[scandium]

Originally Posted by Umfuld

Um...you're talking out of your rump there. As I said, my family was destroyed by alcohol. I guess you enjoy drinking so you have to try and tell yourself this. Knock yourself out.

How exactly do you destroy a family by alcohol? Drown them in it? Not that I don't understand what you're trying to say, but in this discussion precise wording matters. Thus, likely actions by one or more people abusing alcohol almost destroyed your family, and not the beverage itself. This is a very important distinction to make to understand where myself, Skybird, and others are coming from: pedophilia is in itself abusive. Alcohol is enjoyed by many socially with no adverse effect on anyone else. The prohibition against alcohol use was done because society feared it would be abused and lead to the degeneration of society. Pedophilia is in itself abusive and degenerate.

This kind of goes to the distinction between ethics and morality. Prohibition is an ethical choice as alcohol is, in itself, a neutral quantity and the only political decision is whether or not to permit it, and if it is permitted, how to regulate it. It is not considered "evil" although, as with most things in life, it may be abused and result in evil being done. That, again, is an ethical debate as no attempt is being made to define "good" or "evil" in it.

Sexual relations with 12 year olds is a whole other thing entirely. Its a moral debate since the act is condemned by society, labeled as a perversion, and considered in itself evil. In discussing whether or not to permit it you are raising moral questions that have a very fundamental impact on society and which cannot be settled within the political sphere because they are not part of that sphere.

Do you have any idea how many children are murdered each year? How many people are murdered each year? To me, automobiles are a greater threat to children than pedophiles. But make a thread about the dangers of cars, and see how many people are willing to kill for that cause.

Cars are not designed to kill children so there's no "cause" there.

If you think you can have a free society and still pick and choose who runs for office and why, you are a moron. And after fascism has moved in (and in America, we are getting pretty close to that), a child's life won't be worth a plug nickle.
Not that it's worth much more than that now.

You think like a child.

You won't convince anyone of the strength of your arguements by calling them children. I'm all for debate but this is not debate. You are simply rambling here and resorting to unwarranted ad hominen attack.