Disclaimer: Whenever I use the words “romance,” “attracted,” “crush,” and “infatuation,” as well as their variations, I am using them in a platonic sense. References to sex are platonic, unless specifically stated otherwise. When I say “pedophile,” I am referring to an adult with a platonic attraction to children. “Child molester” is exactly what it sounds like. Summary: Chapter 4 of a 5-part essay discusses past discriminated groups and the likely results of accepting pedophiles. Of course, the pedo-molester confusion is not the only reason pedophiles are so hated. There's also the “me, me, me” people. People who use such brilliant logic as “I don't see how a man could love a child in that way,” or “If I was a kid and knew an adult was attracted to me, I'd be scared,” and expect the whole world to live by their morals, and those who disagree are evil. People who answer questions with “that's the way it is” and “because I don't like it,” then turn around and expect huge, overly-detailed reasons for disagreements. Something I cannot and probably will never accept in any situation is people who use “social norms” as an excuse to dictate other people's lives when they aren't hurting anyone. In addition to the obvious problem I have with that, there's another problem. The person saying it isn't thinking for himself/herself. They are just blindly following along with opinions that other people spoon-feed them because they're too stupid and/or scared to do their own homework. Many of society's rules—or “the way it is”-- were made by ignorant humans who think their perspectives are so important that they deserve to play God and punish anyone just for being different. People are branded criminals just for being born, which <i>should</i> be enough to show how stupid those rules are. If not, then the fact that the enforcers rarely have reasons other than those in the above paragraphs should prove their foolishness. If humans were meant to follow the social norm (the public's opinions and attempts to dictate human nature), we'd all be prejudiced, law-abiding neanderthals. History repeats itself. There have been countless times where society would label and hate a specific type of people. They'd shun them, make up reasons for why they are what they are, and accuse them of things that make little sense. Only for that group to eventually have their chance to speak for themselves, disprove stereotypes, and prove that the masses are just ignorant bigots who never learn. In this case, I'm talking about “normal” people who hate pedophiles for little to no reason other than the fact that we're not “normal.” Homosexuality is a perfect example. Look at how large the homosexual population is now. Years ago, when "The Gay" was a disease and "The Gays" were agents of the devil, an open homosexual was a rare sight. Those who were outed were hated by almost everyone and even killed just for who they love. Why does this sound so familiar? We can do much better, but homosexuals are now accepted by many. So much that people get fired and have their shows canceled just for talking down to them. We see people of all races, professions, creeds, ages, etc. coming out. People who seemed to be straight decades ago are coming out, confirming that it was a secret they kept all along to be safe. Even people who harshly speak out against it turn out to be gay. Now they have parades, marriages, and even civil rights groups. No contagions, no plot to take over the world, no gay cult trying to convert everyone. Who they love turned out to be a relatively minuscule aspect of their personality. Otherwise, most of them act exactly like straight people. What a coincidence. Not too long ago, AIDS victims were outcasts. People were fired for having it. Kids were kicked out of school. Eventually, people learned to see AIDS victims as merely ill humans who need help, not discrimination. Now, they have charities, medication, and precautions for the disease. My, what a civil turn of events. It's almost as if letting the outcasts talk diminished the assumptions about how to catch it—which were made by people who don't have the disease—and made ways to prevent it, all the while showing that AIDS victims are safe, after all. Pedophiles are today's biggest “fad.” I do believe that someday – way after my time – pedophiles will also be accepted, just like women, blacks, Jews, homosexuals, and many others who were misunderstood and oppressed in the past. When pedophiles are encouraged to come out to welcome arms, the world will be shocked at how many people who previously showed no signs of pedophilia would step forth. Those people wouldn't suddenly start openly molesting kids. If anything, some of them would simply be relieved of a lot of stress by no longer being generally labeled as evil and confused with psychos. And otherwise, go back to their lives, because they are not that different than "normal" people. There are pedophiles who like children, but not adults. I don't mean to leave them out, but I honestly don't know how society can adjust to fit their needs and wants. In a perfect world where pedophiles are accepted and kids are educated about pedophilia and not ridiculed for infatuation, adults and kids would be able to date. However, if those rules were bent in our society of idiots, many irresponsible parents would let their kids date anyone without considering whether the child is ready or whether the boyfriend/girlfriend is safe for them to be around. If the public were to become more aware of adults who are simply attracted to kids and know better than to act on their fantasies, maybe the world can have a series of classes, books, medication, etc. to fix them, only to figure out years and millions in taxes later that it's not a disease. Then they can finally get enough sense to discuss it with real pedophiles who have inner peace, instead of playing guessing games. Then those pedos can help the many who are ashamed of who they are. Maybe the ones who are at risk of hurting a child can get help before they go out and actually do it. And like I said, those real pedophiles be happy to get rid of child molesters. Since we're on the subject of pedos helping pedos, remember when I said that I would never act out my softcore fantasies of children? Well, I didn't always think that way. I used to think “If she wanted to, and I was absolutely, positively sure she'd never tell that I kissed and licked her...” Someone taught me that those actions wouldn't be as harmless as I thought. They said that keeping a secret for life would mentally hurt her. He also told me that the adult would have no repercussions, but the child might have some in the future. Especially with the mass hysteria over pedophilia being shoved into everyone's ears. Those were good points that I never considered. Here's yet another a plot twist for you: I learned that on a pedophile message board. From a <i>pedophile</i>, of all people. A person who supposedly wants nothing more than to have sex with a child actually convinced me that I was wrong about a hypothetical situation that I believed was harmless. It's pretty sad that an anonymous pedophile can come up with a legit reason for why an adult should not indulge in softcore and kissing fantasies of children, and yet the anti-pedo masses can only use the “me, me, me” logic or confuse it with rape. I rarely hear them say anything about the child's side of the equation without insulting their intelligence. A conversation between pedophiles doesn't have to solely revolve around our orientation. I'd love to meet and make friends with pedophiles in real life. I'd ask questions like, if he/she has no interest in adults, how do they cope with it? I'd discuss crushes with them. I'd shoot pool, go out to dinner, and a bunch of other things that normal friends do. Eventually, the novelty will wear off and we'll just be friends without bringing up our “orientation” all the time. Just befriending someone I can discuss my secret with and has the same interests, and doesn't want to harm kids is enough for me. Now is a good time to mention that I don't believe that the debated legalization and mainstream distribution of virtual child porn is a good idea. It's obvious that children get the magazines, videos, websites, etc. we have now with ease. It's bad enough that some parents teach and encourage their kids to dance like strippers. The last thing the world needs is for kids to imitate models in CGI child porn. Accepting pedophiles for who they are does not mean letting the stupid ones run wild. It doesn't mean that children should be allowed to date adults. It doesn't mean excusing the dangerous pedophiles for doing what they do. It is simply being more open to the fact that pedophiles are human and not all are bad, and treating them as equals.