[Vision2020] RE: Ten Most Harmful Books

[keely emerinemix]

It's . . . it's . . . it's all so clear now.

Joan and I aren't friends because of shared political interests or 
experiences, but because I am also Mustang-deprived AND endured as a child 
the sprinkling of wheat germ on all manner of desserts and treats from my 
father, who was raised in a household steeped in Dr. 
Kellog/osteopathy/regularity teachings.  It was this same man who sold our 
family's sporty four-on-the-floor '76 a decade later for a thousand bucks 
because (take a deep breath, Joan!) "nobody would pay more than that for a 
car with 60,000 miles on it."

Moving along, I agree that anything by Ayn Rand is more than merely vexing 
in the hands of college students who immediately "get" from it how the world 
works, or should work, and then grow into Libertarians and business moguls 
and politicians.  'Tis a frightening sight, and one that calls for one of my 
favorite books, "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger," as a corrective.

And yes, Dale, I've heard of Reconstructionist David Chilton's response, a 
book called "Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt-Manipulators," whose 
first few vile pages turned me off from . . . well, come to think of it, the 
whole damned enchilada of Reconstructionistic (theonomic) libertarianism.

Did she say "damned"?  She sure did, and meant it.

keely



From: "joanopyr at earthlink.net" <joanopyr at earthlink.net>
Reply-To: joanopyr at earthlink.net
To: Vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] RE: Ten Most Harmful Books
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2005 12:58:25 -0700

Roger writes:

"Good post. I suppose whether a book is harmful or not depends on ones
perspective on what it is harmful to. For istance 'Origin of the Species'
may be viewed as harmful by some fundamentalist religions but beneficial
from a science viewpoint."

As a Liberal thinker, lists of "dangerous books" are anathema to me.  Books
aren't dangerous; people are.  But, if pressed, then I'd have to say that
Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" was at the top of my list of books you should
not allow your reasonably bright teenager to read.  Why?  Because he or she
will invariably identify with the architect Howard Roark and spend the next
six months moping about in the guise of misunderstood genius.  It's most
annoying.  (I know because I did it myself, way back in 1982.)

Other irritating books?  Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence
People."  "Diet for a Small Planet," "The More-With-Less Cookbook," and the
complete works of Adele Davis and Yule Gibbons -- I blame the latter two
for the fact that my mother sprinkled wheat germ on *everything* we ate for
nearly a decade.  Wheat germ on a banana split?  Good grief!  Finally, I
believe it is our moral and civic duty to reject anything written by Norman
Vincent Peale and/or any drug-addled country singer who spends 40 years
snorting coke, beating his wives, and kicking his dogs but has now turned
to Jesus and wants to share.  Tell to Saint Peter, Glen Campbell -- I'm not
interested.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.auntie-establishment.com



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