To Catch a Contradiction

[archangel__7]

I spent much of last Saturday night watching this show hosted by Chris Hansen entitled To Catch a Predator. And unless you've seen the show, chances are you won't fully understand the intensity of my sentiment in this post

Comments

[kolden]

in before pedo bashing

[awful_jackass]

In before s_f...

[kolden]

in before bahleeted

[mlfoley]

I love To Catch a Predator since, well, the guys are all losers, and loling at losers is one of my hobbies. At the same time, I can see your point. Using 14 year olds to entice these men is rather ridiculous. 14 year olds are hardly "innocent" (trust me, I remember being a 14 year old boy, seeing 14 year old girls, and the logical consequences) and in an earlier age, these girls would already be married off.

These men are not pedophiles nor are they attracted to children. They are hebephiles. I get sick of people who are unable to tell the difference between the two. I think protecting children from pedofreaks is important, but I think To Catch a Predator oversteps its bounds.

[kolden]

unless they've changed their MO since i stopped watching, they don't use kids; they use "honorary officers" to pose as kids

[mlfoley]

No one poses as kids, either. They generally pose as 14 year olds.

[kolden]

sure, for a certain definition of 'kid', this is correct

i was going with a definition that isn't strictly 'child'

[404]

You were talking about me?

[keithus]

He really is a buttinski.

[starkruzr]

icon = win

[404]

;)

[99catsaway]

In an age that wishes to hand 11 year old girls condoms at school

This is a public health issue as well as something that will keep these girls from getting more abortions. This is different from having an old pervert take advantage of a young kid.

I understand what you're saying: morals evolve with society. And that's fine. I like that gay people aren't arrested for sexing here in the States. What matters is that we have a consistent and logical explanation for why the laws that we have in place are in place. The logical explanation for arresting pederasts is that they victimize people who are too young to consent. The logical reason we don't arrest gay people for being gay is that it is something that does not hurt anybody else. The reasoning behind giving condoms to young adults is that abstinence only education doesn't work and we would prefer fewer people contracting STDs and getting preggers before they're ready.

[t3knomanser]

Quote:The logical explanation for arresting pederasts is that they victimize people who are too young to consent.

True, but in the case of "To Catch a Predator", they did not victimize someone below the age of consent. An agent of the show, in coordination with law enforcement established a false pretense that they were underage and that they were interested in sexual interactions with the adult they were communicating with.

This raises a whole bunch of issues:
1) Without the instigator present (the agent of the show), would the "predator" be attempting sexual interactions with minors?
2) By exposing these individuals on live television, are we not decreasing the jury pool for the sake of ratings?
3) By sensationalizing this crime, do we need to be concerned that we're giving people an unbalanced view of the actual risks of online predators. They form a very small portion of the population, and the odds of any one child falling victim to an online predator are far smaller than the threat posed by family members.

[99catsaway]

True, but in the case of "To Catch a Predator", they did not victimize someone below the age of consent. An agent of the show, in coordination with law enforcement established a false pretense that they were underage and that they were interested in sexual interactions with the adult they were communicating with.

Surely, these are all questions brought up by his show. But I didn't really notice a lot of those issues brought up in the OP. He was more into discussing the evolution of morality and whether boinking kids would be considered moral a few years down the road since we tolerate gays and giving out condoms.

[99catsaway]

And I forgot my italics tag.^

[virtual_anima]

Do you think in the future pedophilia will be accepted?

There's a fundamental difference between pedophilia and homosexuality. Homosexuals do not create mental harm by being homosexual with each other. Pedophilia causes TONS of mental harm to the child victim.

In this way your equation is horribly wrong.

[99catsaway]

I was really hoping he was taking aim more at parental notification laws and not at the morality of homosexuality. But I am not sure since he mentioned both themes.

[eeepeeep]

But would it surprise you if the age of consent dropped at some point in the future to include 16 or 14 year olds? With the way our society is going I wouldn't be surprised.

[99catsaway]

I thought it included 16 year olds in some states...