Friday, February 13, 2009

It's very, very tiresome when people either,

don't GET what you're trying to say or refuse to LISTEN what you're trying to say.

Let me clarify:

Anthony Stancl has allegedly done some bad things. At best, he needs therapy. At worst, he needs punishment. Personally, he seems pretty douchy.

Anthony Stancl is also being unfairly judged because of his sexuality, his age and the age and sexualities of his alleged victims.

The definition of a pedophile is sexual attraction to a pre-pubescent child.

People attracted to post pubescent teenagers are not pedophiles. And, teenagers sexually attracted to other teenagers are not guilty of anything except of being human and desirous of contact with their own peers. Sort of like a 42 year old wanting to date a 36 year old, or a 27 year old getting married to a 32 year old. Why should it be thought odd that a 17 or 18 or 19 or even 20 or 21 year old would be attracted to someone who was 2 or three or four or five years younger than them just because those individuals hadn't turned the magic age of consent?

Turning 18 doesn't magically make you an "Adult".

Most people accused of most crimes ARE probably guilty to one degree or another of the crimes of which they've been charged.

Quite a few people accused of crimes are not treated fairly because of various mitigating factors: their age, race, religion, gender, sexuality, socio-economic status, etc.

Victims of crimes deserve our sympathy for what they've endured. But not all victims tell the complete truth and not all victims are blameless. Just because you are a victim of a crime doesn't make you free of any culpability for that crime.

American Society hates ambiguity. We like things cut and dried without any gray areas.

Despite great strides, society doesn't like, trust or respect people who are non heterosexually inclined. For that matter, society doesn't care much for anyone who is "different" or outside what is perceived as normal.

Sexuality makes people nervous.

The sexuality of teenagers makes people very, very nervous.

We like labels.

We like excuses.

We like not having to take responsibility of our actions.

The law isn't always just.

The majority isn't always right.

"Good" and "Bad" are ambiguous labels that mean very little. A truly horrible person isn't all bad, (Hitler was an anti-smoker, a vegetarian and an animal lover) and a truly great, "good" person isn't perfect or free of imperfection, (Gandhi slept, not fucked, with young girls).

Being judgemental is easy. Being impartial is impossible.

Sexual politics is the hottest button you can push.

and, finally:

Resistance is Futile....The Borg

1 comment:

Phil said...

I made some similar arguments about the magical age of majority in response to a cable TV companies being bullied into a "child porn censorship deal".

Quoting my hero, Richard M. Stallman
writing about censorship by ISPs:

"The first target of this censorship is sites and newsgroups that supposedly contain "child pornography". This term is dishonest, since the law defines "child" as "anyone under 18". For instance, Americans of age 16 are hardly children. They are sexually mature, almost half of them have had sex, and any normal adult will find them attractive. But our government calls them "children", with the implication that being attracted to them makes you a pervert.

"The danger of censorship goes far beyond this specific instance of censorship. Once ISPs agree to censor the Internet for one kind of thing, they can easily censor other things. In effect, they have now constituted the Great Firewall of the US."