Points of view that are without merit need to be thrashed publicly, not deleted so that those who hold them can nurse hurt feelings and think themselves martyrs to censorship.

Because, actually ... to censor non-sanctioned thoughts and speech rather than to allow them to die a noble death on the battlefield of ideas is to act the assassin rather than the warrior.

Free speech isn't always logical or smart, but it's free. To eliminate one person's free speech diminishes us all.

Today I showed a skinhead how to use the copier. He used it to photocopy Nazi posters villifying the Jews which he found in one of the library's histories of WWII. I remarked on what a lovely thing that was to do, with Hanukkah coming up and all. He later came back to the desk and told me he used to be a bad person but now he's found Jesus, and he just studies this because of historical interest. I said, "I see." He wished me a happy Thanksgiving, I wished the same to him, and he left. I don't believe him for one second (his interest is, to put it mildly, obsessive), but the fact that he was ashamed enough to make an excuse gives me hope. He wouldn't even have reflected that much if he weren't allowed to express his obsession with white supremicist ideas publicly and to be challenged.

Last week, yet another outraged mother tried to bully us into withdrawing, or prominently labeling (perhaps with a skull and crossbones), And Tango Makes Three, a picture book that tells the true story of two male penguins living in a zoo exhibiting the behaviors of a mated pair, who adopted an abandoned egg and raised a baby penguin. The problem, of course, is homosexual behavior. Her argument was that she shouldn't have to look through her children's book selections. My argument is that of course she should. Children from homes with two parents of the same sex would be interested in such a story. If she doesn't want her children to read it, she has every right to exclude it from her home, but not from every home.

Censorship is censorship. Though I'm not here as often as I ought to be as moderator, my perception of this board is substantially the same as my perception of my library. OffTopic is the haven for thoughts of all kinds. I don't have to agree with them, but I do have to tolerate their presence so they can have their moment of sunlight. If they're sunflowers, they'll grow and bloom. If they're vampires, they'll turn to dust and blow away. Feel free to keep a sharpened wooden stake at hand.