Me: This is an interesting post. I learned a lot from the synopsis; in fact, it kinda actually makes me want to read some of them. If you would ask me, i would put Hitler's "Mein Kempf" on the top spot. Nonetheless, the author of this post seem to be very knowledgeable with these works. Enjoy!
Books are one of our greatest resources, but many times in
history books have been written which are misleading or untrue. In some cases
this has lead to widescale death and destruction and evil governmental regimes.
This is a list of ten of the worst books of this type –
books that have done more harm than good. The common thread in all of these
books is deception – invariably not intentional, but the consequences are the
same regardless.
I have intentionally left off some of the more obvious
choices – as they will almost certainly come up in the comments. This list is
in no particular order.
10
Malleus Maleficarum
Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, 1486
Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witchraft) was a manual
for witch hunters and judges to catch witches and stamp them out. It came out
just prior to the protestant reformation and it was one of the most popular
books amongst the reformers who were wanting to smash “evil” out of their
countries. Between 1487 and 1520, twenty editions of the Malleus were
published, and another sixteen editions were published between 1574 to 1669.
This book single-handedly launched centuries of witch hunts.
9
Coming of Age in Samoa
Margaret Mead, 1928
On the list because: it turned out to be a creation of her
own sexual confusions and aspirations
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist who
traveled to Samoa to answer the questions on sexuality posed in America in the
1920s (particularly with reference to women). Unfortunately for Mead, the
youths she interviewed in Samoa told her wild tales of sexual promiscuity and
Mead reported it all as fact. One of the girls later said: “She must have taken
it seriously, but I was only joking. As you know, Samoan girls are terrific
liars when it comes to joking. But Margaret accepted our trumped up stories as
though they were true.” If challenged by Mead, the girls would not have
hesitated to tell the truth, but Mead never questioned their stories. According
to Wikipedia: “The use of cross-cultural comparison to highlight issues within
Western society was highly influential, and contributed greatly to the
heightened awareness of Anthropology and Ethnographic study in the USA.”
Interestingly, Mead was a highly regarded academic and had a large part in the
formulation of the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer (Church of England).
8
The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli, 1532
On the list because: it was the inspiration for a long list
of tyrannies (Stalin had it on his nightstand)
The Prince is a treatise meant for rulers who had shed all
scruples – to a point that they might see evil as potentially more beneficial
to society than good. Machiavelli hoped to start a revolution in the hearts of
his readers, and he certainly achieved that. He proudly stated things that
others before him had only dared to whisper, and he whispered things that had
not even been considered. According to Machiavelli “it is not necessary for a
prince to have all the above-mentioned qualities [merciful, faithful, humane,
honest, and religious], but it is indeed necessary to appear to have them. Nay,
I dare say this, that by having them and always observing them, they are
harmful; and by appearing to have them they are useful.” Some of the people
inspired by this book are Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Napoleon I of France.
7
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler, 1925
On the list because: it helped spread Hitler’s genocidal
anti-Semitism
In Mein Kampf, Hitler outlined his racist plan for a new
Germany which included mass murder of Jews, and a war against France and Russia
to make living space for Germans. At the time of publication the book was
largely ignored, but once Hitler rose to power that changed. It is believed
that over 10 million copies were in circulation in 1945. The book is largely
influenced by The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon (1895)
which suggested propaganda as a means to controlling the irrational behavior of
crowds. In addition, Hitler drew on the fabricated Protocols of the Elders of
Zion to give support for the need for his anti-semitic plans. Hitler speaks of
“The Jewish Peril” which he believed was a conspiracy by Jews to take over the
world. The book outlines the racial worldview in which people are classified by
race as superior or inferior. In 2003 the sequel to Mein Kampf, Zweites Buch,
was published in English for the first time. Zweites Buch (Second Book) expands
on the original ideas of Mein Kampf and outlines further plans for a war with
the United States and the British Empire for entire world domination by
Germany.
6
The Pivot of Civilization
Margaret Sanger, 1922
On the list because: it preaches eugenics
Margaret Sanger is the mother of modern contraception and
the founder of Planned Parenthood. In her 1922 book, The Pivot of Civilization,
she outlined her theories of eugenics (control of the human race by selective
breeding) and racial purity (3 years before Hitler did the same in Mein Kampf).
The basis of her support of contraception was entirely due to her belief that
inferior humans should be killed to enable a superior race to appear over time.
Sanger did not just entertain popular ideas of her time – she was the champion
of the cause. In her book she says: “the most urgent problem of to-day is how
to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically
defective.” She goes on to say: “possibly drastic and Spartan methods may be
forced upon American society if it continues complacently to encourage the
chance and chaotic breeding that has resulted from our stupid, cruel
sentimentalism.” Birth control was, in her mind, “the greatest and most truly
eugenic method.” Needless to say, Planned Parenthood today have tried very hard
to distance themselves from their founder.
5
Democracy and Education
John Dewey, 1916
On the list because: it convinced the world that education
is not about facts
In Democracy and Education, Dewey disparages schooling that
focuses on traditional character development and endowing children with hard
knowledge, and encourages the teaching of thinking “skills” instead. His views
have had great influence on the direction of American education–particularly in
public schools. This book could be considered to be the anti-classical
education manifesto. And the consequence? A generation of youths with an
inferior education which lacks a founding in solid facts and knowledge. Dewey
was one of the three founders of the philosophical school of Pragmatism – a
school of thought which proposes that “truth” is made and can change. The
current curriculum in New Zealand is one which would please Dewey immensely as
it is largely founded on his principles.
4
Baby and Childcare
Benjamin Spock, 1946
Regardless of whether you agree with the methodology of
Spock, no one can deny that many children probably died of cot death as a
result of his advice to put babies to sleep on their stomachs. This advice was
extremely influential on health-care providers, with nearly unanimous support
through to the 1990s. Spock believed that babies on their back can choke on
their own vomit – leading to death. Scientists eventually found that Spock’s
advice actually lead to more deaths by suffocation. Estimates of the number of
deaths caused by this bad advice are as many as 50,000. Spock also advocated a
method of child raring that moved away from discipline based methods.
Previously, experts had told parents that babies needed to learn to sleep on a
regular schedule, and that picking them up and holding them whenever they cried
would only teach them to cry more and not to sleep through the night. Spock
taught the exact opposite.
3
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Unknown
On the list because: it was a propaganda book designed to
incite racial hatred
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a booklet that
purports to describe a plot by world Jewry and Masonry to take over the world.
Despite the fact that the booklet is a hoax, it was spread wide and far and
believed by most Europeans to be true. Many people today still consider it be
factual. It was instrumental to Hitler’s anti-Jewish efforts in Germany and it
was used after the Russian Revolution to perpetrate hatred and violence against
Jews. The booklet continues to be published and disseminated in many Middle
Eastern states which are political enemies of Israel.
2
The Manifesto of the Communist Party
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 1848
On the list because: it could win the award for the most
malicious book ever written
This book has inspired some of the most brutal regimes in
man’s history. Regardless of whether there has been a state which is a true
Marxist state, this book has inspired so many evil actions that it can not be
left off a list of this nature. Some of the principles found in the manifesto
are the abolition of private ownership of land, confiscation of property of
emigrants, heavy taxes, and the abolition of inheritance.
1
Darwin’s Black Box
Michael Behe, 1996
On the list because: It fuels fundamentalist attacks on
Science
By arguing against aspects of Darwin’s theories, this book
has given fuel to the fundamentalists who argue that a literal interpretation
of the Book of Genesis is the only possible manner in which the earth was
created. Despite much refutation from the Scientific community, many
fundamentalists still use this as a “source” for proof that evolution is not
true. The book itself was not peer reviewed as Behe claimed under oath, and the
Science community has overwhelming rejected it. It should be noted that Behe
himself is not a fundamentalist and does not believe in a literal
interpretation of the Bible.
PS: The Photos in this post are just taken from various websites. I own none of them.
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