I read a lot of books.

I also read a lot of weird books. I try not to be a book snob, and I enjoy reading books that are out of my comfort zone or are about experiences that are vastly different from my own.

I also like to read banned books.

I don't think they should be banned in the first place-- whether in a school or in a country. Today, most instances of banned books occur within a high school, but throughout history, books have been banned on a much larger scale (hey, Nazi Germany).

When any sort of ideas are banned from being known, it's scary. When any books are burned (whether in real life or in a book like Fahrenheit 451), it's scary. Whenever anyone tries to silence anything that offers a different viewpoint of the world, it's scary. And it's not helpful to anyone.

In high school English classes, I read many books that hold a place on the list of most commonly banned books. In high school history classes, I read books like the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf. And while obviously Hitler's biography shouldn't be taught as something to emulate, there is a lot of value in teaching it as something that should never happen again.

The main reason that I believe books should never be banned is that any book that someone wants to ban probably has a lot to teach us. Plus, banning books is simply undemocratic-- thank goodness we have the freedoms of speech and expression guaranteed in the First Amendment.

So if you're an educator, don't ban books. If you're a reader, read things that are going to challenge you and teach you. If you're not a reader... well, that's a different post, but become a reader.

PS- You didn't expect this to be about a ban on books, did you? Gotcha.