is there anything wrong with being a pedophile if you don't act on those feelings?

Question

if so then i guess thoughts are a crime ....i'm asking to get people opinions knowing full well, judgemental people who don't know me will say that i'm a pedophile, i'm surely not, i just like looking at things from the other side of the coin/the non-politically correct way.

i guarantee you.... this is not me, but for someone who is, if they don't act on it, if they never commit a crime, why should they be treated as dirt, if a homosexual doesn't act on his sexual desires, then he's not doing anything wrong either.... compare/contrast the two as far as being born that way

what about this, a 12 year old girl is very devoloped, and you (a guy) look at her thinking she must be 18, since she is wearing the latest styles, low cut shorts/top, are you a pedophile????

Answer 1

Absolutely, anyone who even thinks about children in that way should seek psychiatric help. It is not right and it never will be.

Answer 2

Many people think there is something wrong, because many people believe that thoughts alone should be punished.

Fortunately, the legal system requires some over action before a person may be charged and convicted. However, some people argue that this is a bad idea because it stops law enforcement from preventing the crimes until there has been an actual attempt.

I don't think thoughts should be punished. Unless the person actually voluntarily admits to impulses in order to get psychological help, then it's way too much a violation of basic legal principles to punish someone for something they have not yet even attempted.

It's like punishing someone for murder because they fantasized about killing someone. Or charging someone with assault and battery with a hate enhancement simply because they are prejudice and thought about beating the cr*p out of someone. People can't always control what they think, but it's a lot easier to control how you act. That's why the legal system requires an over voluntary act as part of any crime.

As to your example with the 12-year-old, that's a tricky question. If someone were attracted to another person because they thought the other person was an adult, then by definition they're not a pedophile. They may be guilty of statutory rape if they act on it, regardless of whether they know the person was underage, since statutory rape is often a strict liability crime.

Everyone's brain is wired to find a certain type of person attractive. Some prefer tall and thin, some prefer short and petite. Some prefer males, some prefer females. And some prefer children. Being a pedophile means that your brain is wired to find children attractive. If anything, it's basically a mental defect.

Acting on those feelings, however, is not susceptible to the insanity defense because the pedophile knew what they were doing was illegal when they did it. That's why the overt act requirement is present in the legal system. Simply because people can't always control what they think, so the legal system just requires them to control their actions.

Finally, if by "wrong" you mean morally rather than legally, I'll leave that to other religions to define. Each religion has the own definitions, and historically every major religion allowed female children to be married to male adults once the girls approached puberty. The concept of legally protecting children until they became more mature is a relatively recent invention.

Answer 3

Great question hoopsters44 !

Note: there can be no grey area about this subject : young people and children are too vunerable and anyone who croses the line and brings harm to them should be swiftly put down like the rabid dogs they have become.

but to your question ....is there anything wrong with anything in univerce?

i think not. human adds meaning to things

and are very rightious and eventually hypocritical about it!

In some cases, harsh rightious societies creates a situation where people move into the closet and they do not get the chance to dialogue about thier experience and create something new for themselves

There was a great example of this with airline pilots! It was commonly known that airline pilots had frequent near misses abd close calls in the air but never reported them because of the consequences they would certainly face, like they would be grounded and suspended or fined etc.

And what the air traffic authorities concluded was that air safety was suffering because if this .

So what they created was a safe way for pilots to report anything that happened in the air, with no fear of consequences or consequences so that they could study the patterns and increase the safety for customers. It worked and pilots were happy and relieved to talk about all that was happening up there instead of hiding the sh*t! And aren't we all glad about that!!!!!

Now this subject is a different but i do see some similiarity!


Now i have suggested that there is nothing wrong with anything in universe BUT i am also of the thought that there is also nothing right about anything in univerce.


It might come down to - what are you committed to?

Personally, i am committed that children are honored in an appropriate way that allows them well being and to have a life they love.

Answer 4

Can you be a paedophile if you don't act on those feelings? I don't think so. But not acting on them must mean not looking at pictures/websites or even talking about it with others. There is a debate over whether just thoughts are a sin (rather than a crime) but as far as I know so far thoughts have not been made a crime, at least in countries thought of as democratic.

Answer 5

Yes, a person who is attracted to a child in a sexual way is a pedophile, whether they act on their inclinations or not. The pedophile who has not yet acted on his thoughts is called a latent pedophile, and just because this type of person hasn't acted out his desire in that PARTICULAR way does not mean that he has not acted out against the object of his affection in different ways, like extreme hostility or anger or rage.

People's thoughts are not in and of themselves crimes, but you have to realize that the longer a person entertains those thoughts, the more likely he/she is to follow through on them. People will eventually find a way to justify their thoughts in able to allow them to do what they want.

Answer 6

Get some counseling man, all actions are governed by your thoughts. If you become aroused by little kids then its only a matter of time before you act out. And you better pray to God its not in my neighborhood or my kid cause the cops would never be able to find whats left of you. There you see I have already thought about what I'm going to do, but have'nt acted on those feelings "YET"

Answer 7

In medicine, we learn that people always ask for others when they are indeed asking for themselves. Most males have attraction to younger children (both males and females) and it is a normal animal instinct for the alpha male to do so. But through the strictures of religion and society, we not longer seek such conquests. Many societies accepted such practices for many centuries, including various Native Americans and others. Child brides were common in many places, even today in India and other countries, it is still acceptable. Male children were made available for Emperors of Rome, Japan, etc. So thoughts don't really count.

Answer 8

Yes, I'm sorry but there is nothing right about doing bad things to children. I'm not saying you are a pedophile but those that have those feelings should seek some kind of help. It's just not right.

Answer 9

i guess it would be wrong, but then there is the grey area of how old they are an what they look like, i see a 16 girl and have those thoughts, but i would never act on them, but if i had the same thoughts over a ten year old that would be very sick

Answer 10

I'm not going to judge you...Ive had that same thought before and I'm definitely not a pedophile...i don't think its a crime, to me its the same thing as thinking or wanting to hurt/kill someone, or to think about robbing a bank or something...as long as you don't act on it, i don't see whats wrong...id hope you wouldn't be able to be arrested for private thoughts....

Answer 11

yes those kinds of feelings are very wrong,you should encourage this person or whom ever to get help to keep those feelings intac because when some one hurts a child no matter how mature they look they are still a child it ruins their life for ever and does major damage to their mind and bodys.There is help out there for those willing to except they may have a problem and want to fix it.