I have a hard time understanding why people are so paranoid about pedophiles. I know that the most common argument is that kids are too young to understand love/sex, but I just don't buy that. Love is a human emotion that everyone has, including kids, and sex is a natural bodily function. The way I see it, the kids who are "victimized" by pedophiles are actually victimized by society. We constantly tell them how bad sex is, and that they should stay away from anyone who tries to touch them, so if someone does end up touching them, they feel victimized because they are told that they should. I've noticed that most "abused" kids don't actually feel like victims until they're older, but if that's the case, how are they really a victim? If someone punches you in the face, you feel victimized immediately; not 10 years later.

It really bothers me that people hate pedophiles so much even though most people have never met a pedophile who is open about it. How can you hate something that you don't understand? I love kids, and I have been in love with at least one kid. I feel that my love is just as genuine as anyone else's. Most people seem to think that pedophiles only want sex, but that's far from the truth. When I'm around kids, I pay much more attention to their personality than their body, and I don't have many sexual thoughts until later that night when the kid is gone or in bed.

I have never done anything sexual with a kid, and I won't unless a kid specifically asks me. I won't suggest it to a kid, because I don't want her to say yes just because I'm an adult and she feels like she has to. I want her to genuinely want to, and I feel that waiting for the kid to make the first move is the only way to guarantee that she really wants it.

I know this is a very controversial topic, and a lot of people are probably disgusted, but just try to ignore your emotional reactions, and really think about what I wrote.

BTW, this is an alt that I only use to talk about pedophilia, so that's why my post history is only about pedophilia.

I've never understood why abortion is something I'm supposed to support as a liberal woman.

I believe that it is still controversial after all these years because everyone is trying to make it a gender issue, or a religion issue, when it's simply a matter of science: when does a fetus become a human being?

Once you pass 20 weeks' gestation the infant is more and more likely to be able to survive outside the womb with each passing day. That's only 1.3% of abortions, though, but...

Moving backwards, when does it become okay? When is it a "blob of tissue," precisely?

With both my kids I got what they call a nuchal translucency test at ~12 weeks' gestation. This is performed via ultrasound to determine if the child is at high risk for Down Syndrome.

I just haven't been able to bring myself to feel that this is a women's rights issue. The argument is "my body, my choice," but it seems to me that it's not your body we're talking about.

Gotta tell you, they looked pretty goddamn much like babies at 12 weeks.

Thanks for starting this group, by the way. I started a blog several years ago for the same reason - every time I wanted to discuss something on Facebook people got super emotional and angry.

I believe that if you have a craving for human flesh, you have a right to eat human flesh. One of the ways it could work is people, dying or wanting to commit assisted suicide, could say that they consent to cannibals eating them. There are other ways, of course, but I haven't thought up on any others.

By the way, thanks for the moderator status.

I recently saw a show that exploited four women and the creator of a website for men looking for sugar babies. The four women- obviously -were sugar babies. They get paid for hanging out with men simply because the men want to pay to hang out with an attractive woman. The women use the money to pay bills and buy themselves nice things and go on vacations.

However, the women were accused of being prostitutes because some of them sleep with the men they meet. I disagree with that. I don't think they're prostitutes at all. I don't think they're women with a bad self-image or low self esteem. I just think that it was a choice they made and nothing is wrong with it.

tl;dr: Sugar Babies aren't prostitutes, and I don't think it's a bad lifestyle choice.

Should we bring up heated debate topics right away or would that tempt people into losing their calm? Does the mod plan on deleting un-calm posts or do we just downvote them?

I am a relatively firm believer in the notion that if earth is not already over populated that it will reach that point in a matter of centuries/decades, leading to widespread famine and other resource shortages.

I think a one/two child policy like the one in China is a valid consideration for countries in the west, as it is (imo) irresponsible for people to reproduce in excess when there are already orphans and children on the street who have no parents/caregivers to speak of. While there's a lot more I could say on this subject I'd like to see where discussion takes us.

For those not familiar with China's one child policy, it was implemented in the aftermath of the Cultural revolution to curb wild population growth in what was then more or less a developing country. The law forbade families from having more than one child under penalty of heavy fines and ostracizing. Eventually exemptions were granted for rural families, where traditional patrilineal customs required that families have a male heir in order to keep their land. In recent times, the policy has allowed for families in which both parents were only children to have two children, in part to support China's now aging population (a direct result of the first policy).

Obviously there are flaws in the policy itself, I'd rather this discussion focus on the ethical and pragmatic issues associated with regulating birth (with financial penalties, not forced abortions).

I'm a guy who has to deal with a condition known as aspergers syndrome. Commonly people who are "aspies" don't know how to cope or have difficulty coping and can fall into a area of psychology between being considered psychotic or a sociopath. Stress has effects that can cause all sorts of triggers in our head, so why do people frown upon the idea of having a neutral or less emotional response?

Edit: Well seems apathy is a better identifier for the overarching issue, but it is still relevant to the overall topic. So why is apathy also looked at poorly? From most TV shows, any time someone is apathetic they are either crazy, or the first one's to be suspected of things.

I understand the argument that it causes / is caused by racism, but my love for my own nationality, race, and culture is not from hatred of another. I appreciate everyone's cultures and only wish for people to be in communities of their people so that their culture can grow and they can support one another. What's so wrong about that?!

Note: I am going to try to put an air of humor to this post; I want this to be a discussion of light conversation, but also introspection. No need for any to feel offended or off put or to have to call our therapists and girlfriends because we feel some kind of way. Just a food for thought kind discussion.

If we are a part of the human race, if all are (at supposed to anyway) born with two legs, two arms, two eyes, and have the same the anatomic structure of a human being, then why are we so unified as a humans? We are so quick to show our pride of our various different heritages, whether it be what country or city , hell even what high school or uni that we hail from, but we don't have that same pride for being human.

Even is we assume that we are the only intelligible lifeforms around (given the sheer vastness of space, IMO it seems unlikely that there isn't something else somewhere), why do we not have a flag for us a human race if only to remind ourselves how closely related we are, despite hailing from different places from all over the world? Why is there such a lack of unity between us as human beings? Do you think if there was more unity between us a humans that we could be more tolerable of different races and cultures due to a more holistic view of people as a whole?
What do you guys think about this?

Edit: Just thought I might add before this hopefully gains some commenters: I know there is a proposed flag for the earth, but I don't think it's been officially implemented. It seems more of an idea in the works, rather than something concrete. Link for article: http://www.cnet.com/news/is-this-the-flag-that-could-represent-earth-to-the-stars/

TL;DR: Why is there such a lack of unity between us a human beings ?

https://youtu.be/Du0cOMJq0nU

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akXr2R_l1Wc