Just an informal survey:
"Are there any posters here at USMB that are parents of a young boy.
That wants homosexuals to be scout leaders and to go camping with your son"???
I have homosexual male friends and they are NOT pedophiles. And yes, I would absolutely trust them to take my son camping, alone, without me.
A pedophile is also not the same thing as a child molester. A pedophile is from the greek "child lover"- and if you google pedophile websites, you will find a lot of blogs on the true feelings of these people. (Who YES I agree, they have problems, but not enough to be automatically called child molesters.) In fact, pedophiles tend to live their lives in a very miserable state, because they know the laws, and they are aware of the feelings children have, and the state of discomfort they might have if anything sexual happened between them and an adult person. Pedophiles, by nature, are probably the most respectful people towards children, in a lot of ways, because they "LOVE" children, meaning they would not do anything to harm them.
I would still be reluctant to allow my son to spend time with anyone whom I had knowledge spent "too much" time around children, or someone who went to parks but did not have a child there, etc. The only reasons I would be hesitant with my son being alone with someone like this is because I am a little worried that a pedophile might push the envelope and make my son feel uncomfortable, even with his or her words, or looking at him, etc.. And someone who spends too much time at parks and around kids, caring for them, etc, may actually be a child molester in predator form. There is a massive difference between a "child sex predator", a "child molester", and a "pedophile".. All have distinctive problems that set them apart from the rest of society, but not all of them think or act the same way towards children. Child molesters do it for pleasure, apparently, and child sex predators do it primarily for power and control, it would seem, IMHO anyways.
t should be noted that pedophiles can also be teachers, ice cream truck drivers, babysitters, child care providers, mentors, and even social workers.
Child predators can also be all of these things.. and prone to lying, scheming, kidnapping, molesting the child, using weapons, and possibly (historically) killing.
Child molesters can be all of the above also (in the pedophile group), though I think they tend to just be more opportunistic, and I think are more prone to molest family members, neighbors, or children of close friends who visit often.
I do not wish to defend pedophiles for whatever their pathologies are- but I do think that people need to learn to differentiate between pedophiles, child molesters, and sexual predators.
