This post will be limited to the censorship of books and short in length  It is a topic that has presented itself repeatedly over the past week.  Books need to be easily accessed.  If an individual decides that they want to read a book, especially a book that has sparked controversy, then they should be able to find that item and read it for themselves.  As a society, we cannot make decisions on behalf of people based on our own limited knowledge, area of interest area, or based on what we find offensive.

It is difficult to imagine why the need for censorship would be at the forefront of anybody’s mind.  If something is offensive, troubling, or challenges our reality, I would think that more people reading that item would be beneficial rather than problematic.

It’s interesting that when those that want to censor something are asked directly the reasons why they want it censored, they are often unable to come up with an adequate or well thought out response.  Knee jerk reactions such as “I don’t like it!”, “Kids shouldn’t read it”, or “because it’s offensive” are the norm.  And that alone is sad and frightening.  If you are going to take a strong stand, at least have a strong argument.