Could pedophiles be equivical to homosexuals?

[BGH122]

It's a very complex issue, but I certainly wholly disagree with the way society treats paedophiles. Regardless of the morality of the actual act, they were still born as they are. They have not made a choice to become attracted to children and we as a society have no right to treat them with the kind of abhorrence we currently exhibit. We can disagree with their sexual proclivities and render them illegal without also hating these people for the way they happened to be born.

Bullshit; absolute bullshit.

It's a small, yet critical component of rational human thought called self-control. While the concept of having innate urges and struggling with them is understandable and can be emphasized with, the fact that pedophiles can only get their fixes by either rape or deception is despicable and they deserve to be purged from the world (IMO, the most violent manner possible). We as a society have every damn right to protect our young from perverted deviants who would willingly warp some kid's childhood just to satisfy the craving in their pants.

Normally I'm not as black-and-white on such issues; I've taken several psych courses beyond the gen ed, and I've been introduced to people in that time who do struggle with addictions. Pedophilia does not distort your perception of reality; pedophiles are about as sane as any of the rest of us and deserve no protection for their inability to curb their wants and needs.

I think you're missing the distinction that is being raised here. The term "pedophile," as being used here, refers to those who are sexually attracted to children. It does not imply that they have ever, or would ever, act on those desires.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. That's precisely what I meant, but I missed the quoted post.

 

[Dog Wednesday]

Chimi I would think that the only people who truly understand what being a pedophile is like is an actual pedophile. Im certainly not condoning their actions, yet I find it strange that society tries to rehabilitate those with other mental disorders, yet many will insist that this one group receives a violent purging. Emotional reactions rarely produce helpful results. If it is a sickness then it needs to be treated. If it is not a sickness, yet still against societal norms, then it needs to be dealt with by the law. Torture is NEVER justified, no matter how good it may make you feel.

 

[BGH122]

Chimi I would think that the only people who truly understand what being a pedophile is like is an actual pedophile. Im certainly not condoning their actions, yet I find it strange that society tries to rehabilitate those with other mental disorders, yet many will insist that this one group receives a violent purging. Emotional reactions rarely produce helpful results. If it is a sickness then it needs to be treated. If it is not a sickness, yet still against societal norms, then it needs to be dealt with by the law. Torture is NEVER justified, no matter how good it may make you feel.

QFT. But, first we'd have to prove it can be treated. That doesn't seem likely since study after study has shown that parasexualities like homosexuality can't be 'treated'.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Firstly, yes, this was a very badly phrased OP.

Secondly, I can agree with it, a little.

In some places where homosexuality is legal, the age of consent is higher than for heterosexuals. If it was brought down to be the same as homosexuals, a number of people currently regarded by the law as pedophiles (or at least child molesters) would no longer be.

Same thing with lowering the age of consent...not everywhere has it at the same age, if it was to be standardised, say, it'd probably be lowered in certain areas.

Thirdly, we are talking about the future here. For all we know, in 300 years people will decide that people are obliged to be pedophiles for some reason, and persecute those who aren't. We can't say with any certainty what the future will be like.

 

[Lolth17]

Just so you know, the term 'pedophile' does not refer to someone who finds pubescent adolescents attractive. It is something that refers to someone who is sexually stimulated by pre-pubescent children only. Biologically, someone who has gone through puberty (ie a thirteen or fourteen year old who has the ability to impregnate/become pregnant), is an adult. A true pedophile is not interested in that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia

So no, I don't think they're equatable. Nor are most of the examples given here (including the OP's) really relevant, because pedophilia IS NOT about having sex with people that our current society considers children. It is about having sex with pre-pubescent biological adolescents. And I don't think that that will ever be okay.

 

[KiKiweaky]

When I read the topic title I was like how the fock can they even be compared. Now that I've read it I can kind of see where you are coming from, I'd say the chances of it hapening are zero however. Having sex with children isnt even in the same universe as homosexuality let alone the same league.

 

[OmegaAlucard777]

I think you mean you are talking about Hebephilia, which is when you are attracted to post pubesent children AKA Teenagers. While pedophilia is attracted to pre-pubesent children. And we can all thank the show Criminal Minds for teaching me that fact. Hehehehe.

 

[zehydra]

Not really, as the stigma stems from logic instead of religion.

You're obviously hurting kids by raping away their innocence (quite literally), adult homosexuals are only hurting each other as much as they're into.

innocence is no advantage, and it is no great loss to lose it, since we all have to at some point anyway. That being said, I am in no way condoning pedophilia, but for different reasons.

 

[Sebenko]

words n' stuff

It's still really hard to take you seriously with that avatar.

 

[DazZ.]

Not really, as the stigma stems from logic instead of religion.

You're obviously hurting kids by raping away their innocence (quite literally), adult homosexuals are only hurting each other as much as they're into.

innocence is no advantage, and it is no great loss to lose it, since we all have to at some point anyway. That being said, I am in no way condoning pedophilia, but for different reasons.

Physical harm then.

 

[zehydra]

Not really, as the stigma stems from logic instead of religion.

You're obviously hurting kids by raping away their innocence (quite literally), adult homosexuals are only hurting each other as much as they're into.

innocence is no advantage, and it is no great loss to lose it, since we all have to at some point anyway. That being said, I am in no way condoning pedophilia, but for different reasons.

Physical harm then.

yeah, that's usually involved, but not always.

 

[Dastardly]

snip

There's a slippery slope at work, to be sure. As people continue to fight to "prove" that homosexuality is genetic--which, to date, has not been "proven," regardless of what people will tell you without being able to direct you to specific studies--or a host of other things we want to call 100% genetic, we're getting dangerously close to having to ask this question.

If a sexual preference like homosexuality can be 100% genetic, a sexual preference like pedophilia may very well be found to be genetic. Of course, we'd call it a genetic disease, I'm sure. But we hear all too often about how homosexuality is not a disease to be treated... After all, it appears in nature.

Of course, I understand the logic behind it being wrong, and I completely agree. As long as we recognize we are imposing an arbitrary limit on this sort of thing--it's wrong for an adult human to have sex with a child, because the child cannot give intelligent consent. And it also makes the adult a sick bastard.

But coming back to the point, if it's genetic, what do we do then? We tell them to suppress it, right? It's genetic, but don't act on it or you're toast. Okay... and what about when we start finding that all kinds of other "undesirable" traits are genetic? We can't control the genotype, so we enforce a phenotype... or worse, we start enforcing a genotype(?)

You're right that this leads to a place of difficult questions and even more difficult answers.

 

[Alphavillain]

Homosexuality and paedophilia are two totally different things, because the first is a consensual relationship between adults, and the other is the rape of children. Actually, paedophilia means the love of children, and so is totally misleading -you don't call a rapist someone who "loves women" or who "loves men".

So equivalent? No, I'm not having that.

 

[Wildcard5]

It is possible, just not likely at the moment...

 

[Booze Zombie]

It isn't possible, at least not with modern science. Nor have I ever heard of the idea. Maybe if every child was as smart as Ender, Peter, and Valentine Wiggin, but no kid is smart enough to do calculus at 6 years old. If science finds a way, great! But I still don't think kids will be mature enough to have any sort of sex at that age.

The two might go hand in hand, but maturity and intelligence are not the same things.

Then we go with this scenario: All people are grown in tanks, fully-educated and intelligent at age 5 due to the various processes involved... yet, they've still got 15-20 years until they're fully grown.

Does this strange future negate issues with paedophilia or is it still just as unjustifiable as with our current, normal people?

 

[DazZ.]

Physical harm then.

yeah, that's usually involved, but not always.

I'd wager it's pretty much inevitable with children...

 

[zehydra]

Physical harm then.

yeah, that's usually involved, but not always.

I'd wager it's pretty much inevitable with children...

if its intercourse than yeah

 

[OldAccount]

Homosexuality doesn't hurt anyone. I'd consider that a major difference.

 

[Jamous]

There's a giant difference between Paedophilia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia] and Ephebophilia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia]. Unfortunately, many laws consider them one and the same, setting the age of consent in the range of ephebophilia (roughly 15-19). I personally believe this to be invalid, but I can't cite any evidence to say it's any better to have sex with a 15 year old than a 9 year old, other than the fact that the onset of puberty is roughly 12 years of age. But, of course, the presence of functioning genitals isn't consent, otherwise rape would be a non-crime.

It's a very complex issue, but I certainly wholly disagree with the way society treats paedophiles. Regardless of the morality of the actual act, they were still born as they are. They have not made a choice to become attracted to children and we as a society have no right to treat them with the kind of abhorrence we currently exhibit. We can disagree with their sexual proclivities and render them illegal without also hating these people for the way they happened to be born.

What is the obsession this site has with posts about pedophiles?

This.

Also, homosexuality is a mature decision between two mature adults. Pedophilia is a pre-pubescent child who isn't old enough to make responsible decisions regarding sex.

/thread.

No, not /thread. Cite studies to show those claims are valid and make a distinction between the treatment of paedophiles and the legitimacy of their acts.

Well said. Also, just a point I'd like to get checked by anyone who might know. Is Paedophilia where people who have an uncontrollable attraction to children? Or is it just where they have a thing for kids? Because if it's the first then the people who suffer from it should probably be pitied tbqh, rather than simply, just, demonised...
However, if they're simply someone who abuses kids, they canna go fuck themselves.
Also, nice avatar for the subject matter.