Truth remains true no matter the length of time that has transpired since it was initially spoken. There is no expiration date for it. What is true today was also true yesterday and will still be true tomorrow.

Despite this obvious fact, many in our society have begun to reject anything that predates our times. We view ourselves as better and more intelligent than every generation that came before us. There is an inherent danger in presupposing our “modern” values to be superior in every way to those held by previous generations.

C.S. Lewis calls this “chronological snobbery,” which he defines as “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.”

His words still ring true today, though I hasten to add that those who subscribe to this philosophy would no doubt discount his words on the same grounds — they were, after all, penned in the mid-20th century. Antiquated indeed.

Most recently, I have seen this in action through the attempted rewriting of children’s classics like “The Secret Garden” to be less “problematic.” And don’t forget the great cancellation era of 2020 in which classic novels such as “Gone With the Wind” found themselves on the chopping block.

Removing classic literature from shelves only serves to harm us as a society. Readers can engage with such material and determine for themselves what is true and worth emulating and what is not. And, quite frankly, how demeaning is it to presume we are incapable of a feat that is hardly an exercise in cognitive gymnastics? No one in his right mind reading “Gone with the Wind” thinks that the way slaves are treated or discussed within the pages of the novel or in the film is acceptable. It makes you uncomfortable — and it should.

Growth stems from discomfort. If such books and ideas are removed from public consumption and discourse, then personal growth will stagnate, and we will have no concept of the thoughts and values of another era.