I came across this in the NY Times and thought it might spark a good discussion
Which authors or books have worked on you as negative influences?
Thomas Mallon and Daniel Mendelsohn discuss the works that have inspired them to take an opposite approach
Lois
Chris Hitchens - God is not great. All I will say is his impression of God is completely opposite of mine but I understand what he was trying to write about which was man’s misuse of religion and spirituality.
He was an example of what can happen if the enemy gets a foot hold. His own words tells us his eternal decision. Not much left to ponder about him.
Al Gore - An Inconvenient Truth SO plausible but so twisted. Was interesting but mostly theory. Yuck. The earth was never meant to last in its present form forever. Conversly it is also not in its original form today. Heh. Deep.
Theres no shortage of fact and truth twisting books these days. Be careful…discern.
Any thing by Anne Rand
Many years ago a friend said he didn’t believe in book burning so he gave me his copy of an Ayn Rand book. It took only a few pages for me to decide that I wasn’t interested in reading the babblings of a psychotic. It sat on shelf until they started recycling paper.
Occam
Theres no shortage of fact and truth twisting books these days. Be careful...discern.It's funny you say that.
The Occult and Mysteries both by Colin Wilson.
These books are about the paranormal, they’re written from the POV that the paranormal is probably real and modern science is wrong to dismiss it - which is what I used to think. Instead, reading them made me more curious about skeptical thinking in regards to the “unexplained”.
“They” them those in the “know” hide in plain site. Their symbols and lots of other stuff are all over the worlds societies. And worship the god of this world not the next.
It’s no joke to be laughed about. Spirituality is not the same as Christianity. Maybe check out an open AA meeting sometime or a Unitarian type church.
Or you can just take a walk through the new Denver Int. airport.
I agree with Occam. The book that was the most negative influence to me was the Bible. But I could make a good case that it in the end it had a positive effect because it helped me to wake up to reality.
Lois
Which authors or books have worked on you as negative influences?Can't tell you. If I did, you would know what my vice is. :smirk:
Thanks for the post. We all know that books increase our knowledge. But, some books really are published for us to know reality and make us think harder. On the other hand, it has negative effects to some people who read it thus, it is a negative influence for them.
The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. It’s about the most ridiculous piece of writing on the planet. - Which could lead to another discussion: What are your thoughts on Satanism? (Anton LaVey Satanism is obviously atheistic, not occult, but I just find this stuff hilarious! Very erotic though.)
Addition: It’s not just “hilarious”, it’s also rather sad.
The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. It's about the most ridiculous piece of writing on the planet. - Which could lead to another discussion: What are your thoughts on Satanism? (Anton LaVey Satanism is obviously atheistic, not occult, but I just find this stuff hilarious! Very erotic though.)I sort of like "The Satanic Bible", although I read elsewhere that LeVey plagiarized most of it. I find the Church of Satan interesting; it's a mix of Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Mencken, HP Lovecraft and WC Fields.
The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. It's about the most ridiculous piece of writing on the planet. - Which could lead to another discussion: What are your thoughts on Satanism? (Anton LaVey Satanism is obviously atheistic, not occult, but I just find this stuff hilarious! Very erotic though.)I sort of like "The Satanic Bible", although I read elsewhere that LeVey plagiarized most of it. I find the Church of Satan interesting; it's a mix of Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Mencken, HP Lovecraft and WC Fields. Hey Mid Atlantic... The book is an interesting read, but I still find it silly as hell. Umm. I only met one Church of Satan "satanist" in my whole life, and he was a funny fellow, Death Metal and stuff, Cannibal Corpse, horror movies, whatever, and I loved discussing with him. He was big into religious discussions and I found that cool, but that "church" I still consider more of a Halloween clown act than anything else. - It's an interesting take they have... Woman is the Altar, sex written all over their ceremonies, yes, Nietzsche and Lovecraft would come to mind too. - One of my favorite musicians, King Diamond, as I understand, is also a member there. Well, I still think it's silly. Interesting idea, still kinda strange. But, they're atheists, not "believers". - Since this post was on a negative book influence, that book was rather negative on me. Utterly selfish. No love, just lust. I don't float on that. Peace.
The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. It's about the most ridiculous piece of writing on the planet. - Which could lead to another discussion: What are your thoughts on Satanism? (Anton LaVey Satanism is obviously atheistic, not occult, but I just find this stuff hilarious! Very erotic though.)I sort of like "The Satanic Bible", although I read elsewhere that LeVey plagiarized most of it. I find the Church of Satan interesting; it's a mix of Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, Mencken, HP Lovecraft and WC Fields. Hey Mid Atlantic... The book is an interesting read, but I still find it silly as hell. Umm. I only met one Church of Satan "satanist" in my whole life, and he was a funny fellow, Death Metal and stuff, Cannibal Corpse, horror movies, whatever, and I loved discussing with him. He was big into religious discussions and I found that cool, but that "church" I still consider more of a Halloween clown act than anything else. - It's an interesting take they have... Woman is the Altar, sex written all over their ceremonies, yes, Nietzsche and Lovecraft would come to mind too. - One of my favorite musicians, King Diamond, as I understand, is also a member there. Well, I still think it's silly. Interesting idea, still kinda strange. But, they're atheists, not "believers". - Since this post was on a negative book influence, that book was rather negative on me. Utterly selfish. No love, just lust. I don't float on that. Peace.Yeah, it's totally silly, but they admit that. I've read interviews with several of their representatives, and they say "religion is show business, but we're the only ones who are honest about it." :-P IMO, that's a good description.