Extremism is widely held to be a bad thing. Conventional wisdom holds that extremism is on the rise. A body of literature in psychology, social science, and philosophy has recently emerged addressing the causes of this so-called problem and suggesting ways to solve it. I argue that this is all misguided. The bien pensant view, which pervades our political culture, according to which terms like “extremist” and “radical” refer to something objectionable is not only false, it is also extremely harmful, since it directs our attention away from what should matter: the content of people’s beliefs, rather than their position on a spectrum of social acceptability.