Anti-pedo advocacy and BoyWiki

From BoyWiki

Anti-pedophile advocacy could be defined as activity counter to the proposition by pro-pedophile advocates that pedophile activity should be viewed as a normal (though unusual) expression of human sexuality.

History

Prior to the 1960s, most of what would today be called "anti-pedophile advocacy" was subsumed under anti-homosexual advocacy. The roots of anti-homosexual advocacy go back ever further than most people assume, which is that of the anti-homosexual stance taken by the Christian church. In fact, anti-homosexual advocacy goes back much farther in history -- Christianity has its roots in Judaism, and Judaism (in which boys become men at 13) has borrowed from even earlier cultures, as demonstrated by the Flood mythology found in all major ancient pre-Judaic cultures. (For more information, see Sex and Punishment - Four Thousand Years of Judging Desire by Eric Berkowitz.)

Child abuse

In 1962, Dr C. Henry Kempe published his famous paper, “The Battered Child Syndrome,” which directed attention to the very serious traumatic injuries seen in hospital emergency rooms -- injuries attributed to "accidents" by the child's parents but actually due to severe physical trauma inflicted by the parents themselves on their children. This began the "child victimization" movements which expanded to include other forms of severe physical deprivation and emotional abuse as well.

Pedophilia as a form of "child abuse"

Pedophilia was not a term used in most lay discourses until the late 20th century -- the preferred term used in the early and mid-20th century was "child molestation". A "child molester" was characterized by "the man in the trench coat, with pockets full of candy, lurking around school playgrounds". Though undoubtedly this character existed, he was extremely rare, though commonly presented as an ever-present "danger" to children. It was never clearly explained exactly what this "stranger in black" would do to children that was so "dangerous" and so "evil" -- it was thought either not worthy of mention, or unmentionable due to the great horrors it entailed. Also, it was never placed in context: 80% of adult-child sexual contact is with family or people the child already knows.

In the mid-70's, the term "pedophile" gained currency, mainly due to the anti-homosexual advocacy of Anita Bryant (the myth of "homosexuals seducing minors" into becoming "sexual perverts" -- a long-standing though erroneous belief) and the congressional appearances made by Judianne Densen-Gerber (who established a chain of [supposed] "care and reform" clinics for youthful drug addicts, where the "inmates" were alleged to have been severely mistreated] before the U.S. Congressional Judiciary Committee investigating child pornography in 1977 further fanned the flames of the anti-homosexual and anti-pedophile movements. (See Pan Magazine, No. 3, p.27ff.)

The growth of the "Save the children" movement

As psychiatrists and psychologists -- as well as the media -- discovered the huge earning potential in uncovering and treating "victims of child abuse" the flames of panic and hysteria were fanned, especially by the media. Soon the prison-industrial complex, too, learned how profitable "child abuse" could be. More and more laws were passed by opportunistic politicians cashing in on the political advantage of "combating" child abuse, and "stopping pedophiles" became the buzzword around which their efforts revolved.

The third-wave radical feminists, too, saw this as a springboard to success in their creation of the "incest narrative," which painted all men as "monster rapists," in a paternalistic world, and all women and children as their "victims". Soon the victomology movement was born.

Research

A large number of government-sponsored studies were crudely performed to support the narrative of "the pedophile menace to children". When good-quality research was (then, only rarely) performed, the results showed that "the pedophile menace" was a myth - adult/child sexual activity only rarely resulted in harm to children. (See Rind et al.)

Allowing anti-pedophile advocacy on BoyWiki

In the 1960s, with the serious deterioration of the quality in elementary to undergraduate education in the U.S., especially in the field of science education, the public accepted without question the (fallacious) "child abuse narrative". Anti-pedophile advocacy grew tremendously.

As with any pseudo-science -- which is what the "child sexual abuse narrative" is based upon -- the dearth of scientific expertise among the lay public led to the idea that "all opinions are equally valid," an idea which soon began to spread widely. People who were deeply involved in many pseudo-scientific discourses began to clamor for "equal time" -- they demanded being allowed to express their pseudo-scientific beliefs -- those exposing astrology for the fraud it is, for example, were pressured to give "equal time" to the "pro-astrology" views.

The dangers in allowing beliefs which have absolutely no scientific basis to be presented in a supposedly "balanced manner" with scientific criticisms of pseudo-scientific beliefs means giving undue credence to those pseudo-scientific beliefs. So today you find the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) supporting and giving credence to homeopathy and other scientifically discredited pseudo-medical treatments!

The famed astrophysicist Carl Sagan's 1995 book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark explains the importance of scientific investigation in order to separate fact from myth, and the dangers of allowing mythology to govern human activities is explored.

Michael Schermer, in his 1997 book Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time also explains the dangers in allowing pseudo-science to be given the same weight as real science.

Here at BoyWiki, if we give "equal time" to the pseudo-scientific "anti-pedo advocates" we make their unscientific beliefs seem of equal value as beliefs supported by genuine science. To do so is to further the cause of those with pseudo-scientific beliefs, while setting back the cause of truth and justice. We should only be presenting good science in support of the BoyLove cause, and not defending ourselves against the teachings of the "false prophets" of the child-abuse movement!

External links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv4KtAnjqzU


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