The most important nugget, yet least understood, of human wisdom is this: The greatest thing to fear is fear itself. Fear permeates and corrupts all it touches, too often masked as protection, righteous anger, or unrequested aid.

Knee-jerk legislation and political campaigns which target our fears both conscious and subconscious (sadly, it works well). The global groundswell of repopularized prejudice — always rooted in fear, despite history’s many warnings against it. Bullying — that harmful externalization of fear — and its new, unpoliced outlet: the Web. Caught unaware we harm intimate, family, and social relationships by reacting to fears and insecurities. Fears result in dreams neglected, responsibilities unfulfilled, inner growth stunted.

We ban books, fearing ideas and expression. As if we have no control over their impacts upon us. As if we are afraid of open minds and free thought.

Banned Books Week is like a Fourth of July for book lovers, journalists, unfettered imaginations, and lovers of that elusive free marketplace of ideas. It’s a revolution against censorship. Despite repeated and fearful attempts to censor them, these works (many of them award-winning classics, such as “To Kill a Mockingbird”) persist with their struggle to survive and inspire.

You might be surprised at what and who have been banned. The Bible, Quran, and other religious texts. Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and “What is Man,” by Mark Twain — that short read was banned shortly after publication in 1906. Even today its frank discussion of man’s possible motivations faces disapproval, rarely seen in bookstores.

Is man so delicate and vulnerable? Not in control of himself? Mere suggestions can destroy him utterly, turn him to evil, apparently. The ideas are always to blame, so we should

suppress them. Stories make us think about perils in life and history, which is dangerous. Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath,” or Khaled Husseini’s masterpiece, “The Kite Runner;” some books can change you. But why should I better understand how war, poverty, and violence can transform people and nations? Ignorance is bliss.

Some once-banned books are better read today, but the targets on their covers linger. Thought-provoking and humanistic classics such as Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Heller’s “Catch-22,” and Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” were challenged locally not long ago. Rape, partying, extramarital affairs — we don’t need to explore their motivations and consequences to get by in life. It’s better never to consider them until they hit us like a brick, unprepared. If we read about these we might do or accept them. Man’s character can’t cope, and it sure doesn’t develop by thought. Right?

Oh, and Harry Potter of course. So too Lord of the Rings. Magic is bad, very bad.

Suggest humans are imperfect, hurt each other, love the wrong people, change their minds after new experiences, doubt themselves and their beliefs (wait, we are allowed different beliefs?), wage war by mistake or ill intent — to deal openly with perceived causes and effects of man’s errors and triumphs? How dare these authors.

The most frequent bases for challenged books are sexuality (this includes violence) and offensive language, which are very, very common in society. To deny them, rather than treat them openly using books as platforms for discussions — this is better?

To challengers the answer is yes; their officially sanctioned, simpler, black-and-white stories with one moral interpretation — naturally to be decided by the challengers — are preferable. No explorations of murky human tendencies and failings, no frank or instructional discussions of how story characters addressed these (or didn’t), no shades of gray.

That’s not life.

Ideas which arm a mind with greater depth of thought and understanding, especially of things unfamiliar or with which we may disagree, directly and indirectly help us face our own challenges. They help us understand others’ challenges, and why they may act differently. That knowledge is power.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Library Association, a tradition since 1982 when our nation saw a surge in challenges against bookstores, schools, and libraries. It’s a broad reading list with many of literature’s finest authors. Each year the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom records hundreds of new banning attempts, described at ALA.org:

“Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. As such, they are a threat to freedom of speech and choice.”

Freedom of speech...That sounds familiar.

What is banned comes and goes with cultures’ changing winds. Today’s “shocker” may quickly become tomorrow’s classic, as civilization develops. Books can revolutionize that process. Think about what we feared centuries ago, and how those subjects have become mainstream now, thanks to deeper understanding. Books can revolutionize understanding.

Should we be sensitive about what might offend people? Perhaps, but not with heads in the sand. We can better address controversy by openly discussing it — by fully exploring, rather than banning, difficult topics.

Our son’s favorite high school history teacher made a point of adopting the opposing side of expressed opinions, just for the intellectual exercise of teaching reasoned (and courteous) debate. Successful ideas strengthen when tested; those which fail tend to do so because they were flawed. Sometimes opposing ideas don’t really fail so much as balance one another in the complex reality of human interaction.

We learn by experiences; the experiences we don’t have, we can learn from others. The experiences we haven’t encountered, we can learn from books. This is the value of great literature.

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Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholeh@cdapress.com.