PEDOPHILE WARS

Facebook, advertisers face ire

Dear John: I must say, I was saddened by the person complaining about child sexual abuse material on Facebook, and your flippant response to it.

“Child pornography” is atrociously named because children cannot consent, are not paid and are not acting. Images that portray real children in sexual situations are images that film their abuse. Those who view that material are participating in the abuse by creating a psychological demand for it.

In contrast to that choice, a pedophile is someone with a sexual attraction to children. They do not choose that attraction, and that sexual attraction typically does not result in child rape. Child rape is typically unrelated to sexual pleasure and is the result of complex and varied motivations. Entire books have been written on this.

The pedophiles you hear about are the ones who get arrested, because it is unusual for a child rapist to have pedophilia. You never hear about the pedophiles that have never harmed a child and never will.

We need to stop conflating child rape with pedophilia, because those with pedophilia are human beings and do not de- serve suspicion and an automatic label of child rapist. Some of them need help, and the stigma around the issue pushes them away from that help.

Stop It Now! is a great organization for people who care about preventing abuse and exploitation, and they can be found at www.stopitnow.org. TNF

Dear TNF: The issue is whether pedophiles have a place on a social media Web site like Facebook. They do not!

And if Facebook will not address the issue, then a people’s army will complain to Facebook’s advertisers. And I guarantee that Facebook will eventually take a tougher view of people who enjoy looking at sexual images of children and talking about child abuse — or it will lose many of its advertisers.

I’ve already been down this road, and Facebook was petrified. And parents should be petrified that their children can have contact with pedophiles on sites like Facebook.

My response was anything but flippant. It’s an activist position that could mean big trouble for Facebook and for the pedophiles who congregate on that site. And it is something that any public company can understand.

If you think pedophilia is so innocent and pedophiles so misunderstood, I’m curious why you didn’t put your name on this email. Because if you had I would have turned you over to the FBI to be investigated.

So stop pretending to be on the side of children. Parents know how to watch out for their children. But they can’t watch out for them 24 hours a day when internet sites are exposing them to things and people that are dangerous.

And I’m sorry you don’t like the name “child pornography.” I didn’t make it up. And, quite frankly, I can’t even understand what your point is.

So there you have it. No flippancy. Does that make you feel better?