The world we live in is based on thought. When we as society start prohibiting or censoring these thoughts,we begin to lose the ability to think for ourselves.
When people start banning books, they begin limiting people's horizons. When a person is offended by something that they read, they begin to think. Even if the person is opposed to the thought being expressed, viewing it allows them to make that decision, which creates thought.When a book is banned, the opportunity for personal growth is denied. A single person, or even a group of people, cannot decide what is "good" and what is "bad." It is an individual choice. When a group declares a book to be bad, then the good in it is lost. For example, the book "1984" by George Orwell has been banned numerous times around the country. However, this book shows how total thought control can destroy society. Thought control begins with censorship.
How can a person decide what is right or wrong when they are only exposed to a limited range of thought? They can't. People fear what they don't understand, and as we limit the understanding of people, we begin to create a society that is terrified to think.