Hmm, I’ve never thought about it that way. I know that when I hear, “all men are pigs,” I think to myself, “yes we are. I’ve had a problematic past that I’m glad I’ve put in the work to recognize and reduce, if not reverse that behavior.”
But when I hear that [paraphrasing] “all people who believe in God (uppercase because we’ve left out religions wet multiple gods) would rather their children get raped than accept that God loves pedophiles,” I feel like I’m hearing a false dichotomy or a loaded question along the lines of “when did you stop beating your wife.”
So, while I don’t practice or believe in any religion, I have a hard time agreeing with the sentiment that all religious people love pedophiles. How does someone like me, who engages with everyone for some dumb reason, compartmentalize or approach a topic like this where I only have experiences of the opposite? I see toxic masculinity, racism, sexism, and religious oppression every single day—but I’ve yet to see (in my personal life) a known or suspected pedophile not getting kicked in the teeth.
I probably sound incredibly walled off and ignorant right now, but that’s exactly the issue. I am obviously ignorant because of the fact that I and my community have always been given a voice.
Hmm, I’ve never thought about it that way. I know that when I hear, “all men are pigs,” I think to myself, “yes we are. I’ve had a problematic past that I’m glad I’ve put in the work to recognize and reduce, if not reverse that behavior.”
But when I hear that [paraphrasing] “all people who believe in God (uppercase because we’ve left out religions wet multiple gods) would rather their children get raped than accept that God loves pedophiles,” I feel like I’m hearing a false dichotomy or a loaded question along the lines of “when did you stop beating your wife.”
So, while I don’t practice or believe in any religion, I have a hard time agreeing with the sentiment that all religious people love pedophiles. How does someone like me, who engages with everyone for some dumb reason, compartmentalize or approach a topic like this where I only have experiences of the opposite? I see toxic masculinity, racism, sexism, and religious oppression every single day—but I’ve yet to see (in my personal life) a known or suspected pedophile not getting kicked in the teeth.
I probably sound incredibly walled off and ignorant right now, but that’s exactly the issue. I am obviously ignorant because of the fact that I and my community have always been given a voice.