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Would you call pedephelia a disorder?

Do you believe pedophilia is a disorder?

  • Yes

    Votes: 27 58.7%
  • No

    Votes: 3 6.5%
  • It can be in some cases

    Votes: 3 6.5%
  • No, it's criminal even if it is a disorder

    Votes: 13 28.3%

  • Total voters
    46
That would make the sexually attracted to the same sex---If they commit some sexual act.

Men that "molest" young boys in a non-sexual manner are still criminals, and hang them as well.

You seem to be assuming that male pedophiles who molest boys are attracted to them because they are male. However, is it not possible they are primarily attracted to them because they are children and most such men may either not be attracted to adults or are attracted to women and not grown men?

Why would we assume that just because an older male molests a younger male that they are homosexual?

What percentage of male pedophiles who molest boys identify as heterosexual and engage in sexual relationships with women?

What about men who molest both boys and girls? Would you include their numbers with men who molest just boys? Would those men be considered bisexual? What if they have no attraction to adults or are primarily attracted to women?

And what about a man who only sleeps with other men but also molests young girls? Is he to be considered heterosexual?

Before we can speculate on whether gay men are more likely to molest children, we need to determine whether men who molest boys are actually gay.
 
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Duress is harmful.

Yeah but what causes the duress? Is it inherent or largely produced by a society so opposed to them that they can't even tell a therapist without fear of being reported? I can imagine that being attracted to little kids would by itself cause dysfunction, but with so much hostility, it's probably impossible to know.
 
I've read people dealing with pedophiles are opposed to that kind of porn, but I can't see how it's any more problematic than any kind of fantasy porn, or different than a Hollywood movie that includes assassinations, murder, rape, robbery, drug dealing, drug use, etc. Compelling evidence could convince me otherwise, but I can't imagine why a LEGAL outlet for a fantasy that is illegal and harmful to society to act on is a problem. Especially, as I imagine the alternative to 'fake' kiddie porn involving no children is real kiddie porn that will harm the children involved.

I've even heard it proposed that some agency should produce fake kiddie porn for this purpose, but just as porn doesn't remove all desire to have actual sex, i doubt that "animated kiddie porn" would cut it for a lot of pedophiles.
 
I just had another thought that complicates things even more. What about men who were sexually abused as children that repeat the cycle? They weren't "born that way" but Bc of what was done to them, they now continue the cycle of perversion. One could say they are a prisoner of their own unfortunate circumstance.
 
I just had another thought that complicates things even more. What about men who were sexually abused as children that repeat the cycle? They weren't "born that way" but Bc of what was done to them, they now continue the cycle of perversion. One could say they are a prisoner of their own unfortunate circumstance.

That's the basic premise for the profiles of every serial killer in existence.
 
So if it is all beyond a person's control I.e. an imbalance in their brain, I suspect that there are various ways to rid ourselves of this pervasive problem. But, if a medical solution is not found, then a purely physical one could be used as a stronger deterrent.
Are there ways to rid society of pedophilia?

If it were possible to eliminate every single person who has committed pedophilia, AND every single person who has even thought about committing pedophilia, and the world were completely void of any person even slightly prone to it... would it then be truly eliminated? Or, would new people be born pre-disposed and it begin all over again?


I just had another thought that complicates things even more. What about men who were sexually abused as children that repeat the cycle? They weren't "born that way" but Bc of what was done to them, they now continue the cycle of perversion. One could say they are a prisoner of their own unfortunate circumstance.
I don't think it's that simple. Many who are abused never repeat the cycle, nor do they have any inclination whatsoever. This suggest... as a possibility, not a certainty... that those who do are 'born that way'.

Maybe it's in the individual's genetic make-up? :shrug:


Exactly and the same is true for gays
If you find yourself distressed by gays, it could be due to some sort of fascination with them.
Or it could not. Really, that kind of projection... or stereotype... is dangerous, and is why we have commonly believed misinformation on a myriad of topics.
 
It can also be perfectly legal, as it seems to have been in Delaware in 1895, where according to the New York Times the age of consent seems to have been 7.

Fffrikin law man!! Dhej do is as plleezed. Law is socialli difayned!
 
Not at all. Please post where I said that.

It was a question thus the question mark at the end of the sentence. I don't see how being attracted to the same sex is not a disorder if being attracted to children is. Both are deviant behaviors so the distinction is???
 
It was a question thus the question mark at the end of the sentence. I don't see how being attracted to the same sex is not a disorder if being attracted to children is. Both are deviant behaviors so the distinction is???

That seems to me a bit of circular reasoning. Being attracted to the same gender is a disorder since it is a deviant behavior, or at least acting on the attraction is, so being gay is a disorder.

The bottom line to all of this is that acting on same sex attraction among adults hurts no one, while acting on an attraction to young children does.

Moreover, an attraction to young children seems to me to stem from having been abused or from other trauma, and is thus better defined as a psychological disorder. An attraction to the same gender is something some people are simply born with, and not something acquired through a psychological trauma.
 
That seems to me a bit of circular reasoning. Being attracted to the same gender is a disorder since it is a deviant behavior, or at least acting on the attraction is, so being gay is a disorder.

The bottom line to all of this is that acting on same sex attraction among adults hurts no one, while acting on an attraction to young children does.

Moreover, an attraction to young children seems to me to stem from having been abused or from other trauma, and is thus better defined as a psychological disorder. An attraction to the same gender is something some people are simply born with, and not something acquired through a psychological trauma.

Is it? Or, are you succumbing to trendy political correctness in making this distinction?

In a way it kind of comes off as a cop out. The stuff of which we approve "just is" and is nobody's fault, while the stuff of which we disapprove just has to be somebody's fault, we have this inner need to blame somebody. Yet if you look at apples & apples as in motivation vs motivation and action vs action (not effect on those who may be unable to give consent), there's really not a whole lot of difference between the two. Both have an inner desire/urge that drives them to do 'X'.
 
Being a pedophile is not a crime... it IS a disorder. ACTING on being a pedophile is a crime. It's a little bit sematical but that's the distinction.

Its not pedophilia unless its acted upon.
 
Is it? Or, are you succumbing to trendy political correctness in making this distinction?

In a way it kind of comes off as a cop out. The stuff of which we approve "just is" and is nobody's fault, while the stuff of which we disapprove just has to be somebody's fault, we have this inner need to blame somebody. Yet if you look at apples & apples as in motivation vs motivation and action vs action (not effect on those who may be unable to give consent), there's really not a whole lot of difference between the two. Both have an inner desire/urge that drives them to do 'X'.
There is no evidence that I know of to show that pedophiles are born that way.

And the real distinction is that homosexuality hurts no one. Pedophilia does.
 
There is no evidence that I know of to show that pedophiles are born that way.

And the real distinction is that homosexuality hurts no one. Pedophilia does.
I suspect you're confusing the concepts of evidence and proof. Which only serves to reinforce my suspicion that you are viewing them from a PC mindset. There's plenty of evidence. Proof? Not so much.

And I specifically addressed the effect part, and no, effect has nothing to do with an individual's motivation. Point denied.
 
I suspect you're confusing the concepts of evidence and proof. Which only serves to reinforce my suspicion that you are viewing them from a PC mindset. There's plenty of evidence. Proof? Not so much.

And I specifically addressed the effect part, and no, effect has nothing to do with an individual's motivation. Point denied.
If you're going to "deny my point", then it behooves you to present some evidence that pedophiles are actually born pedophiles.
 
Are there ways to rid society of pedophilia?

If it were possible to eliminate every single person who has committed pedophilia, AND every single person who has even thought about committing pedophilia, and the world were completely void of any person even slightly prone to it... would it then be truly eliminated? Or, would new people be born pre-disposed and it begin all over again?

I don't know the true answer to that, but I suspect that someone like a neuroscientist might have a different, more enlightened view, of removing unwanted things from a person's brain chemistry.

I suspect that even if a cure was found, it would be in no way systematic I.e. touching all corners of the human race.
 
There is a way to eliminate child molesters from society, or at least to cut back on the incidence of it dramatically. Think about it: An armed robber, even after he's payed his debt to society, is not allowed to have a gun. He can still get one illegally, of course, but he's risking going back to jail.

A pedophile, in contrast, can not get his weapon back once it's been removed, so he's no longer a threat to anyone.

Just remove their weapons after the first offense. Problem solved.
 
There is a way to eliminate child molesters from society, or at least to cut back on the incidence of it dramatically. Think about it: An armed robber, even after he's payed his debt to society, is not allowed to have a gun. He can still get one illegally, of course, but he's risking going back to jail.

A pedophile, in contrast, can not get his weapon back once it's been removed, so he's no longer a threat to anyone.

Just remove their weapons after the first offense. Problem solved.

If the individual's motivation is dominance, as some researchers suggest is a possibility at least for some, then it wouldn't matter. They'd just use some inanimate object.
 
If the individual's motivation is dominance, as some researchers suggest is a possibility at least for some, then it wouldn't matter. They'd just use some inanimate object.

So, like the armed robber who buys a gun on the street, they would actually have a weapon back.

The next step is simply to lock them up for good in order to protect their victims.
 
I would agree with this, but now I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and extend the question a bit?

Would creating/sharing/obtaining "kiddie porn" that is either animated or portrayed by adults made up to look like kids... in other words, no actual children were used at all... qualify as acting on it?

Research shows that availability of kiddie porn reduces the quantity of child molestation incidents (per research cited in the book Perv). This suggests that the ban on synthetic (fake) kiddie porn is counterproductive.

A large portion of molesters choose to molest children because they are more convenient or easier to rape, not because they are especially attracted to children.
 
It was a question thus the question mark at the end of the sentence. I don't see how being attracted to the same sex is not a disorder if being attracted to children is. Both are deviant behaviors so the distinction is???

One causes harm when acted upon, the other does not.
 
Seems to me that you too are confusing legal issues with psychological issues
 
Incorrect. The distress that it can cause, either through action, non-action, or because of the thoughts themselves demonstrate the disorder.

You don't think a young boy discovering that he is attracted to other young boys causes distress?
 
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