Today, the police in Polk County, Florida arrested the man who wrote a manual for pedophiles. The arrest was made after the man sold and mailed his book, "The Pedophile's Guide To Love And Pleasure: A Child Lover's Code of Conduct" to the Polk County sheriff's deputies for $50. For that he was arrested on obscenity charges which, for whatever reason, was the only the only charge that could be brought on a person who wrote a manual for people who would want to sexually abuse and rape children.
I first had my attention pricked by this man's story the time it first broke in November when the people's outrage forced Amazon to pull his book from their shelf. Only in America will it take the people complaining loudly for a book of instructions on how to sexually molest and rape children to be pulled from a major book seller's shelves. Only in America will such a book be on sale in a reputable book store.
Elsewhere it would have been forced into the underground black markets, if it gets published at all. Not that I'm blaming Amazon, or the publishers of that book. I'm not, after all, this is capitalist America where everything has to be, and is, all about the almighty buck. No, my grouse is not with them, my grouse is with the laws of the land that make it legal to teach something that is illegal.
During that public uproar, the author said, in an interview, that he wrote his manual to guide would be pedophiles on how to make a sexual encounter with a child safe. He went on to say this, "Every time you see them on television, they're either rapists, murderers or kidnappers, and, you know, that's not an accurate presentation of that.... sexuality"
We say it is a freedom of speech issue and even though everybody is outraged by it, we let it go as if our hands are tied. Some pundits have even gone as far as comparing it with books about bomb making and how they are legal. Well, I say you can argue that not all bombs are used for terrorism, some bombs are actually used for good causes. Can you make that same argument about pedophilia? No good can ever come out of pedophilia therefore, that argument holds no water.
When things like this happen, it always makes me wonder whether we are actually as intelligent as we think we are. I often wonder whether we made the law or the law made us. Really, were we made for the law or was the law made for us? I mean, how much sense does it make that you can go to jail for being a pedophile while somebody else's "freedom of speech" protects them to teach you the same thing for which you'll get jailed?
I believe this to be a perfect example of where our interpretation or a law emanates strictly from intelligence while completely ignoring wisdom. I also believe there has to be a better way to interpret this freedom of speech law especially concerning something as completely wrong as this one. And, even when there's no way, we should make a way because as humans, we should be able to tweak and reshape our laws in order to make sure that they are working for the good of the society at all times. That's the reason laws are made, anyway.
Censorship is censorship regardless of how distasteful particular speech may be. "I may not agree with what you have to say..."
ReplyDeleteBy allowing such material to exist openly, not only are we honoring free speech, we're also allowing people like this to expose themselves as the sick individuals they are. If this book were merely passed around through black-market means, the public may have never known about it, and this predator could still be free and hurting children.
Because freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences, as well.
As I've told others, if we make acting like an asshole illegal, then how do we know who the assholes are?
The predator would still be free and hurting children were it not for the quick thinking of those officers at Polk County Florida who could not stomach the fact that the law left him free and decided to do something about it by bringing him to justice another way.
ReplyDeleteI understand your point but like I said, books like that should'nt even be published because it's wrong. Our individual freedoms should end the moment it begins to encroach on other people's freedoms. That book deeply encroaches on the freedoms of our children and should be illegal.
And about not making acting like an asshole illegal, are you suggesting making all crimes legal just to know who the criminals are? I don't think so.
Thanks for your comment Tao, I appreciate it very much and are you on twitter or have a blog pls leave me a handle, I'd very much love to become a follower.
I have to disagree with your statement that "books like that should not even be published because its wrong." What makes publishing such books wrong?
ReplyDeleteOn the positive side, I can see how law enforcement could gain more insight into pedophiles by reading this book, which could help them apprehend more pedophiles as a result.
I also have to disagree with your assertion that the pedophile would still be free and hurting children. If anything children were more safe from this particular pedophile precisley because he exposed himself to the whole world by writing this book and making TV appearances.
The Florida police actions remind me of how the American South circumvented the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery by using Jim Crow laws against blacks. They simply found this perp's book abhorrent, but they also knew writing a book was not illegal, so they made a run around the law by coming up with another way to nab him. Unfortunately, this is not the answer to the problem. It is a run around the law and the very constitutional freedoms these same officers would uphold for themselves and their loved ones. Why should it be any different just because the other guy's views are abhorrent?
Best regards,
wkwami
Thanks for your comment and your expressed views wkwami, I fully understand the need to protect our freedoms but, like I said, those freedoms should not encroach on others' freedoms and allowing this book to be publishes and sold encroaches on our children's freedoms.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you wouldn't want a thief who has robbed your house successfully to publish a manual on how to rob it, detailing your security measures and how to break them. I'm equally sure we wouldn't want our security experts to publish a manual on how to breach our national security with our security secrets exposed just to exercise their freedom of speech.
More importantly, I still can't see any good reason why it should be legal to publish a manual on how to do something that is illegal. I still think it's stupid. Writing a book shouldn't be illegal, writing certain books should be.
Again, I would disagree on the analogy of the thief robbing my house and publishing a how-to manual regarding his exploits. If anything, i'd learn more about how best to protect my house from being robbed, as my lack of knowledge of his methods contributee to his success in robbing my house. Neither would I be concerned if a secury expert excircises their freedom by publishing a manual - security by obscurity is worse than no security at all. Would you prefer if the security expert was selling those secrets underground? More importantly, computer security, as an example, has been vastly improved because hackers consistently published security vulnerabilties and exploits, which had the consequence of improving computer security overall significantly. If you don't know how weak your security is, how do you improve upon it? So there is more benefit in knowing than not knowing, but I digress.
ReplyDeleteI don't think our ability or inability to see good reason in something should become the standard by which the constitutional freedoms of others ought to be abridged. And i'm not clear on why you feel this book encroaches on the freedom of children either. Best I can tell, books don't molest people, pedophiles do. And whether this book is published or not, there will be pedophiles molesting children regardless. The best way to combat an evil is to understand it, and this book enlightens the general public on the modu operandi of pedophiles while at the same time raising the issue to the fore.
I would suggest that the measure of a free and just society is not by how it treats its law abiding citizens, but rather how it treats its law breakers and miscreants. And if we set such a low standard for abridging the rights of those folks so easily, what does that say about us as a society? These law enforcers in Florida made a mocekry of the interstate commerce laws, which was never intended to be use that way, yet there is no outcry over their behavior because their actions happens to target a loathed pedophile. What does that say about our society?
I should point out that in many other "just" societies where rights and freedoms are limited, illegal activity and bad behavior may appear limited compared to the US, not because those illegal activities have been eradicted, they have merely been pushed underground. I once bragged about how in Ghana rape and child abuse is not as rampant as the US, my American friend suggested otherwise and told me to check with my mother and sisters. Upon asking them, I was shocked by some of the stories they had to tell. Why was I blindsided by these events that had occured around me? I have since come to realize that it was due to the lack of awareness in our society about how to spot the signs, a consequence of the close nature of our society and thehands-off approach to certian issues. America on the other hand, offers an openness that can sometimes appear almost self destructive, when the contrary is true. Freedom of speech is why you and I can say/write what we want and not have any government goons dragging off to jail because someone decided they do not see any good reason why we should publish the things we are publishing. Stupidity is not a crime. Thinking and writing illegal thoughts is not a crime. DOING illegal things on the other hand, we can all agree on that.
Best regards,
Wkwami
Thinking and writing illegal thoughts is not and should not be a crime but acting out or publishing such illegal thoughts should be a crime is what I believe. Do you actually believe it's right for anybody to walk into a bookshop and be able to buy a book that teaches how to rob a bank,or how to murder your neighbor and get away with it, or in this case, how to sexually molest and rape children?
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference between writing down your thoughts on a blog like this versus publishing those thoughts in book form? To me it is just a distinction without a difference; just different forms of expressing the same thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I do believe the right of any person to walk into a bookshop and buy any book of their choice, including how to rob a bank, or how to sexually molest and rape children, should be ABSOLUTE! What would they be getting away with? Buying a book? What crimes would they have committed by merely buying the book?
Is the Florida sherrif now a pedophile because he bought the pedophile's handbook? Do you morph into a bank robber by merely buying a book on how to rob a bank? Do I become a pimp by purchasing a copy of how-to-pimp?
If as you say, no one should have the right to buy such books then the Florida sherrif would be breaking the law by buying an illegal book, regardless of his intent or purpose for doing so, wouldn't you agree?
Best regards,
Wkwami
First, I didn't mean that people shouldn't have the right to buy the books, if they're published and sold openly, they should be bought by whoever wishes to. My grouse is with the publication. I don't think they should be published and sold. Publishing means putting information out for everyone to have access to. That means it includes blogging, not just writing books.
ReplyDeleteThe sherrif hasn't become a pedophile because he bought the book but you can't deny that there are people out there who have been mulling over that idea without knowing how to go about it and reading this book will likely give them the know how and push to go out and practise. Just like a lot of would be bank robbers would get the guts and know how they wouldn't without a book on bank robbery.
Anyway, you're probably right with your beliefs on this. I don't know if I'm right or wrong but, what I have is a very strong, probably old school, belief that the best way to eradicate crime - as society is always striving to - is not to publish manuals on how to commit those crimes and sell them to your citizens.
While I appreciate freedoms very much, I believe that those same freedoms taken to extremes do have the ability to threaten our society and, as a result, our more important freedoms. I believe in the doctrine of the mean: too much of everything is bad.
Although I am 100% for free speech and open government I have to say that is a step too far. I'm sure it’s just a matter of time before this act becomes legal if such books and internet information is allowed to propagate. After all it’s not all that long ago that gay associations were illegal and now with it in the media all the time some people accept it as normal.
ReplyDelete