I think it's more complicated than that. Rapists, murderers, thieves and terrorists are either psychopaths or deeply trouble individuals/deranged and it's based on choice if you ask me. I don't think pedophiles fall in the same category.
OK.. so what you are saying is that raping an adult is a crime, but raping a kid is not so. Rather than a criminal activity, you argue that it is a mental condition. Sorry... I can't agree with you.
From what I know these people have urges similar to homosexuality, it's not a choice for them, they never do the transition and want to have sex with women or men, just boys and girls.
This the argument given out by pro-Pedophile groups such as NAMbLA, to legalize sex with underage children. They claim that pedophilia is a way of living, just like homosexuality.
No that's exactly what I'm not saying of course, raping a child is completely out of the question, read my post again. If this is a debate then there should be something more to it than pedos are evil. Surely not all pedophiles are the same, is it a crime to be attracted to boys/girls? I don't think they can incarcerate you for that. But they will in a second if you rape one hopefully. I think the debate is actually examining how complex this problem is. You don't see many terrorists don't wanting to be terrorists, or rapists don't wanting to be rapists. They just are or they are not. Many of these people may have all these urges from being abused themselves, think about how sad and tragic that is. I'm not saying give them a medal, it's completely repulsive but to say they are all evil is too simplistic and stupid, sorry. Underage sex should never be legalized that we agree, I'm just saying that I see the point they are raising.
This is a top point. Almost never, up to the point of a strong NEVER, punish someone for what they think, or for their nature, unless they do something to harm someone else.
Thoughts and urges and limited abilities live in all of us in one way or another. Yet, thoughts and urges that are not displayed don't matter to anyone other than the person who has those thoughts and urges. What right do we have to meddle in the life of someone else if he/she is harming no one else?
Further, if we can meddle in the lives of others, then they can meddle in our lives as well. AND THIS IS WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IN THIS WHOLE TOPIC. We are talking about people meddling in the lives of others, even though the focus is adults meddling with children.
Here is what the standard should always be. Everything we are talking about needs to be judged based on
WHAT SOMEONE HAS DONE... never based on thoughts and urges and limited abilities. Why? Because any other standard gives us what we have today... people who can meddle in the lives of others without cause. And you might be the next one to legally have your rights messed with for no reason, in the name of protecting society from what you think, even though you have done no wrong to anyone.
After all, if someone hasn't meddled in the life of someone else, be the other person a child or an adult, how do you know that he/she ever WILL meddle in the life of someone else? If you punish based on "no harm done" rather than based on the kind of harm that was done, then YOU become the meddler doing the harm.
When it has been proven that someone did wrong to someone else, then punish based on the wrong. The only way that is just is, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, life for life. And make the wrong doer pay 4 times over if it is reimbursement for some wrong he did.
If we had a society that used the above simple measurement for punishing someone, and if we used it all the time rather than all the stupid laws and slaps on hand that we have now, society and life would clean itself up.
This is not to say that crime would be gone. But petty crime almost would be gone. And major crime would be greatly reduced. The fact that we don't have a society with law that works this way, shows that meddlesome thinking crime has taken over in government long ago.