> If what you mean is that the desire is not under their control but refraining from acting upon it is Yes, this is what I mean. > The difference, of course,

> If what you mean is that the desire is not under their control but refraining from acting upon it is Yes, this is what I mean. > The difference, of course, being that homosexuality doesn't imply non-consensual acts; no one is hurt by it. Indeed. There is no moral imperative to refrain from that which doesn't cause harm. > It could be that some pedophiles refrain from molesting children because some internal moral standard tells them it would hurt the child, but it seems more likely that they only refrain when and where they could get into trouble for it. To me it seems likely that the majority of pedophiles (who have the thoughts) make at least some effort to refrain from molesting children, because I believe that most people care about others and want to do right by them as best they can. In many ways this is no different to anyone refraining from forcing themselves upon someone they are attracted to but who isn't interested in them, which is of course a commonplace and unremarkable occurrence. The difference of course being that if someone is exclusively attracted to children then they may find it difficult to find an outlet for their desire, which could make this more difficult for them.