My son recently gave me a book entitled "10 books that screwed up the world." Just for fun I asked a few people to guess the books that were included. A few people guessed that the bible was or should be included. Does the bible belong alongside the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf as among the most destructive books ever produced?
Personally I don't think so, not by a long shot. But I am especially interested in hearing from those who think the bible has had a powerful negative influence on the world.
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Yes. I think the Bible has had an profoundly positive and negative effect on the world. But really, is it the book and it's contents or the individuals that interpret them?
Did I ever mention that I can't stand that smug puke Bill Maher?
Good question. I guess I am referring to the contents of the book primarily. How to completely separate the book from its interpretation? Probably not possible, so for the sake of this discussion lets include any and all interpretations of the bible. So on balance, has the influence of the bible been more negative than positive such that it should be included among the most ahrmful books ever written?
What kills me about Bill Maher is that he thinks he is an intellectual becaus he can reason, quite rationally, that there is no God. In light of the lack of physical evidence and knowable "truths", I would laugh at any junior high school student who couldn't do the same thing. Faith is what fills in the gaps for believers.
Yes.
Mixter
C'mon Mixter. How about a quick balance sheet re the bible. You know, Inquisition = bad on one side of the ledger or abolition of slavery = good, for example.
Of course the 2 'Commie' books were on the list, obviously noone has read them, as the global economic meltdown is foretold in them.
8:46
You mead the great leap forward that killed at least 10 million by starvation or Stalin's forced collectivization in the 30's?
And Obama' Marxist play time just think how many he will kill when the US can no longer feed the world.
Back to the Bible words/ideas will not kill anyone how they are used another story all together
Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" has to be number one on the list. Her use of psudo-science and hysteria to ultimately get DDT banned has lead to malaria infecting between 300 million and 500 million people annually, killing as many 2.7 million of them.
Hey Nemo, Silent Spring is not on the list but now that you mention it someone could certainly make a strong case for that one. The books are Machiavelli, The Prince, Descartes' Discourse on Method, Hobbes' Leviathan, Rousseau's Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men. Oops, those were listed as preliminary screw ups. The top ten are commie manifesto, utilitarianism, descent of man, beyond good and evil, the state and revolution, the pivot of civilization, mein kampf, the future of an illusion, coming of age in Samoa and sexual behavior in the human male.
Okay, the Bible is not inherently bad. It is what people do with it that I disagree with. Good things can come from charity, loving your neighbor, etc., but one doesn't need a manual for that, does one?
NO book is inherently bad, right?
Regarding Cal's question: Is it the book and it's contents or the individuals that interpret them? Well. The same thing could be said about "Mein Kampf", I guess. I'm joking just a little here. One could take Swift's essay, "A Modest Proposal," and do all sorts of nasty things in agreement of it, but its contents are satirical.
Who has the time to come up with these lists, anyway? :D
Mixter
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