Posted on 05/16/2008 10:09:27 PM PDT by Ethan Clive Osgoode
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.
10 Malleus Maleficarum
Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, 1486
On the list because: It inflamed witch hunts across Europe
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
Niccolo 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
On the list because: it caused deaths through bad advice
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
This book has helped to fuel (through pseudo-science and untruths) the idea that evolution is false and 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.
That dang book gave us all the idiotic ideas that Roosevelt and Johnson burdened this country with. Its the headwaters of all things to do with entitlement programs!
Roosevelt was said to be enamored with Keynes.
Keynes was a eugenist. He was a director of the Eugenics Society in the 1930's and 40's.
This is exactly what I was thinking. It was Machiavelli that made me put my faith in liberty, and it was Marx that made me a capitalist. I think everyone should read these books to know what they're up against in regards to the professional politician.
Missing the Koran and Al Gore’s tome that even served as inspiration for the Unabomber.
The Koran is a political tomb for theocratic rule and is still used as justification for jihad centuries later.
The Bible is a guide for living by God’s Law but does not rule out the existence of Man’s Law and governence.
Anything written by Noam Chomsky.
I swear I corrected that to tome before posting (without spell check).
Now now, how many of the people who cite Chomsky have even READ Chomsky? Are ANY of his books best sellers?
They rent the video lectures and regurgitate the talking points.
I agree. If you don't read the books written by the minds who influence society (for the good or bad), you don't really know what's going on. On my FR page there is a book by Jacques Maritain. The first essay explains that a philosopher of evil influence is like a lighthouse telling you to steer clear.
But a curious question arises. How is it that we can read Marx and recognize him for what he is, but others take him seriously? I don't think one can say that those who take dangerous crackpots seriously are simply stupid. For example, Ernst Mach was definitely not stupid, but he took Haeckel's monistic rants quite seriously and even joined Haeckel's Monist Church. Perhaps it has something to do with lack of faith, and the absence of sanity that inevitably follows.
"Devolution," aside from inspiring one of the most eccentric new-wave bands of the early 1990s, is a meaningless concept. Evolution is not a linear, goal-oriented process, and to talk of "lower" and "higher" creatures -- or to refer to evolution going "backward" -- is to introduce moral or aesthetic prejudices where they have no place.
My mom despises this book and says Dr. Spock has a lot to answer for the lack of parents disciplining their children.
So is evolution.
Evolution is not a... goal-oriented process.
Neither is devolution, obviously. See? Meaningless concepts go hand-in-hand.
The comments here are every bit as good as the list. Spock’s book is right up there with the Koran and Mein Kampf. They could all be #1. “Origin Of The Species” is a real contender, too.
I’d put Origin in the first slot and all the new translations of the Bible in #2.
Exactly. This article is just an attempt by the author to make a disparaging point about creationism.
That’s interesting because it was Ayn Rand’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’ that made me a Christian again.
Just goes to show that some things are toxic in general release but cathartic when absorbed in proper context from a firm set of prior principles based in fact rather than preference or whim.
Absolutely - what a joke.
Yet for the author to put Behe’s book at #1 shows the absolute terror which has struck many whose god is evolution.....
LOLOL! Thank you for sharing your insights!
True.. evolution is as fictional as devolution..
Both require an arrogant pedantic smart ass to promote them..
was written in Paris by an Englishman named Hobbes."Well, there's the problem"
Kidding aside, I tend to agree with you. Fortunately 17th England had an even greater political philosopher in John Locke
The negative influence of Mein Kampf is grossly overstated. In reality it had two main groups who purchased it at the time of Hitler’s rise to power. The first was those who already agreed with him, so the book had little influence on their beliefs, it simply reflected them. The second was primarily those trying to appear like good Germans who probably didn’t even bother to read much if any of it.
Had the book’s popularity preceded Hitler’s rise to power I could agree it had been widely influential, but the series of events shows just the opposite. It is so poorly written and rambling that it’s ability to sway anyone to believe anything is limited.
If anything it should have served as a warning to the rest of the world regarding the wisdom of appeasement, and actually had the potential to influence action that could have saved millions of lives.
Since the fall of Nazi Germany Mein Kampf is primarily cited as influential only by those who already hold a strong belief in neo-Nazi ideals.
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