Unpopular Opinion

Agreed. This is a pet peeve of mine. Pedophilia is not a crime. Child molestation is a crime. It makes it hard for pedophiles to get the treatment they need and we lose focus on the real danger, people who actually touch children.

This is a prime example of what the community is about.

With that said, advocating violence (read: not justice) will not be tolerated. Vigilante mindsets will not be allowed.

Really getting tired of removing comments calling for death. Advocate for strict justice, not death itself.

If one assumes that merely by being a pedophile someone is danger to kids then by the same logic being a heterosexual is a danger to the opposite sex.

Most people in jail for raping children are "normal" rapists with no specific interest towards kids. They're just an easy target. Being able to rape someone requires a special kind of twisted mind. Just being sexually interested about it alone in general isn't enough. Many people have sexual interests they're not going to pursue for moral reasons. Pedophiles can and usually do have morals as well.

My unpopular opinion is that pedophilia is a paraphilia and not necessarily a mental condition, even though some cases do manifest that way. But maybe I'm wrong. Please, go easy with the lynching.

Wow, this one got me. Top tier unpopular opinion.

You lay out pretty good points, mostly in terms of specificity.

And then you continue pointing out that there's likely no choice for a pedophile, and that they're not abusers until they abuse someone. And hey, I can get on board with that.

But man, if you really think that there shouldn't be a severe social stigma attached to pedophilia, then I really gotta disagree with you there. This should be something a person should only feel comfortable talking about with their doctor, close loved ones, or anonymously like you're doing here. There should be no stigma attached to getting help, but this isn't fun facts about yourself you should share with others.

If this is you, get help. And if you are getting help, I am honestly glad for you. But please don't ever think that anyone outside of professionals, loved ones, and other pedophiles is ever going to not have a visceral reaction to the revelation that you are attracted to kids. It is an appropriate defense mechanism meant to attempt to separate potential victims from their potential abusers.

Thank you for this post. I think you've expressed your thoughts very well.

An additional benefit to a well thought out and nuanced post like this is being able to block people who don't think things through and wouldn't be able to grasp nuance even if it was slathered in Gorilla Glue.

Good truly unpopular opinion, and mostly good discussion on the points made. That said, I think pretty much all the points that were going to be made have been made. Locking thread.