requires us to be thiek-skinned and desensitized to the manyrneultural allergens around us. Alarmed by attacks on freernthought in the name of “sensitivity,” Jonathan Ranch, inrnKindly Inquisitors (1993), reminds compassionate professors,rnstudents, and administrators that freedom of speech compelsrnus to go against our natures, to hear unpleasant and even hatefulrnthings, to tolerate unpleasant and even hateful people:rnWe would like to think that knowledge could be separatedrnfrom hurt. We would all like to think that painfulrnbut useful and thus “legitimate” criticism is objectivelyrndistinguished from criticism which is merely ugly andrnhurtful. Surelv criticism is one thing, and “f htlerrnshould have finished the job” is another. But what wernwould like to think is not so: the only such distinction isrnin the e’c of the beholder. The fact is that even thernmost “scientific” criticism can be horribly hurtful, devastatinglvrnso. . . . In the pursuit of knowledge many peoplern—probablv most of us at one time or another—willrnbe hurt, and this is a reality whicli no amount of wishingrnor regulating can e’er change. It is not good to offendrnpeople, but it is necessary. A no-offense society is a noknowlcdgernsocietwrnLeon Botstein has said that eultural debate is now so rowdyrnand debased that “the only honest way to deal with it is to remainrnsilent.” This is wrong; wc must never abandon our right,rnindeed our moral duty, to speak out in protest. Bradburyrnwarns us where silence leads when he has his now-jobless Englishrnprofessor, Faber, say to Montag:rnMontag, you arc looking at a coward, I saw the wayrnthings were going, a long time back. I said nothing. I’mrnone of the innocents who could have spoken up and outrnwhen no one would listen to the “guilty,” but I did notrnspeak and thus became guilty myself. And when finallyrnthev set the structure to burn the books, using the firemen,rnI grunted a few times and subsided, for there werernno others grunting or yelling with me, by then. Now it’srntoo late.rnIt is time, I believe, for English professors, and others, to confrontrnFahrenheit 45i’s offensive and prescient message; thatrnfreedom will be incinerated in the name of happiness andrnsensitivity and that we ourselves will direct the flame.rnTHE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.,rnPLAGIARISM STORYrnEdited by Theodore PappasrnA publication of The Rockford Institute. 107 pages (paper).rnOnly $10 (shipping and handling charges included).rn”A work of great seriousness, expressedrnin a lucid style (a rare combination).”rn—John Lukacsrn”I would not want it said, a century from now, thatrnthere was no one willing to stand by Theodore Pappasrnin his advocacy of the integrity of the academy . . . “rn—-from the Foreword by Jacob Neusnerrn”The sordid tale of what has become of ourrninstitutions of learning and scholarship.”rn—Samuel FrancisrnTO ORDER BY CREDIT CARD, CALL: 1-800-383-0680rnOR SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER (MADE RYABLE TO THErnROCKFORD INSTITUTE) TO:rnKing Book, 934 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61103rn(Discounts available for bulk orders.)rnAPRIL 1994/27rnrnrn