Searching In Wrong Places

I recently saw something that disturbed me. It was a web page created by an organization called Traditional Values. This web page draws a link between homosexuality and pedophilia. Now everybody has there own views of homosexuality that's not really the point. The point is that it is sites like these that send people barking up the wrong tree.

There has been research done, and you will find no where from credible sources anything linking homosexuality to pedophilia. It is not to say that they are not homosexuals who are also pedophiles, but it is not the homosexuality causing the pedophilia. From what I have read pedophilia is a disease of which the cause is really unknown. If you look at statistics more girls are molested than boys, and more men are pedophiles than women. This can lead to the simple conclusion that most child molesters or pedophiles are heterosexual. I would go so far to say that there should be a separate category for pedophiles, since there have been many cases of someone molesting both girls and boys.

This "Traditional Values" web page is not the first place where I have heard of this stereotype. Apparently it is a pretty commonly held belief. I am not without prejudices, I think everybody is a little prejudice against one group or another for whatever reason but I find that most of the time prejudice or hatred comes from not understanding. Human sexuality is a hard thing to understand because it is so complex. People who are heterosexual sometimes find it hard to fathom that someone can be sexually attracted to their same gender. Just as a vast majority of the population finds it hard to see how somebody can be sexually attracted to children. I believe it is from this that the connection between homosexuality is drawn. Some people do not understand homosexuality and most people do not understand pedophilia.

Homosexuality in and of itself does not involve forcing anybody into anything they do not want to do and it has absolutely nothing to do with children. However, pedophilia involves forcing children into something they can not possibly consent to. This standing by itself makes pedophilia, wrong.

Obviously the people that created this web page were slanted and did not take the time to look at real research and statistics. They apparently have their own agenda they want to push and they will do it in whatever way they can. Whatever the case, it is wrong to draw a connection such as this "Traditional Values" page did. It is things like this that spur stereotypes and promote misinformation. When dealing with something like the subject of pedophilia you have to be very careful with finger pointing. Accusing someone of being a pedophile can ruin an innocent persons life, because once that label is attached it will never go away even if they are totally innocent. This web page labels homosexuals as pedophiles and can cause people who are not open minded or educated enough to go searching in wrong places.

Maybe the people at Traditional Values think they are doing a service to the public. In my opinion they are doing a dis-service and if they really did hold values they would not spread lies and bigotry on the Internet or in any form.