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Texas megachurch pastor resigns after admitting to molestation claims in 1980s
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2024
662 points (99.3% liked)
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What the fuck is wrong with these people? I’ve made it through my entire adulthood without molesting any children…. WITHOUT EVEN TRYING. It’s real easy, the only thing you have to do is not fuck any kids. Do they need to teach that in church or something?
And they think they can still hold some kind of moral authority? What a sick joke.
Are you a paedophile? No? Then that's why you find it easy.
Not defending this guy or anyone who harms kids, but to try and compare how easy it is for you not to do, to how easy it should be for those who have urges you and I can't even imagine not to do, isn't really productive - it completely ignores the core of the issue - for some people it isn't that easy, and they need serious help, before they cause harm, not for their struggles to be brushed off as something that isn't real because the rest of us don't experience it.
And just to reiterate, this isn't a defence, and those who do harm others should absolutely suffer the consequences, but you're never going to stop that kind of harm from happening again and again if you pretend the problem that causes it doesn't exist.
I have unhealthy urges due to acute anxiety. If untreated, it can absolutely mean I'm behaving in ways that harm me and those around me. Since I care about others and my own well-being, I go to therapy and take medication.
I don't like it when mentally ill adults*, who don't care enough to pursue treatment, get let off the hook. He knows that he's trading these kids' futures for his own gratification and he doesn't care. Not all PDFs are like this--but this motherfucker is and therefore gets no sympathy from me.
*This doesn't include people who have illness, delusions, or lack of resources, preventing them from getting regular treatment.
🙄
And to add: acknowledging the source/s of a problem ≠ sympathising with someone who has it.
I don't see our views as conflicting. Not sure why you see it that way.
Your reply implies that because you struggle with anxiety (as do I, it is not comparable to paedophilia) but are still able to avoid harming others, and are able to reach out for help, that there is no reason why paedophiles can't just do the same (so basically making the same claim OP on this thread made - if I can do it they should be able to do it too), ignoring that disclosing and getting help for anxiety and disclosing and getting help for paedophilia are two very different ball games for many different reasons, a few of which you even pointed out with your asterisk at the end. So you can clearly understand, to a point anyway, that some people may not have as good an access as you have, but it isn't only due to money or location, but also lack of professionals willing to, or who are even educated in helping paedophiles, and that some people simply have a more serious condition than you do. So again, and hopefully for the last time - Are you a paedophile? No? Then that’s why you find it easier.
Your reply also implies that I have sympathy for paedophiles and or that I don't think they should be held responsible for their actions, or that I'm "letting off the hook", which I've already made clear isn't the case.
Ok, I thought I covered things like schizophrenia, where people can't always manage their treatment due to the nature of the disorder, when I listed illness, but I can see how that'd get missed.
And you're right, I neglected to highlight the stigma of pursuing help for pedophilia. I guess I'm being idealist about the ethics of therapists and when they disclose or report.
At the end of the day therapists are just people, and some of them are really terrible (as therapists and or people), also therapy in itself can be outdated and ill-equipped to deal with many issues they as professionals don't yet understand and or we as a society brush under the rug. Which is one more reason why I think it's important to recognise that it's much more complicated than "just don't do it, I don't", otherwise there will never be enough understanding of the influencing factors to enable actual, effective help to become more available (E: my concern isn't with coddling the paedophiles, but with reducing their numbers to protect as many kids as possible).