Well (sigh) there are some problems here that need to be addressed.
1. The first problem is the "marginal case." What constitutes being a "pedophile" varies with the culture. There is no doubt someone abusing a
two-year old is a complete sicko. I would feel the same about a 10 year old. Now what about a 14 year old? OUR culture classifies that as pedophilia,
but for most of human history, 14 is sexually mature and therefore of age. Mary, mother of Jesus, was likely no more than 14 (and if you don't
"believe" that story or her existence, fine. Her contemporaries definitely were.) That's how it worked back then. The "window of opportunity" was
narrow because you were normally dead by age 28. Our culture has artificially prolonged "childhood" for a number of reasons. And to a certain extent
we've made crimes where there didn't used to be any at all.
A more contemporary example is an 18 year old make being convicted of sex crimes because he was with his 17 year old girlfriend a few weeks shy of her
18th birthday. The guy is a registered sex offender for life. This is not at all unusual. So my point is that you need some flexibility here in your
definitions, and perhaps YOUR definition is not the one we should use. It bears some discussion before you advocate circumventing the laws we DO have
in favor of your version of extreme punishment.
2. You're on pretty safe ground taking the high road here and standing on a pedestal. NO ONE approves of sex offenders. To proclaim abhorrence at
such is a very safe stance to take. No one is going to disagree with you and you can feel good about yourself. Easy peasy.
3. ACCUSING someone of a sex offense in this country is almost the same as convicting them. Even if the person is completely innocent, his reputation
is ruined, probably along with his livelihood, if not his freedom. He's guilty until proven innocent. Think about that.
4. There have been MANY cases of false accusations, including by children. In my area in a place called Wenatchee a very zealous detective and
prosecutor "uncovered" a "sex ring" in a day care center and obtained convictions for several adults who were sent to jail. It turns out the whole
thing was bogus, but EVEN AFTER THIS WAS PROVEN some of the people couldn't get out of jail immediately because, after all, they were "convicted in
a court of law." Why did this happen? Because the community engaged in a witch hunt since everyone "hates" sex offenders. This thread sounds an
awfully lot like what was said during this incident with people taking the same lofty positions of outrage.
The whole story is here. Before you go saying, "Rah rah!" over this
thread, go read this account. It's enough to chill your bones.
5. Accusing someone of sex crimes is a good way to take them out of commission. This is a conspiracy site. You should not be surprised that this
method can be used by TPTB to neutralize a subject who is proving to be a problem. The case of Wendelle Stevens comes to mind. Just recently we've
had Stan Romanek also accused. I happen to think Wendelle Stevens was a credulous researcher who believed highly suspect cases like Billy Meier, and
Romanek is an example of a fraudster in the UFO field, but I can't help but wonder about the veracity of these cases. You can even take the case of
Bill Clinton. No, this wasn't a child abuse case, but the accusations against him, even though they were mostly true, neutralized his presidency.
They made him ineffective because he and the country were diverted.
The point here is that when anyone is accused, particularly if they are in any sort of position antagonistic to the party line, you all ought to be
highly suspicious as to why they have been accused. I don't want anyone who is actually guilty to go free, but some of these accusations of people
are way too convenient.
6. I think you also have to look at our attitudes toward sexual activity from the standpoint of a puritanical and sexually-repressed culture. We
provide no acceptable outlets, really, for what is human nature. We tell people they can't even think about it. Even looking at a picture can get you
jail time. It's a pressure cooker under which some people blow. I still believe in individual responsibility and punishment for the truly depraved
who take advantage of the truly innocent, but defining that as broadly as we have in this culture to encompass far more than most cultures in history
have deemed reasonable is a problem, and there is an aspect of cultural culpability here that should not be ignored.