Please open https://hotaudiobook.com ONLY on your standard browser Safari, Chrome, Microsoft or Firefox to download full audiobooks of your choice for free.
Title: Anti-Semitism
Subtitle: A Disease of the Mind
Author: Theodore Isaac Rubin
Narrator: Wes Talbot
Format: Unabridged
Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-24-14
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes
Genres: Nonfiction, Social Sciences
Publisher's Summary:
As a psychiatrist, Dr. Rubin learned that Anti-Semitism and other deep-seated prejudices are non-organic diseases of the mind: malignant emotional illnesses that can be treated by only first understanding the unique psychodynamics involved. Little has been written about this aspect of bigotry. Anti-Semitism is a bold endeavor to shed light on one of humankind's most destructive and contagious illnesses, and offers hope and healing for the future.
Members Reviews:
The idea that anti-Semitism is somehow a "non-organic disease, ...
The idea that anti-Semitism is somehow a "non-organic disease," something separate and distinct from racism, is laughable and dangerous. I take issue with this book on several levels, the first being the idea that a personal worldview can somehow be deemed a disease that needs to be treated.
If we follow the implied logic in such a statement, we see that such a disease would need to be discovered and diagnosed by others, as anyone afflicted with anti-Semitism would, of course, not view their own thoughts as being indicative of an illness. Once diagnosed, the anti-Semite would need to be treated, again something that seems an unlikely choice for an individual who believes that their worldview is correct. So, would they be treated against their will? Some would say that idea is ridiculous, but the book summary itself calls anti-Semitism âone of humankind's most destructive and contagious illnesses,â surely something so serious would not be allowed to go untreated, once accepted as a disease of the mind.
In the Soviet Union, psychiatrists were employed to jail political dissidents of many stripes, and personal beliefs or ideals such as nationalism, religious belief, favoring human rights or democratization, a desire to emigrate, or any criticism of the Soviet government were grounds for commitment to a prison disguised as a mental institution without the ability to appeal. The type of thinking typified by this book leads down a road whose destination is the type of psychiatric terror practiced by the Soviets.
My second problem is the obvious conflict of interest for the author and the topic. In an age where people are publicly branded as anti-Semites because of something as simple as opposing the foreign policy of the Israeli state, Iâd prefer that this work were at least co-authored by a gentile. Iâm certainly not saying that Dr. Rubin should be dismissed because of his last name, but it does demand a certain increased vigilance by readers, as his views may be affected by his own personal beliefs.
My third problem, and the last Iâll touch on in this review, is the separation of anti-Semitism and racism into their own categories. It does a disservice to minorities that have been, and continue to be, repressed to claim that the group of people abusing them have a different, and lesser, form of ânon-organic diseaseâ less dangerous and virulent than that which afflicts anti-Semites.
In closing, a free and open society must show tolerance for all ideas, no matter how much they offend our sensibilities. The only speech that needs to be protected is that which is unpopular, and the people who put forth concepts that offend us must be combated by rational argument and evidence, not by branding them as diseased people in need of some sort of re-education or treatment.
