Neither party can claim the high ground on censorship

We have discussed efforts to ban books which some say are offensive, or make them uncomfortable. Books like “The Handmaid’s Tale” have been targeted by conservatives who have made them inaccessible to public school students. It is misguided to pull books that some don’t like from classroom and library shelves. It won’t prevent inquiring minds from reading what they want. There are other libraries, and most books are available to read online. But liberals can hardly claim the high ground when it comes to censoring what people can and can’t read. In recent weeks, the publishing company behind Roald Dahl’s classic children novels, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, have republished the works after removing sensitive content. In the new version, Augustus Gloop is no longer fat, while words like ugly, bald and crazy have been sanitized away. Granted, this is a decision of a private publishing company, not a government body. But it is still wrong. Where does it end? What author is next? Let’s stop trying to “protect” our children from difficult or harmful ideas. At some point, they will need to figure it out for themselves.