No we can NOT all agree on that.
I am not exaggerating when I say THAT is LITERALLY how you get fascism.
So many people have explained it better than me but
1) how exactly are you determining the line between acting out of mental illness vs. acting in sound mind and willful intent to hurt
2) straight up you might not like it but every single human on this planet has the capacity to BOTH a) commit unspeakable acts of horror, AND b) regret those acts and change and try to help those who've been hurt OR those who can hurt others from doing so. Not just Good People Having A Mental Episode. Yes, even rapists. Yes, even Nazis.
3) also tbh I'm still not over what you think the difference is between "mental disorder pedophilia" and "pedophilia that's been acted on." let's go back to that one again actually like. This isnt some Gold Star Mental Disorder Haver thing where as long as you only have Thoughts it's a mental disorder worthy of help but as soon as you exhibit physical symptoms of the disorder you're beyond saving. NO mental disorder is like that. It's an illness REGARDLESS of if you've hurt someone or not. Outright, there IS no difference between "mental illness pedophilia" and "regular pedophilia." That is NOT a thing. The only differences come down to if someone was able to have a moment of clarity in which they realize they need help and seek treatment, don't realize at all that they're hurting others because of how their mental illness presents itself, or don't care that they're hurting others because of either how their mental illness presents itself OR they are too rich to ever face any consequences for their actions so why would they bother to care in the first place which I would frankly and genuinely posit is it's own kind of disorder
4) the All Pedophiles Must Die gutwrench reaction is understandable, especially if you've been personal affected by rape, but HAS to be put down. Not just because there's no real way to "prove" if someone's mentally ill and/or in which way, if it's about the sex or the violence or the lack of understanding or what EVER. But because anytime you get that broad paintbrush stroke of This Group Deserves Nothing But Death, then ANY group who thinks any OTHER group should be killed off will USE that.
That is LITERALLY what maga and Christian conservatives (and Nazis) did/are trying to do again with queer people. The target used to be mainly gay men, now it's shifted primarily to trans women - brand them as pedophiles, then it'll be easy. People will BEG us to kill them, and we can get away with it totally legally because no one's going to want to defend pedophiles - so all we have to do is call them pedophiles.
5) there's a HUGE difference between saying All X Should Die versus If I Find X Hurting/Attacking Someone I'm Going To Kill Them First.
I find somebody creeping on my nephew? I'm beating the shit out of them until they are no longer a threat. If that means they don't get back then that means they don't get back up. Is that necessarily Good or Righteous? Not particularly. Will I have taken the time to understand their motivations and cleared up any misunderstandings so I'm not actually hurting someone who doesn't deserve it? So I even have the right to DECIDE if they deserve it? NOPE.
Im not in any way saying that it's hands down 100% the right thing to do. At all. Just that realistically, it's what I probably WOULD do.
But that is an INDIVIDUAL reaction, to an immediate, personal situation. That is handling an active threat, protecting someone right there in the moment.
THAT'S the difference between like... the punching out any Nazi on the street things versus the whole kill all pedos rhetoric. With the exception of the kind of wealthy so out of touch with reality that nothing seems to matter, like, Donald Trump, pedophiles aren't out here on street corners actively and intentionally threatening what they're gonna do. They aren't an organized group of militants (wannabe or not) out here self identifying and telling you, to your face, how they're gonna hurt your kids. How they view them. They are not BY DEFAULT actively threatening you and yours in a way that warrants that "stop them NOW by any means before they can mobilize and gain power and expand their platform across my community" response by just existing, the way that fascists are.
The actual THREAT comes at the individual level - when the OTHER ADULTS in these kids lives don't do what they're supposed to fucking do and watch and pay attention to what's going on, and don't step in when they're needed, and now some kid is alone with somebody who no one questioned or reported or ever taught this kid what behaviors weren't acceptable from an adult so the kids could even know to tell somebody what was going on in the first place. The threat is from That Person, Specifically, and only because SO MANY OTHER AVENUES of this kid's support system they were supposed to have FAILED THEM.
So yeah that got a little ramble and long but the main point of my last bit is like.
I'm not telling you not to put a hurting on somebody you find abusing your kids or anybody's kids. I'd kill somebody myself if I came across that situation. But that's someBODY. An individual situation where it's time to act on the moment. Just like if it were somebody breaking into my house or trying to kill me or somebody I care about. On a SINGULAR, individual level. And it may not even be the Right Thing To Do but it's probably what I'm doing. Realistically.
But the "actually all pedos should all die" bullshit is the same thing that's gone around and around and around because NO, actually, that's DANGEROUS FUCKING THINKING and SPECTACULARLY reductive, and SUCH a beautiful straw man argument for Bad Faith Responders because it's so easy to grab that low hanging fruit of "you CAN'T seriously be disagreeing rn EVERYONE knows pedophilia is bad!!! You would actually SUPPORT rapists?!? What's WRONG WITH YOU!!" and eliciting that outrage response so that all of the ACTUAL issues with that train is thought can be just.... swept under the rug.
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