My Top 3 Favorite Banned Books

In order for a book to be banned it must contain some sort of information that people will find to be dangerous. The information may be an argument against a religion/social order or simply be explicit in nature. In my career as a non-fiction reader I have encountered many of these texts and have found some of them to be highly valuable. Here I have put together a small list of my top 3 dangerous books, all of which have caused controversy and at certain points in history have been banned.

  1. The Sacred Mushroom & The Cross, by John M. Allegro

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This work by archaeologist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar John M. Allegro may be one of the most explosive works regarding early Christianity. The book centers on the revelation by Allegro that the Dead Sea Scrolls show Jesus Christ to be a symbol rather than actual person. The symbol that Allegro refers to is Christ representing a highly coveted Gnostic sacrament, Psilocybin laced mushrooms. Upon the release of this book in 1970 it was met with great criticism from both scholarly and religious sources. At the time of its release the book was immediately banned by its own publisher and Mr. Allegro was fired from his university position. Thankfully, the book was republished in the early 2000’s as public demand for this work increased. It can also be found on the internet via PDF form so that no future ban’s on Mr. Allegro’s controversial work could be effective.

2) The Book of the Law, by Aleister Crowley

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Like many works by Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law was and is still met with criticism by many. The work acts the central teachings to Crowley’s self-made religion, Thelema. Crowley alleges that the book was not in all written by himself but rather with the assistance of a being named Aiwass whom Crowley summoned while in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid at Giza. One may note that this book is extremely difficult to find in most libraries due to theft, vandalism, or simply the refusal of institution to keep the work on their shelves. The book also popularized the term Abrahadabra which is now used in many stage magic performances.

3) The Dead Sea Scrolls

In 1946 a group of shepherds discovered a cave system that contained priceless religious manuscripts. The discovered texts were named The Dead Sea Scrolls by scholars who spent years meticulously working on translating the ancient scrolls. The scrolls were revealed to be Hebrew texts that were over a thousand years older then anything known to modern scholars at the time. The Dead Sea Scrolls exist as a well preserved form of the Hebrew religion as it was during the time of Christ. There for, it can be argued that the texts are one of the most important banned books of all time as it links Christianity and Judaism as well as allows one to better understand the modern Bible.

To see a full list of books that have been banned or challenged, you can see them on the American Library Association’s website.

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