Book Review: Bibliocidal Maniacs

The offensive against ideas is most obvious in tyrannical societies, whether motivated by religion, nationalism, ideology or merely the authoritarian's desire to maintain power.

It is, however, in liberal democracies where the urge to censorship is most insidious.

Pastor Martin Niemoller is well known for saying, of Nazi Germany, that: when they came for the Communists, I was not a Communist and did nothing; and when they came for the Jews I was not a Jew and did nothing; ... and then they came for me, there was no one left to speak.

Niemoller is less well known for saying that if Fascism comes to North America, it will come on "kitten feet." No jackboots, no "sturm und drang," just quiet, incremental steps -- each one seeming reasonable in itself -- but with cumulative power to dissolve civil liberties.

So, when a library removes a book from its shelves because someone objects to it, or from a school curriculum because someone finds it offensive, each instance may seem unimportant, but each one lowers our resolve and ... in time, there may be no one left who cares enough to speak.