I apologize for veering off topic, but staying on subject is always a struggle for me. I have ADD (Adult ADD, actually) and my mind is constantly all over the place. I’ll try to take a moment or two before pressing Submit to review my postings to make sure they are on topic…(not I said ‘try’, no promises)! =)
I’ve seen what the welfare lifestyle can do with my own eyes. I’ve lived in the Atlanta area for all of my 39 years. I’m sorry if my opinion offends, but I hope you and anyone who reads it can infer that I don’t think black people are inferior to any other race in terms of intelligence. I also believe that we (society as a whole) are missing out on the amazing contributions that many of these black men in prison might otherwise be making!
I also admit that racial profiling and racist law enforcement officials are part of the disparity. One in three black men will spend time in prison at some point in their lives according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Unlike pedophiles, I believe this is something we can fix…
BTW, my attempt to stay on topic doens’t apply to this posting…it starts NOW…if I wish to discuss anything else, I’ll start a new topic. Thanks!
I think the stats show that blacks are arrested (which is not the same as committing a crime, of course) at a greater proportion than whites, if not specifically for shoplifting.
That’s why I brought this up - sometimes the stats are actually true. Or sometimes there is conflicting information, and a big debate ensues.
That’s why I think the best thing to say is “it doesn’t matter anyway.”
Sorry to hear that. Does that mean you just wanted to assure you’d never act on the impulse? Or shame?
How does punishment, other than execution or life in prison, remove them from society? Couldn’t you just banish them, or castrate them? And would you do the same for others with a “switch” in their heads, like serial rapists (of adults) and murderers?
What if they just admitted to being attracted to children but hadn’t acted on it?
Can you show a case where a castrated offender molested someone though?
Sure, but you could say that for all kinds of criminals, right down to common burglars. Would you?
In a nutshell: recidivism is low, but not nearly zero.
ETA: I’m researching wildly different stuff at the moment, but can dig more deeply into the lit on castrations and recidivism later on if anyone wants.
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That I’d never act on the impulse and out of disgust and shame. Honestly, my reasons were to prevent my own future emotional and psychological suffering more than anything.
Banish them to an island with serial rapists and serial killers, that would be far more cruel than execution by humane means.
I don’t know. I admit that my extreme beliefs about punishment would be impossible to implement fairly. I just wish there was a better way to protect children from sexual predators.
Do you mean physical castration? I’ll do some research and see what I can find.
Pedophiles damage children in ways that will affect them for the rest of their lives. That’s quite different than a burglar.
Sure. But then so does murder, rape (as an adult victim), domestic abuse and other violent assault, wouldn’t you say? What should we do in those cases?
I can’t even begin to speak for you or put myself in your shoes. But from my point of view, I find it sad that the victims keep ending up punishing themselves for this. It shouldn’t be that way.
A stereotype is a stereotype. It can’t be correct or incorrect. A stereotype might apply to more than 50% of the population it describes, but that wouldn’t make it correct. It would have to apply to every single person to be correct. Stereotypes are only fair or unfair. All of them are pretty much unfair though, for the same reason. You can’t judge all members of a group by some members of a group.
I think I like this. The point of a stereotype is that it’s lazy thinking and downplays the humanity of a bunch of people by treating them as an indistinguishable mass based on one trait, or a few. Anyway I am sure that lots and lots of women in the Atlanta area are telling Beezlebubba why they are having children and how they are working the welfare system. Why wouldn’t they share that information with him?
I’m a big fan of an ‘eye for an eye’ so I belive murder should be punished by execution unless there are sufficient mitigating circumstances. Crimes against children are especially heinous because their psychological development into adultdhood is profoundly affected. They don’t understand what it being done to them and why. At least adult victims of violent crime (if they aren’t murdered) have the ability to understand what has happened to them and articulate their feelings to someone who can help them cope. Not that it makes their suffering any less difficult.
Beyond that, I fold. I don’t know how to answer you about what to do with the rest. The fact that so much evil exists inside of some humans continues to push me from being Agnostic on to being a confirmed Atheist!
I’m still working on the meaning of Str8. I think it’s one of those vanity license plate abbreviations I can never figure out, but why would he use it in the thread title?
Wait a second–is it supposed to be “straight?” Then why the hell didn’t he spell it out? This isn’t MPSIMS. Am I, as a heterosexual, supposed to be insulted by being reduced to four characters of leetspeak?
I don’t know that humans think that way, stereotyping is deeply ingrained in humans. Instructing people to ignore this fundamental part of their minds is a Sisphyean ordeal. So, I argue that it’s more productive (in the sense of acheiving the desired end) to attack the untruth of untrue stereotypes.
As a victim of sexual abuse, you wouldn’t be doing me or society any favors with your “eye for an eye” stance(which you totally misunderstand, by the way.
Your view of atheists as people that have given up on humanity is rather disturbing. One of the things that make me an atheist is my belief that humans can pull through anything, without aid from ghost or god. That, and the disbelief in gods, of course.
Of course we ask people to control their base impulses. That’s called civilization. Murder and stealing stuff is also “deeply ingrained in humans,” but we work on using rationality to control those impulses too.
And, as I’ve repeatedly noted, some stereotypes are indeed “true,” meaning they describe a majority of the population. Is that a fair reason to act on the impulse? If we prove that 60% of blacks have criminal records (just a hypothetical), would that justify not trusting any black person?
“Str8” is used in same-sex message boards, and has been used for decades in personal ads. It’s most commonly used in describing oneself as “str8-acting” and I’m not the only person who hates it.
They aren’t, actually. Human violence is strategic, it’s not innate (excepting a few mental illnesses).
Stereotyping is innate.
No. I think we’re both trying to arrive at the same outcome: less discrimination. Is that fair to say?
I think my approach to this particular form of prejudice (that gay men are child molestors) is more likely to work to reduce discrimination, since it’s not fighting against the innate urge to stereotype. Telling the mother of the boy scout that it doesn’t matter if most gay men molest children or not, because that doesn’t mean this gay man will molest her son, is letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Telling her (and proving) that gay men are no more likely to molest children than any other man may not be as ideologically pure, but I’d wager anything I own that it’d be more effective.
