Is it normal i sometimes feel guilty for liking books?

11% Normal
19 Comments

I’ll admit that didn’t always like to read, but in 6th grade I read Harry Potter, and from there I began to love reading. However, as I learned more about history, it seems like some books may have played a part in some atrocities. For example:

There have been many instances of religious extremism and holy wars based on The Bible and on The Quran.

Even on the flip side, some so called “atheistic books” have had some bad influences. Would the concept of social Darwinism exist without Darwin’s works? And I have read of at least one suicide linked to Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion

Some totalitarian regimes have their basis in books, like Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto

But even some books you wouldn’t expect have had some atrocities related to them. There have been assassinations associated with The Catcher in the Rye (I actually saw a documentary about John Lennon’s assassination when I was 11, and used this as justification for not wanting to read) and The Sorrows Of Young Werther inspired a few suicides.

Maybe I’m just noticing a false pattern, but I just can’t help but think of these cases when I hear people talk about how great books are.

Voting Results
11% Normal
Based on 9 votes (1 yes)
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Comments ( 19 )
  • CountessDouche
    4 years ago

    Is this the OP who was hesitant about writing because of the possible negative impact? If so, you have some obsessive tenancies to only see the negative.

    If not, yeah, there are plenty of "bad/evil" books...and they offer a meaningful & important insight into the minds of people who think that way. Books are art, and even if they are not created with malice, there will always be sick minds that interpret them that way. That's what happens when humanity gets it's grubby & flawed hands on anything.

    Stop ignoring all of the amazing & positive things books do for the world. We'd be living in the stone age without them.

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    • Hubbard
      4 years ago

      Yeah, I’m that same OP, and you’re probably right.

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  • shuggy-chan
    4 years ago

    This is dumb, books don’t make you do evil things.

    Thats video games, duhh everyone know that

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    • RoseIsabella
      4 years ago

      *remembers the Sandy Hook shooter*

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      • Hubbard
        4 years ago

        https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41749336

        “The FBI concluded there was "no evidence" he viewed his killings as a "video game" or a contest.”

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        • RoseIsabella
          4 years ago

          His mother shouldn't have taught him to use firearms, and he also obviously spent way too much time playing video games. She should have gotten him help for his psychiatric problems that were co-occurring with his autism. I think his mother was an enabler who was in deep denial about just how well he was functioning.

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          • shuggy-chan
            4 years ago

            Are you honestly linking a shooter to video games?

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            • RoseIsabella
              4 years ago

              I think there was more to his case than just video games, but your comment reminded me of him. Anyway, his mother shouldn't have gotten him into playing with guns.

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          • charli.m
            4 years ago

            Video games have absolutely no causal link to murderers.

            Ice cream sales go up in summer. So do murders, apparently. Are they related, too?

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            • RoseIsabella
              4 years ago

              I think there are some people who shouldn't play first person shooter games. The Sandy Hook shooter probably should have been living in a group home instead of in his mom's basement. I also think she never should have taught him to use firearms.

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        • palehorse
          4 years ago

          Think it was a joke. Then RoseIsabella took it seriously...?

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  • RoseIsabella
    4 years ago

    No, people are responsible for their actions, not books. To blame books for atrocities committed by humans is not a good idea, because that's how we get things like book burning, the banning of ideas. During the time of Slavery it was illegal to teach slaves to read, because if slaves learned to read they could gain knowledge, and knowledge is power.

    I think blaming the books that people have read for atrocities committed by people who were most likely sociopaths, and psychopaths to begin with is the same as people wanting to ban firearms, because there are plenty who have used guns to commit crimes, and kill people. I know it's beyond cliché these days, but guns don't kill people, people kill people. If someone has a potential, an desire to commit evil acts that person will do so with or without controversial books, and or firearms. People need to be accountable and held responsible for their actions instead of always looking for something to blame when oftentimes the thing that is blamed is just an inanimate object.

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    • Ellenna
      4 years ago

      Actually, people kill people with guns. You sound like an NRA member or at least supporter: I am shocked

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      • RoseIsabella
        4 years ago

        Yes, people kill people.

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  • palehorse
    4 years ago

    That's silly.

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  • Bumfuzzle
    4 years ago

    never feel guilt for the things you like

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  • brutus
    4 years ago

    "The prince" by machiavelli is a good book.

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  • Holzman_67
    4 years ago

    So because a paranoid schizophrenic reads catcher in the rye and imagines himself as the main character and goes on to kill his idol you decided you didn’t want to read
    Are you a paranoid schizophrenic? That’s the only way that makes sense to me

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  • Boojum
    4 years ago

    Oh, please.

    Some books have indeed had a huge negative impact on human society, but it's ridiculous to feel guilty about enjoying reading because of that.

    Does the existence of Infowars, ISIS recruitment websites, and child porn on the internet make you feel guilty about using it?

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