Speaking of books deemed harmful by conservatives. I'm curious:

[Pacifist Patriot]

What five books do you think should be required reading by conservatives? We'll go with the assumption that they possess the necessary literacy level and cognitive skills. I'm going to start off with:

1. The Doctor and the Soul or Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl. I'll let them pick either one.

2. Escape From Freedom by Erich Fromm

3. The Biology of Transcendence by Joseph Chilton Pearce

4. The American Creed by Forrest Church

5. The Chalice & The Blade by Riane Eisler or When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone. Again, I'll let them pick one or the other.

[Verve]

1. I was told by a conservative evangelical that she won't let a

Harry Potter book into her house. Witchcraft is evil you know!

[Pacifist Patriot]

2. A good one.

Yes, they should definitely be required to actually read the Harry Potter books if they feel the urge to comment on them.

[MojoXN]

27. Also, though it's nearly impossible...

to slog through, I recommend Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Best book I've ever read, though I struggled with the ultra-dense language.

[Pacifist Patriot]

31. Kant dense?

Nah!

I've got to hand it to you for that one. I tried and overcame insomnia.

[MojoXN]

3. Mine aren't all books:

The Federalist Papers

The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, and
The United States Constitution

Anything by Gandhi

Mein Kampf

Voltaire's Dictionnaire Philosophique

[Pacifist Patriot]

6. Oh yes!

Your first documents should definitely be required! I am floored by the number of people on both sides of the aisles who can't be bothered with reading our founding documents.

[Deep13]

4. here goes:

Origin of the Species.
A Christmas Carol
The Souls of Black Folk
The Jungle
The Gospel of Thomas

[bumblebee1]

9. Deep13,

I am currently reading "The Souls of Black Folk." So far, it's giving me a whole new look at black life post Civil War and pre Civil Rights era.

[Deep13]

17. I'm afraid I've only read excepts ...

.. for a college class and that was some time ago. I put it on the list because Dubois is an important writer and because Rs need to have some clue that rascism did not end in 1863.

[MojoXN]

12. Odd...

I was just writing about Gnosticism this morning. Were you on the thread Deep13?

MojoXN

[Deep13]

14. That's what made me think of Thomas.

[Pacifist Patriot]

20. I've got Elaine Pagels'

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas on my bedside table, but doubt I'll get to it until October.

I would also recommend King's The Gospel of Mary of Magdala. Her commentary is excellent.

[Eagle_Eye]

5. The Great Sharkhunt by Hunter Thompson

[MojoXN]

7. I've got more...

Black Like Me

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

The NEW Testament

The Qu'ran

MojoXN

[Pacifist Patriot]

11. I can't believe I've never read...

Black Like Me. I have to do something about that.

[liberalitch]

19. Coming of Age in Mississippi

By Anne Moody
About a young girl involved in the civil rights movement
She has a very moving very powerful part in there about what emmet till's murder meant the black community

[Tux]

8. Some

God's Politics by Jim Wallis

Dhammapada

The Jefferson Bible

Age of Reason by Thomas Paine

Tao Te Ching

Linux for the non-Geek Can't remember author but the book should help get them into the technology of the late 20th and early 21st century.

[Pacifist Patriot]

10. Cool, I've read three of your five.

Sorry, but I don't think I could slog through anything about computers even if it is written for non-Geeks. ;)

[Tux]

38. WTF?!

Why do you hate America?
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Nordmadr]

13. I would say:

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn OR The Story of B by Daniel Quinn

A Language Older Than Words
by Derrick Jensen

1984 by George Orwell

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffin

I also vote for all the founding documents of this Nation as previously suggested, as well as many of the others.

Olaf

[Just Me]

15. "People of the Lie"

It'll freak 'em out completely. I don't know why the author's name escapes me but the guy is a shrink and a Christian who explores human evil. Just might knock some of the arrogant authoritarian types on their ass.

I'd also recommend "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" because it reveals why there is such a dramatic increase in anti-American sentiment around the globe.

"Worse Than Watergate" and "American Dynasty" are impactful, too. There's so much information out there,...so many powerful books.

I like your recommendations on existentialism. "Escape From Freedom" is a very good read, as well.

[MamaBear]

32. That was Scott Peck

His books gave me the creeps. He sets up his "community", sets the parameters for inclusion, excludes those who don't conform, brands them evil and then says they must be shunned, at the very least. That may be an oversimplification, it's been a while since I read it. Under the peace and comfy glow of the "community" he creates, I found something cold and authoritarian.

My $.02.

[Just Me]

33. Interesting.

Your take is very different from what I got out of the book. I thought his point was how people lie to themselves about themselves in order to justify the damage they wage on others.

[MamaBear]

34. You're right ..

That was in there too. I read at least one other of his books, and maybe my impression was a composite of all of them.

[bpilgrim]

16. The PEOPLES History of the United States

thats gotta be on there, cause MOST of those fools ain't gotta a clue about our own HISTORY... just the Disney version :crazy:

peace

[liberalitch]

18. They should all read the Bible and the Constitution....

because apparently they haven't

[bunkerbuster1]

21. because I've not seen them mentioned yet:

Wartime, Paul Fussel
None other than William F. Buckley said this should be required reading for anyone seeking elected office!

Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut
Just in case anyone reading Wartime thinks Fussel's being overly negative

The Battle Cry of Freedom, James McPherson
No way anyone can read this book and continue to believe there was anything decent or honorable about the Rebellion.

Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen
If only everyone could read this, and apply what they've learned to everything they read after

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972, Hunter S. Thompson
Maybe it loses something if you're not 15 years old and wondering why that despicable warmongering SOB in the white house still hasn't been impeached yet. But I figure it still has the power to transform.

[MojoXN]

23. Ah, how did I forget...

Lies that my teacher told me! Excellent book! I HIGHLY suggest reading it, if you have even a casual interest in history. Puts all of the pro-American revisionism so common in the public schools to rest once and for all.

MojoXN

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. Excellent. My library system has the Loewen book

available unabridged on CD. I'm going to pick that up to listen to while I do housework.

[Bethany Rockafella]

22. "It Takes A Village" by Hillary Clinton

:evilgrin:

[tjwash]

24. "The Redneck Manifesto"

No, I am not joking, it is a real book.

It's the Rush and Hannity listeners bible. All about how white people are the most discriminated against class in all of America, and how people of other races get all the breaks.

[Pacifist Patriot]

28. Yikes!

And you think conservatives should be required to read it? LOL!

[river2]

25. Required: Bound for Glory - Woody Guthrie - and

Chronicles: by Bob Dylan

And Leaves of Grass - Whitman.

[Bouncy Ball]

26. The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck

Nickeled and Dimed, Barbara Eirhlech (sp?)

Homegrown Democrat, by Garrison Kiellor--explains why many of us are Dems.

The New Testament, especially the stuff in red, because apparently they haven't read THAT part.

[Pacifist Patriot]

29. Nickeled and Dimed was great!

Definitely a MUST read.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

35. "The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan

Also "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins.

[im10ashus]

36. Assuming their comprehension levels are above 8th grade?

1. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction

2. English Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Woods

3. Systematic Theology, vols. 1-3 by Paul Tillich

4. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

5. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally

[MountainLaurel]

37. Demon-Haunted World

by Carl Sagan

And I see your "When God Was a Women" and raise you a "Sexism and God-Talk" and "Gnostic Gospels"

For fun, let's throw in "Lies my Teacher Told Me" and anything by Alice Miller.