Quote:
Originally Posted by JLeighs
But a pedophile is someone who is sexually attracted to children. The definition is not limited solely to acting out on those attractions. If an adult has a sexual attraction to children and/or has sexual thoughts about children, then that person is, by definition, a pedophile.
In addition, there are plenty of adults arrested on a daily basis even though they have not actually touched a child. There are numerous undercover law enforcement personnel out there to trap and arrest child predators before they've gotten even close to a child. I realize that this isn't quite the same thing as we are discussing here, but I do think it shows that this discussion of pedophilia and free speech is not as cut-and-dried as some would like to think.
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Personally, while I understand the reasoning for these activities, I find it a bit distasteful and wonder how the police get away with it without being accused of entrapment when they do this.
And you are correct about the definition of a paedophile. My own opinion (which I know most people don't share, but having struggled mightily growing up as an Orthodox Jew who happened to also be gay -- I gave up being orthodox in the end--) is that I have nothing but sympathy for the paedophile who fights his or her desires every day and does what they have to do to make sure they never harm a child. I know how hard it was for me being gay and having that in conflict with everything I was brought up to believe. And I thank God every day (ironic, I know) that I was able to leave that world and find one which accepts me as I am (I now proudly consider myself a Reform Jew).
At the same time, I believe that those who act on their desires deserve to be locked away for the rest of their lives for having destroyed a child's life.
Eric