73% say pedophilia is not wrong, according to debate.org

MariaBee wrote:Personally I haven't noticed any acceptance what so ever in the UK. We have a newspaper called the sun which absolutely loves to report on pedophiles and sex offenders.

I don't live in the UK, but even I know that The Sun is just a tabloid. Anyone who respects anything The Sun has to say needs to have his head checked.

UnluckyPaladin wrote:73 percent of respondants say pedophilia (the attraction, not the practice of it) is not wrong, according to debate.org.

Is this result surprising to you?

Yes, but then I'm not familiar with the demographic at debate.org. I would suspect by the name of the site that the poll participants are the sort of people who like to read and discuss contentious issues. In other words, they're probably more intellectual and open-minded than the average person.

I would not interpret the poll on debate.org as being reflective of the views held by other social groups. I think if I polled people in my community, the majority of respondents would have voted Yes, that paedophilia is wrong.

Platypus wrote:

UnluckyPaladin wrote:73 percent of respondants say pedophilia (the attraction, not the practice of it) is not wrong, according to debate.org.

Is this result surprising to you?

Yes, but then I'm not familiar with the demographic at debate.org. I would suspect by the name of the site that the poll participants are the sort of people who like to read and discuss contentious issues. In other words, they're probably more intellectual and open-minded than the average person.

I would not interpret the poll on debate.org as being reflective of the views held by other social groups. I think if I polled people in my community, the majority of respondents would have voted Yes, that paedophilia is wrong.

So you do admit this is likely because those in your community are not as intelligent?

UnluckyPaladin wrote:So you do admit this is likely because those in your community are not as intelligent?

Yes and no. I believe there are different types of intelligence. The people who use debate.org are probably rational thinkers. My community has a great mix of people, including people who may not be so strong at logical thinking but may have very high social and emotional intelligence. I suspect it is the emotional response that impairs people's ability to fairly judge paedophilia (as the sexual attraction to children, not as sexual acts with children). But I wouldn't say that's a sign of non-intelligence. Being able to empathise with children who have been sexually abused, and fearing those who would commit such abuse, is not a weakness imho.

But of course there are also people who are just generally stupid and who will respond without thinking or feeling much at all.

Also, if you poll people on the street, I think they may be mindful of how their response is perceived by others and so perhaps adjust their response accordingly. On the internet you can be relatively anonymous and so have more freedom to express less socially acceptable opinions.

Platypus wrote:

UnluckyPaladin wrote:73 percent of respondants say pedophilia (the attraction, not the practice of it) is not wrong, according to debate.org.

Is this result surprising to you?

Yes, but then I'm not familiar with the demographic at debate.org. I would suspect by the name of the site that the poll participants are the sort of people who like to read and discuss contentious issues. In other words, they're probably more intellectual and open-minded than the average person.

I would not interpret the poll on debate.org as being reflective of the views held by other social groups. I think if I polled people in my community, the majority of respondents would have voted Yes, that paedophilia is wrong.

At least a bit of common sense, Platypus.

If the poll reflects the number of comments - 15 for yes and 40 for no, and this gives 73% - then a sample size of 55 on one forum is hardly worth getting excited over - particularly if the numbers of no-ers is artificially boosted by one or two getting their like-minded chums to comment!

I'll believe the evidence when the numbers are in the thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions - but I will not be expecting that to happen this side of Xmas or even before my death - whichever comes soonest.

Not dying just yet, but all those ready to gobble up this kind of nonsense please be more realistic! The only change I have noticed over several decades has been the willingness of many professionals to not automatically tie paedophilia with child molestation and to call for further research - not that this tends to do much good either it seems. I haven't seen much change in attitudes with the general population - still as hostile as they ever were - just look at the furore when someone is involved with even a slightly underaged girl let alone anyone who has a sexual relationship with a prepubescent. There is a long way to go to even remove the label 'paedophile' from the former such relationships.