4 ms·

I think people make this stuff illegal because a lot of people really hate pedophiles and anything associated with them, and logical thinking ("Does this policy

I think people make this stuff illegal because a lot of people really hate pedophiles and anything associated with them, and logical thinking ("Does this policy actually increase or decrease the number of children abused?") and other considerations ("Will this policy be abused to suppress legitimate speech? Can you get a website you hate taken down by uploading CSAM and reporting it? Will teenagers get arrested for sexting each other? Will parents who send a photo of their child's genitals to a doctor, to diagnose a medical problem, get into trouble?") go out the window. Anyone who expresses opposition to these policies can expect to get some of that hatred directed at them, and lots of people simply don't want to deal with that, so the policies stand.

RajT88 2y ago
You have nailed it. Americans have that puritan history in our cultural consciousness so we do not even feel comfortable having rational discussions about it. Politicians use that to their advantage to get onerous bills passed "for the children". To use an innocuous example nobody here is likely to get riled up about... The film "Let the right one in" had a scene where the eternally 11 year old girl vampire lifts her skirt to reveal... Nothing. No genitals at all. It was shocking and disturbing, and was supposed to be on a few levels. Genius filmmaking. Back when IMDB had forums it was pages of people saying it was a pedo's dream and the film should be banned. (I must have missed some scholarly article where pedophiles were into children with no genitals) I do wonder from time to time about French filmmakers if I am honest...
- Ferret7446 2y ago
  It's not Puritan. There is a natural evolutionary drive to protect the young. "Think of the children" is not exclusive to a specific religious sect. Threatening the young is a good way to face strong retaliation, whether that be from an American or a mama bear. The discomfort around discussion stems more from cancel culture, which is a relatively recent phenomenon, and also not Puritan.
  - RajT88 2y ago
    [flagged]

RajT88 2y ago

You have nailed it. Americans have that puritan history in our cultural consciousness so we do not even feel comfortable having rational discussions about it. Politicians use that to their advantage to get onerous bills passed "for the children". To use an innocuous example nobody here is likely to get riled up about... The film "Let the right one in" had a scene where the eternally 11 year old girl vampire lifts her skirt to reveal... Nothing. No genitals at all. It was shocking and disturbing, and was supposed to be on a few levels. Genius filmmaking. Back when IMDB had forums it was pages of people saying it was a pedo's dream and the film should be banned. (I must have missed some scholarly article where pedophiles were into children with no genitals) I do wonder from time to time about French filmmakers if I am honest...

Ferret7446 2y ago
It's not Puritan. There is a natural evolutionary drive to protect the young. "Think of the children" is not exclusive to a specific religious sect. Threatening the young is a good way to face strong retaliation, whether that be from an American or a mama bear. The discomfort around discussion stems more from cancel culture, which is a relatively recent phenomenon, and also not Puritan.
- RajT88 2y ago
  [flagged]