Basically what it says on the tin. Having read though some of the materials on the issue, I am baffled by how recklessly the word is used, given the consequences of such usage.
Pedophiles are the people with sexual attraction to prepubescent children. It doesn’t matter whether they do or don’t act on that attraction; in fact, many don’t. It is a sexual interest/mental condition that cannot be reliably changed.
Child molesters, on the other hand, are not necessarily pedophiles - in fact, 50 to 75% of child molesters do not have pedophilic interest.
Both facts can be sourced from the respective Wikipedia article and more info can be found in respective research.
Why does this matter?
Because the current use of the word reinforces stigma around pedophilia and makes it less likely for people with pedophilic disorder to reach out for help for the fear they would be outed and treated the same as actual child abusers.
This, in turn, makes those in a vulnerable position more likely to cross the line and get into the category of child abusers instead of coming for help. Also, it heavily affects people who did nothing to deserve such treatment.
What should we do?
We should leave the word “pedophile” to the context in which it belongs, which is the mental health and sexuality spheres, and avoid using the term to describe sexual offenders against minors. At the very least, one would most likely be wrong. At most, one would participate in the cycle of child abuse.
Agreed. This is a pet peeve of mine. Pedophilia is not a crime. Child molestation is a crime. It makes it hard for pedophiles to get the treatment they need and we lose focus on the real danger, people who actually touch children.
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Until someone commits a crime, they should not be harmed or punished.
I saw a documentary on punishing pre-crime where it worked out pretty well for everyone.
the old minority report. Dick was a visionary
It’s a sexual preference, which you don’t have much of a say over. However, the difference is that people don’t act on it, mostly, otherwise they’d then be an abuser/rapist.
You have the same barn door attitude as my simpleton father.
I’m confused by that last sentence. It took a WILD swing out of right field. Are you saying your dad is attracted to barn animals, and you’re accusing the other guy of that too?
He was using a saying. While I don’t know what exactly he wanted to express with “barn door attitude”, it is made clear through the context of its usage, that he disapproves of the over-simplistic and degrading “let’s gruesomely kill all who are attracted to children” argument the guy above him made.
The only time I’ve heard “barn door” used in an idiom is “close the barn door after the horses ran away”, to mean “it’s too late”
so I guess OP means “you’re saying it’s too late for the ones who haven’t acted on it”?
It might be a stretch, but it’s all I’ve got.
I’m confused that anyone, anyone, would defend wanting to fuck, or outright fucking CHILDREN. And puberty is still childhood.
I’m not defending that. I just don’t understand what he’s talking about barn doors for. It came out of nowhere.
A “barn door attitude” is a idiom. I’ve only ever heard it to mean that you can’t keep your opinions together and they’re an open and paradoxical mess. Not sure what it means in other contexts.
Maybe “close the barn door after the horses ran away”, to mean “it’s too late”? It’s the closest I’ve ever heard
so I guess OP means “you’re saying it’s too late for the ones who haven’t acted on it”?
It might be a stretch, but it’s all I’ve got.
Let’s kill the downies too, while we’re at it. They are a drag on society as well. Oh, and also anyone with an IQ below 90. It stands to reason those people do far more harm to society overall than a few pedophiles ever could. \s for those who need it
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If you read the post at all, you’d understand that who you’re referring to is a minority of pedophiles. You’re talking about child molesters which sometimes is the same thing.
You mean a pedophile defending being a pedophile? Fuck that. They will eventually seek out child porn, even if they never actually molest a child. They can’t help it. Or the child being molested for the enjoyment.
You people definitely need to be on a watchlist. Don’t bother responding, I won’t see it. You people are despicable.
neither OP, nor any of the people who have responded to you, are, or presented, the straw man you’re raging against.
Read a book.
Not all pedophiles consume child abuse material; some are okay with fantasies, some others resort to fictional materials (loli/shota drawings, and, recently, AI art generated with adult-based training data)
OP layed out above why with a shitty attitude like yours, you create a more harmful environment for children.
No
Just because your empathy ends here doesn’t mean other non-pedo’s are as cruel as you are. And let us not forget that it is entirely possible to be innocent and be attracted to minors at the same time, meaning it would be okay, at least according to you, to lynch innocent people.