vikorr wrote:4. You will see what you want to see when you approach a child for sex. Your arguments against people explaining the associated problems show this.
I wouldn't approach a child 'for sex'. If I met an adolescent girl with whom there was a mutual attraction, I'd consider dating her or forming a relationship, and then sex would be something that might come later. I have actually met one or two young girls who seemed to flirt with me and take a liking to me (a 13 year old girl when I was about 17, and a 15ish-year-old when I was about 18/19). But nothing actually happened... partly due to shyness and partly fear of getting caught, or just of people knowing that I liked young girls (family members etc.)... I've only ever 'come out' to a few close friends.
Anyway, my point is that I would never 'approach someone for sex', let alone a 'child'. I'm not that kind of person.
Quote:Just because you think the world is a certain way (irrespective of what others say or think), does not make it so.
I agree, but nor does it make it not so.
Quote:Just because you want to convince yourself that a child is capable of giving consented sex with you, does not make it so.
Ditto. You're just using rhetoric here, rather than actually arguing that I am guilty of these crimes of bias and ignorance.
Quote:Just because you wish to convince yourself that you will not cause any harm, does not make it so.
Ditto again.
Quote:As a matter of interest, I have noted on a number of occasions paedophiles, when they have been caught, have managed to justify their actions to themselves as being both as nature intended, and right...
Yes, and there are two explanations for this. 1) They are deluding themselves, because they "feel a need to justify the 'goodness' of their soul to themselves - to see themselves as good." 2) They are actually right... perhaps paedophilia and/or ephebophilia (remember that I only wish to defend the latter) is as natural as normal heterosexuality or homosexuality, and perhaps sex with minors is not wrong.
Watch what happens if I replace 'paedophiles' with 'homosexuals' (imagine this being said 40+ years ago):
Quote:I have noted on a number of occasions that homosexuals, when they have been caught, have managed to justify their actions to themselves as being both as nature intended, and right...
Do homosexuals just "feel a need to justify the 'goodness' of their soul to themselves - to see themselves as good", or is it actually true that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, and that it is as nature intended? I think we'd both agree that the latter is true.
So what's different about ephebophilia? You haven't told me in this post... this post does not succeed as an argument against permitting ephebophilia.
Quote:5. The decision making ability of humans doesn't reach its peak until about 21-25 years of age. This is due to biological/physiological reasons as well as lack of experience.
Yet we still assume that under-21s are perfectly capable of making all kinds of decisions, such as choosing which university to go to or whether to join the school football team. And I think that under-21s are also capable of making decisions about sex. What point are you making?