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The Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries


AnnieC 305

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From The Memeing of Life (not broken because he won't care)

http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/blog/?p=8049

I’ve always loved lists of banned books — so revealing. And I always think of a great quote by Stephen King: When you hear a book is being banned, he said to a group of students, “RUN, don’t walk, to the first library you can find and read what they’re trying to keep out of your eyes. Read what they’re trying to keep out of your brains. Because that’s exactly what you need to know.â€.

The list can be found here. (not broken - major site)

http://www.humanevents.com/2005/05/31/t ... centuries/

Put here because the list of "judges" reads as "fundie" to me. The Witherspoon Fellowships were part of the Family Research Council and, well, Phyllis Schlafly.

I'm going to go put ALL of them on my Nook, and then start getting hard copies for my future children.

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How does Silent Spring make that list? I can understand the inclusion of some of the books (like The Communist Manifesto), but not that one.

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I read Satanic Verses by Rushdie because any book that earns the author a death penalty is one that I want to read.

It isn't on the list, but now I have an entire new set of boosk to read. LOL The only book on the list that I read was Mein Kempf(spelling?)

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How does Silent Spring make that list? I can understand the inclusion of some of the books (like The Communist Manifesto), but not that one.

I don't see what is wrong with the Communist Manifesto. I also can't see how Das Kapital or Betty Friedan's the Feminine Mystique would be so dangerous. Sure Betty Friedan's book opened up people's eyes to the myths of the American housewife of the 1950s. But to actually ban the book? History shouldn't be forgotten or it will be repeated. Not sure why Auguste Comte would be an issue either. What's wrong with letting everyone decide what they put on their bookshelves?

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I don't see what is wrong with the Communist Manifesto. I also can't see how Das Kapital or Betty Friedan's the Feminine Mystique would be so dangerous. Sure Betty Friedan's book opened up people's eyes to the myths of the American housewife of the 1950s. But to actually ban the book? History shouldn't be forgotten or it will be repeated. Not sure why Auguste Comte would be an issue either. What's wrong with letting everyone decide what they put on their bookshelves?

What is wrong with them is that they challenge the status quo and, apparently, the status quo are white, conservative scholars and public policy makers (as they were the ones polled for the list). Anything that has to do with social welfare, autonomy, equality, and rights threatens them and their positions of power.

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Dewey’s Democracy and Education? (The listmaker moans that Dewey introduced the teaching of thinking “skills†— scare quotes included — into public education.)

Because the last thing fundies want is thinkers. That is one of the saddest things in the world to me.

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I don't suppose they'll do a kids' version of this list? I can guess which books they'll decry.

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To make the conversation a bit more interesting - how would FJers feel about a list that included books such as To Train Up a Child, The Turner Diaries or any other right-wing lunatic rantings?

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To make the conversation a bit more interesting - how would FJers feel about a list that included books such as To Train Up a Child, The Turner Diaries or any other right-wing lunatic rantings?

I absolutely 100% believe those books should not be banned. They should be read widely as an object lesson of what not to be. 99% of people that read TTUAC and other books of that ilk will think, "Wow, what a scary book. I can't believe there are authors that think this way and that readers will implement this advice."

And, if we [FJ] start "banning" books, that makes us close minded fuckers like the people that created the above list.

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Y'all notice there was only one woman on the "panel of conservative judges" and that was Phyllis Schlafly? Also, how in the world is Keynes dangerous? To include him on that list shows a profound ignorance about modern economic systems. Not terribly surprising given the panel, but still deeply revealing.

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Keynes? LOL

this is so ridiculous I don't even think it's worth one minute of anyone's time. They obviously haven't read a book in their whole life.

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Kinsey? Sure, his work is outdated now, but the idea that we can scientifically study sex for everyone's benefit has, rightly, endured.

The Population Bomb? Even the author admits that the scenarios presented in the book never came to pass. Still, it gets people thinking about overpopulation/resource allocation, and fundies can't have that.

Introduction to Psychoanalysis? Both Gothard, Dougie, and James Dobson all integrate watered down Freudian development into their teachings, so I'm not sure why they hate him. Sure, he was Jewish, but was very open about his atheism/lack of faith.

You'd think Dianetics, Stranger In A Strange Land, Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1984, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Anne Frank's diary would make the list. I guess fiction doesn't count, even when it influence the thoughts of millions and millions of people? (ETA: Anne Frank was obviously real!)

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"On Liberty"? Yikes. I wouldn't have expected that.

Whoa. I looked to see if the Federalist Papers made it on there, but no. And then I remembered (DUH, I did get a degree in Government) that they were written at the end of the 18th century. My bad.

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To make the conversation a bit more interesting - how would FJers feel about a list that included books such as To Train Up a Child, The Turner Diaries or any other right-wing lunatic rantings?

I wouldn't start whining if they were banned, but I also am not going to be the one banning them.

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I wouldn't start whining if they were banned, but I also am not going to be the one banning them.

I dunno...maybe a list of the most harmful books of the fundamentalist movement, with no indication they should be banned. Just pointing them out, and why.

I'd put TTUAC pretty near the top of the list. I'd also add Mary Pride's "The Way Home," which really pushed fundievangelical women back in to the home and into home schooling in a big way.

Also: Managers of Their Homes, with the emphasis on chore packs and all that rot.

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Coming of Age in Samoa and Unsafe at Any Speed? I guess the panel was threatened by Mead's exploration of Samoan sexuality as she found that a society with few rules about sexuality was healthier than one with lots of rules; eg, our repressed society. And Nader's book was pretty much singlehandedly responsible for all the safety innovations in modern cars. I guess these guys would rather us go back to no seat belts and windshield glass that broke onto shards rather than into small pebbles upon impact.

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Coming of Age in Samoa and Unsafe at Any Speed? I guess the panel was threatened by Mead's exploration of Samoan sexuality as she found that a society with few rules about sexuality was healthier than one with lots of rules; eg, our repressed society. And Nader's book was pretty much singlehandedly responsible for all the safety innovations in modern cars. I guess these guys would rather us go back to no seat belts and windshield glass that broke onto shards rather than into small pebbles upon impact.

Yep. I remember my two-year-old brother falling out of my parents' Corvair in 1966 on a four-lane highway. I was at school, but my sister piped up from the back seat, "Mom, Jay fell out of the car." My mother slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car. A man had pulled up behind my brother, who was uninjured. The next vehicle they purchased (a Chevrolet Impala station wagon with black vinyl seats) had seatbelts and my mother was RELIGIOUS about making us wear them.

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I own the first two books on that list. :D I haven't gotten a chance to read them yet, but I do own them. I also own "The Green Book" by Muammar Gaddafi. I don't see it on the list so they must not think it's that harmful. :lol:

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Mein Kampf was essentially banned from the major book seller in Canada (Chapters Indigo) by the Jewish owner of the chain. This was a few years ago so not sure if they sell it now. Seems to me looking at the genesis/history of such evil people is useful to perhaps identify/avoid the same thing....

Silly list. Also misleading summary of the books' contents....well, what could we expect....

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I absolutely 100% believe those books should not be banned. They should be read widely as an object lesson of what not to be. 99% of people that read TTUAC and other books of that ilk will think, "Wow, what a scary book. I can't believe there are authors that think this way and that readers will implement this advice."

And, if we [FJ] start "banning" books, that makes us close minded fuckers like the people that created the above list.

QFT

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