I'm not writing in this blog very often these days. But here's a highlight that's well worth an entry.
Todd Nickerson wrote an article for salon.com. Nine days a follow-up appeared:
These articles are a big deal. They've received a lot of attention. Todd is one of the few law-abiding pedophiles who are "out" to the world. He's a brilliant guy, a great writer, and he's got a great sense of humor.
My impressions of the reactions:
The Right objects loudly and portrays this as part of a plan by The Left to strip all morality from our culture. Still sore about gays and lesbians winning the right to marry in the US, they try to claim it's part of an orchestrated progression. They don't seem to get that leftist morality will never sacrifice the well-being of children for anyone's sexual actualization. You often hear that phrase "consenting adults". There's a reason the word "adult" is there.
There are the usual reactions from people who think all pedophiles are molesters and devious liars. Shoot 'em or lock 'em all up.
There are those who get the idea that pedophiles getting help could be a good thing, but think we should seek therapy quietly. We should never associate online, for if we do, whatever tenuous self-control we have will be eroded when we speak to each other. This is somewhat understandable, since the only online pedophile groups they've heard of are those who share child pornography, those who trade tips on how best to abuse kids (do they really exist?), and those who want think adult-child sex is just fine if only society could be convinced to make it legal. Most of the prejudice we face is understandable, given the information people have gotten all their lives.
Then there are sympathetic voices. Todd reports the vast majority of the emails he has gotten are supportive. People don't want to stand up publicly and support him -- they will catch a lot of flak. But privately they will reach out to him and support him. It fits a pattern of publicity for celibate pedophiles -- thoughtful people are seeing us for who we really are and changing their views.
Those who are against us see it all in black and white and shout out their rage at the top of their lungs. It is much harder to feel unalloyed enthusiasm. Pedophilia is an unfortunate condition with no cure. Some pedophiles do abuse children. People would rather think about other things. Reality is often complicated.
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