84401 and 2580 N. Highway 162 Suite A Eden, Utah 84310, the o昀케ce of the Ogden Valley Library located at 131 So. 7400 E. Huntsville, Utah 84317, and on the Powder Mountain Water and Sewer Improvement District website www.pmwsid.org and Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District website www.wcwsid.com. In accordance with the American Disabilities Act, Powder Mountain Water and Sewer Improvement District and Wolf Creek Water and Sewer Improvement District will make reasonable accommodations to participants in the hearing, Requests for assistance can be made by calling (801) 430-8366 or 801-745-3435 at least 48 hours before the hearing. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3278889056?omn=84414150671 Meeting ID: 327 888 9056 One tap mobile: +13017158592,,5021736475#,,,,*8017453435# US (Washington DC) +13092053325,,5021736475#,,,,*8017453435# US Dial by your location: +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma); +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston); +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose); Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbUmhKTg0U that the righteous principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution came from? The Founding Fathers of America discovered them from studying the Bible and from the Anglo-Saxons. Early Americans found, that down through the centuries, the Anglo-Saxons appeared to be the only people who had tried to follow God’s pattern of government that was initially given to Moses. Thomas Jefferson even went to the trouble of learning the Anglo-Saxon language so he could study their laws in the original text and acquire a deeper insight into just how this system worked. He was especially impressed with the way the Anglo-Saxons followed the Mosaic formula by dividing their families into tens, fifties, hundreds, and so on. He found that the basic community of the Anglo-Saxon was onehundred families called a ward. Even today, we see this terminology used in such organizations as a hospital ward, a church ward, and in some municipalities, which are called wards. The early colonizes of New England copied this system and called each voting community a ward. Mr. Jefferson was very impressed by the efficiency of these small basic units of selfgovernment. His words to John Adams express his upmost adoration of this ancient form of government: “These wards, called townships in New England, are the vital principle of their governments, and have proved themselves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exercise of self-government, and for its preservation. Among other improvements, I hope they will adopt the subdivision of our countries into wards... about six miles square, each similar to the hundreds of your Saxon king.” Mr. Jefferson wanted the same system for his own state, Virginia, and he hoped it would spread to the entire nation. The size of the township or ward had to be sufficient for the community, as well as the surrounding farms so it could support around a hundred families and still allow everyone to live in the town. Thomas Jefferson marveled at the ease at which the opinions of the majority of the people could be determined when they were divided into these small and manageable units. In general, obtaining a consensus of the people was almost impossible to acquire, but Jefferson learned that the proficiency of the ward system allowed the decisions of communities to be accurately determined in a very short period of time. Some of the original states did not share Jefferson’s enthusiasm for ward townships and had been allowing the writing up of deeds of land according to natural boundaries for many of the early settlers. Congress, however, realized that a better system had to be established for the vast domains of lands extending far out into the regions of the unsettled west. On May 20, 1785, the U.S. Congress enacted a law that all future surveys of public lands would be laid out in wards or townships of six miles square. Each of these townships was then divided into thirty-six sections, and each of these sections equaled one-mile square, comprising 640 acres. Thomas Jefferson envisioned that each ward would become selfsufficient and self-contained. This would develop into the community building block of the highest order and the way Moses originally designed it. Thomas Jefferson visualized that each ward should include the following: • An elementary school • A company of militia with o昀케cers • Care of its poor • A road system • Their own police • Jurors to attend courts of justice • The people’s vote to town hall Each ward would be a mini republic within itself. Every man in the state would become an acting member of the common government and the small self-governing wards would be the keystone of the arch of the nation’s government. Jefferson believed that man could not have devised a more solid basis for a free, durable, and well administered form of government, which was the purest form of a republic as could be found. This book, The Cleansing of America, explains in great detail the winding up scenes of this world we currently live in. The author clarifies the nature of many of the latter-day events and the importance of having knowledge of these happenings. Some of our founding fathers studied the past and found a few examples of societies that developed an almost pure form of a republic. An understanding of these coming events can provide peace and motivate us to prepare for what’s to come. Christmas Events from History Compiled by Shanna Francis Undoubtedly, the most commonly and famously noted Christmas event from American history is George Washington’s 1776 crossing of the Delaware with his Continental Army. It is an event that certainly contributed to the establishment of our sovereign nation on this, the American continent—the United States of America. The History Channel’s web site notes this and six other important historical events, which we will review. 1. Charlemagne is crowned as the divinely appointed Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas 800 CE. On this day, Pope Leo III crowned him “emperor of the Romans” during a ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. “Charlemagne would serve as emperor for 13 years, and his legal and educational reforms sparked a cultural revival and unified much of Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire” in 476, a date set by historian Edward Gibbon and recognized by most other historians. 2. William the Conqueror is crowned king of England in 1066 at London’s Westminster Abbey. “William the Conqueror’s 21-year rule would see many Norman customs and laws find their way into English life. After consolidating his power by building famous structures such as the Tower of London and Windsor Castle, William also gave copious land grants to his French-speaking allies. This not only permanently changed the development of the English language—nearly one-third of modern English is derived from French words—but it also contributed to the rise of the feudal system of government that characterized much of the Middle Ages.” 3. George Washington and his Continental Army cross the Delaware River into New Jersey through the night of Christmas 1776 for a surprise attack on Trenton the following morning, December 26. Trenton was being held by mercenary German Hessian soldiers. “Washington would go on to score successive victories at the Battles of the Assunpink Creek and Princeton, and his audacious crossing of the frozen Delaware served as a crucial rallying cry for the beleaguered Continental Army,” which had been struggling to maintain themselves as a military unit. 4. On Christmas Eve 1814, the leaders from the United States and Great Britain sat down to sign the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. Named after Ghent, Belgium where negotiations first began earlier in the year, in August—the same month British forces burned the White House and the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The treaty ended a 32-month conflict fueled by the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and resulting wartime shipping actions restrictions damaging to the U.S. 5. On December 25, 1868, President Andrew Johnson offered what is now referred to as a famous Christmas present, a present to a small final number of former Confederate rebels who were pardoned by Christmas Proclamation 179. The blanket pardon restored the soldiers’ legal and political rights in exchange for signed oaths of allegiance to the United States. 6. The famous 1914 World War I Christmas Truce occurred on the battlefield of Belgium. Beginning on Christmas Eve 1914, “scores of German, British, and French troops in Belgium laid down their arms and initiated a spontaneous holiday ceasefire. The truce was reportedly instigated by the Germans, who decorated their trenches with Charismas trees and candles and began signing carols like ‘Silent Night.’ British troops responded with their own rendition of ‘The First Noel,’ and the weary combatants eventually ventured into ‘no man’s land’—the treacherous, bombed-out space that separated the tranches—to greet one another and shake hands.” 7. Apollo 8 orbits the moon on Christmas Eve 1968 with its astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders aboard. Apollo 8’s mission, which changed from testing out the lunar module later used in the Apollo 11 moon landing, to a lunar voyage, resulted in a number of breakthroughs for manned space flight. “The three astronauts became the first men to leave Earth’s gravitational pull, the first to orbit the moon, the first to view all of Earth from space, and the first to see the dark side of the moon.” What an amazing Christmas gift! 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