I’m guessing there was something wrong with it-- something seriously wrong because it was deleted. But what exactly was the issue?
I won’t go into details about the thread, since it appears to be a taboo subject. But what the hell went wrong? When I left for work today, it seemed like it was a decent thread exploring the mind of a person who thought he might have had a psychological problem.
A little info would be nice. It’s also possible I’m nuts and I just couldn’t find the thing for some reason.
I bet the Moderators know the thread I’m talking about. Or maybe the Admins, but someone knows. It was one of those “Ask the [whatever]” threads in MPSIMS. And we were talking about the posters taste in girls.
I think maybe Mods should post a thread in this forum whenever the delete a thread. Just to tell us how wrong it was, and exactly “why”. Kinda like what you guys do for banned Posters.
The last time I read it, it was still pleasant and civil and I’m assuming it was deleted due to subject matter alone.
I found it a very interesting thread but 1) I doubt the Reader would have wanted something like that being discussed on its public messageboard and 2) it would have went south eventually and when it did, it would have been ugly.
You finally get to ask questions on a person like that and the thread gets closed.
AFAIK the guy didn’t [or said he didn’t] do anything illegal, so why aren’t we allowed to see what he’s writing?
I can handle disturbing threads, as I’m sure other Dopers can.
I looked at that thread title. I figured I would not wind up being happy that I read it, so I passed it by. Later, my curiosity had gotten the best of me, so I looked for it, but it was gone. Thank God!
I looked at it as well and posted to it because I found it offensive on more than one level. As I said in my post.
I am glad to see it gone as well. Thank you admin for removing it.
I don’t think I’m speaking out of line in saying that I understand there is one senior staff member to whom the entire topic is a strong hot button issue, for reasons I don’t know for sure and feel it’s inappropriate to ask.
All the same, that particular thread boded well to give some insight into a psychological problem without any question of promoting illegality coming up, given the disclaimer the OP made sure to specify. The point made above about how that thread could go south fast is, however, valid.
Auliya, IMO you reacted understandably but I think oversensitively – the issue was not a suggestion of “X causes Y” but rather “there may be a relationship between X and Y in some people.” And that question is worth exploring, without any slam on your child whatsoever, for what light it may shed on the causes of the missing-thread topic.
There is more than one Staff Member for whom the topic (pedophilia, for those who haven’t caught it) is a “strong hot button issue.”
I don’t know for sure why this one was closed, I will try to find out and have the reasons posted here. However, a couple of weeks ago, we did find ourselves invaded by posters from a website devoted to pedophilia – persons coming here with a strong political agenda and no interest whatsoever in our boards or community other than their agenda. In this case, the poster’s first post was to open that thread, and his only posts were in that thread,so I suspect he was a late participant in that prior invasion.
Let me add that, when we’ve allowed discussion on the topic in the past, it’s degenerated pretty quickly. I suspect that a thread on latest scientific views etc would be OK, but a thread started by a self-admitted pedophile who has no other posts here, that’s not gonna fly.
Fighting ignornance is one thing, providing a forum for people to figure out how to squirm around illegal activities (and activities that most Staff feel does involve predatory actions and victimization of children), that’s something else.
I suspect we’d react the same to “Ask the Rapist” or “Ask the Serial Killer.” Pedophilia is not a victimless crime.
I’ve always found that one of the best bits of SDMB is that members can support each other and offer help and reassurance in difficult circumstances and I felt that that thread would be able to help me in a similar way.Kind of like if there was an ‘I’m an alcoholic.I need folks to help me’ or ‘I’m a drug addict.This is why I do it’ or even ‘I have this problem.Sharing with other people makes it a bit easier for me to cope with’. Whilst I see how the thread could disappear into a murky pit,a thread that stayed on the kind of lines I mentioned above would be a great help to me and maybe others.
The thread, last I had seen, did nothing of the sort.
False analogy. “Rapist” and “Serial Killers” are situations that have been acted upon, merely being a “pedophilia” does not equate to automatic felon, as discussed in the thread. The OP specifically stated he/she had not, nor had any intent of acting upon their attraction.
It sure can be. If not acted upon, no one was harmed, nor even remotely in danger.
And I mean no disrespect, C K Dexter Haven. Obviously the topic is a controversial one, but so far as I can tell, it was not outside the bounds of legality.
The deleted threads are just moved to a mods-only forum and held there for temp storage in case they’re needed for revivication or documentation purposes.
I’m going straight to hell for laughing at that one.
I’m disappointed that the thread in question was closed, because I found it interesting, but I fully understand the administration’s position, and they’re probably right. The topic is such a volatile one that it is inevitable that someone will come along and erupt the thread into a full-fledged radioactive meltdown. When you add the very thin legal ice threads such as that one are bound to skate upon, it seems that they have no place on the SDMB.
BTW, for the curious, the thread was something like “Ask the pedophile,” but the OP stated in strong terms that he never had and never would act illegally.
Did the thread take a downturn after I’d seen it last night? If not, deleting it and—where’s the poster? banned?—is the worst kind of knee-jerk censorship.
As I said in the thread, I felt sorry for the guy, and felt he was handling his tragic condition in the best and only way possible. If a Mod felt something had to be done, the best thing would have been to lock, not delete, the thread, with an addendum that “the topic is a dangerous one for a Board connected with a newspaper,” and inviting the OP to join us in other subjects, like what are his favorite movies, politics, etc.
Booting him out the door with a Scarlet “P” on him and locking the door behind him? Disgraceful. I’m ashamed of whomever was responsible.
The guy made a point of stressing he never had and never would touch a child, that he’d never look at or own child porn, and that he desperately wished he didn’t have this condition.
What did he have to do, submit a video of himself committing suicide, to make you witch-burners happy? If it’s any consolation, you’ve probably dissuaded him from ever getting any help or talking to anyone about the subject. I’m sure bottling his feelings inside will be real helpful.
Eve, it didn’t occur to you that the whole thing might have been a put-up job by someone registering as a Guest solely to jerk our collective chains? You just took it at face value, “Hi, everybody, long-time lurker here…”? You just assumed he wasn’t someone else from the pedophilia website? You just assumed that he was a poor misunderstood, benighted soul, looking for guidance?
You assumed he was genuine, in other words?
If he truly was a long-time lurker, seems to me he’d have known the strong bias, admin-wise, against pedophilia threads.
The thread took a downturn in that he was getting into specific details of what it’s like, how it feels, to find 8-year-old girls sexually attractive. I don’t care if you wanna consider it “sick” or “criminal”, but personally I found it repulsive.