Thanks for calling me a moron, though. That was classy of you.
I didn't call you a moron. I purposely did not quote anyone, because my post was directed at the general nature of the replies here, as well as the general response you hear in the media.
And people wonder why we hear stories like Mindy McCready having a 10 year affair with Roger Clemens that started when she was 15. Weird.
With the exception of the weird (and contradictory) South Carolina laws, which I don't know enough about to comment on in detail, 15 is too young and not legal in the US (it would be in e.g. France, though). However, if the girl were 16, then it would be completely legal in most states, yet I have a feeling you'd be almost as outraged at that. This is clearly an assumption on my part and I apologize if it's an unwarranted one.
The general public has an out cry when a man in his (as you say) 20's and 30's finds a 15 year old or 16 year old attractive. They set up TV shows to catch them trying to get with one of them.
I'm assuming the shows are taped in one of the (minority) states where the age of consent is above 16, otherwise the latter part of your premise would be perfectly legal.
I have no problem with society drawing the line at nudity (although in a philosophical sense I find it annoyingly puritanical) and mandating that photos showing nudity require the participants to be above a certain age. 18 seems to be a sensible limit (but still a purely arbitrary one, dictated by the current state of society's "morals") and I believe that's what it is in most (if not all) of "the West".
I have one very strong belief above all others and that is people should be free to do whatever the heck they want, as long as it doesn't prevent anyone else from doing what THEY want (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness).
Basically, whatever you want to do in private, that's your business and society should have NO say in it (providing no one else gets hurt). Society shouldn't be able to outlaw sodomy, homosexuality or smoking, for that matter, in the privacy of ones home. You or I may consider some of these things to be sick (or maybe not), but we should have no right to impose our beliefs on others.
Now, there are two important points I'd like to make:
- Fantasy is not reality. Don't confuse the two.
- Child pornography HURTS children.
On point #2... although I'm generally not in favor of the death penalty (mostly because of the risk of executing someone innocent), I would have no problem instituting the harshest penalty available on child molesters.
That aside, I do feel there's a strong tendency in society to consider fantasy/fiction the same as reality. Violence in games in not real violence. I have no problem with kids killing each other in a game, while I have a huge problem with any kind of violence in real life.
The portrayal of one in no way condones the other.The guy is allowed to jerk off to her images in the comfort of his own home?
I'm not sure what you're referencing. If it's child pornography, no, possession is and should be illegal (and the people behind the child molestation should be drawn and quartered, which, if you read up on it, doesn't sound at all pleasant). If it's a legal picture of something, I don't really care what it is. I may find it disgusting, but it's none of my business and none of society's business. We can't and we shouldn't punish people before they commit an offense, so in that sense, yes,
it is okay as long as he doesn't act on it. I may find it absolutely repulsive, but that doesn't mean I should be able to make it illegal.
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