Book banning and book burning is a time honoured tradition amongst those who would impose their beliefs upon others. One of the first acts of a tyrant is to burn and ban books. Solzhenitsyn is an outspoken critic of the former Soviet government - to reduce his impact, they started with house arrest then exile. The Bible Belt - coincidentally where Dubya Bush draws his support - is a frequent harbinger of "ban the book" and racial / religious intolerance. Christians burned the library of Alexandria in the 780s because it contained the heretical papyus scrolls of ancient Egypt - and the secrets of that fabulous civilzation were lost for a thousand years. The Emperor Chin executed writers who did not tell stories his way. The English version is Harry Potter and the Wizard's Stone - the PC North American is "Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone" so as not to alarm the 'Moral Majority'.

Back to my original point. As a writer, I have the ability to express my personal views, desires and interests in a way that can be mass disseminated and accepted. This does not automatically give me the right to promolgate torture and snuff, child abuse or even kicking the dog purely for their own sake.

As a human, do I not have a responsibility to recognize that while literature and art may 'push the limits' of conventional society, (and indeed have a responsibility to do so), there are nevertheless boundaries beyond which great care must be exercised? I think so.