Banned Books

More About Banned Books

With a record 4,240 books banned last year in the United States, we have not only set a new national record, by a wide margin, but we have surpassed Russia, a notoriously effective enemy of free speech and we're narrowing the gap with China.

To us, the effort to ban a book is a symptom of, among other things, fear—not of the book but of the ideas within it. Yet, each of us generally has the confidence in our own judgment to know that a book filled with ideas we discount or despise will not magically cause us to embrace these ideas and reject our values. The crucial step is to grant that same confidence to everyone in our community—not to assume they will arrive at the same conclusions and keep the same values as you, but that they have the right to reach their own conclusions and keep their own values.

Are there books that are just "bad'? Absolutely. Can we all agree on which ones they are? Not so much. And even if universal accord were possible, we maintain that vile things love the dark but die when exposed to the powerful light of your curious, independent mind.

And, every now and then, you'll read a book that is so well-reasoned and beautifully argued that you find yourself willing—happy even—to change your mind and expand your view. That's beautiful. That's life. Don't ban that. Embrace it.