[Requiem]

I think book burning and blocking of progressive thought is a complete detriment to society as a whole. For instance, what if the muckrakers from the 1900s, such as Upton Sinclair and Ambrose Bierce were silenced? What would the food industry appear like today if not for the revelations in The Jungle? And what of the Anti-War sentiments of the Vietnam Era? The list is endless.

Fear causes the silencing of a voice. With the loss of the freedom of speech we go back to the Dark Ages, and everything will be lost.

Burning a few of the books, in the grand scheme, does nothing. But silencing a publisher or author to keep them from being heard is something else altogether. Alas, the internet allows the immediate publication of all sorts of dribble, some important but most not. This all still goes to someone's individual right to publish and display their opinion. It is also your right to ignore it, read the book or work in question and make your own decision.

After pondering this for a bit, I came to realize that this same exact thing has caused the delay of many fields in mathematics and science, first to come to mind was the Catholic Church and Galileo's Dialogues... Banned by the church in 1632 and prohibited from being republished, it was not allowed to be put to paper again until 1718 and the rest of his works followed in 1758. Copernicus had the same problems. This is merely a showing of the fear of a government or entity that's views or power are put to the test.

It is my opinion that when an idea or belief that contradicts another individual's preconceived notions, it is a natural reaction to oppose the proliferation of that view as it does not coincide with one's own. The importance of teaching books and writings that differ from the norm, whether perceived or real, is to allow the students to develop an open mind, be accepting of change, and develop their own views or opinions about individual things. "Burning" a book is counterproductive to the advancement of the human species and the development of the social consciousness.