SODAssault said:
Being a child molester absolutely does warrant severe punishment, but merely being a pedophile doesn't make anyone a monster in my book.
It may not be entirely on topic, but I absolutely agree. Those who would actually go out and abuse or harm a child definitely deserve to be stopped and punished, but it's a bit of a shame that the much larger, harmless variety get piled in with the worst. It's not an easy thing to express sympathy for, but it is a bit sad how deep the hatred is seeded in most cultures.
On a purely theoretically note, I find it a little strange that homosexuality and paedophilia were openly accepted a couple of thousand years ago, then became taboo and hated. Nowadays, homosexuality is more accepted but paedophilia is more hated. That progression seems a bit strange to me. I want to be clear though, I'm not trying to equate the two or preach support for paedophilia at all. It's a bit on a tangent, but it's just one of those things that's kind of interesting from a historical perspective. It just makes me wonder where things are going.
Ah right, and the arguments about sympathy equalling association. This is something that really frustrates me, especially when used by people that really should know better. For example, it's the argument Senator Conroy is using to push the mandatory filter on Australians. Essentially his argument is that the Internet has child porn, therefore government should have the power over what Australians can access on the Internet. Anyone against the filter supports child porn. I wish I was using that as emphasis, but I'm really not; he's said this on camera, despite overwhelming opposition. It's just something that many people use to get their own way (especially politicians), which is all-too-often paired with the 'think of the children!' offence. I guess that's kind of the case here.
It's past 2am here, I'm kind of slipping on and off topic so I'll just wrap up. I pretty much agree with everything you're saying; this is misplaced attention that's really not serving it's claimed purpose, but rather is working to provoke more problems than it solves. More relating back to where this thread has gone than where it started, though.
