No, being pedophile doesn't make someone a bad person. I know a few pedophiles, most of them are good persons. Definitely there is a difference between being attracted to children and having sexual contact with children.
I definitely don't think we should consider someone bad for being aroused by children or for having some sexual thoughts about children. If the person can control himself not to behave inappropriately, I don't have problem with that. I don't have problems with a pedophile having private sexual fantasies about children so long the person knows it is just a fantasy.
I've heard a lot of people saying that pedophilia is not normal. It depends how you define being normal. I don't have a problem if someone says pedophilia is not normal. But there is something I have a problem with - when someones use the claim that pedophilia is not normal to claim that pedophiles are bad. It's the trick of using the word "normal" in different meanings. (I could say something similar about claims, that pedophilia is an illness or disorder.)
Last, while sexual offences against children definitely aren't something that every pedophile does and while lots of them are committed by non-pedophiles, I have to speak up against stereotyping of those offences and offenders.
Does being a pedophile make one a "bad"person?
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No, being pedophile doesn't make someone a bad person. I know a few pedophiles, most of them are good persons. Definitely there is a difference between being attracted to children and having sexual contact with children.
I definitely don't think we should consider someone bad for being aroused by children or for having some sexual thoughts about children. If the person can control himself not to behave inappropriately, I don't have problem with that. I don't have problems with a pedophile having private sexual fantasies about children so long the person knows it is just a fantasy.
I've heard a lot of people saying that pedophilia is not normal. It depends how you define being normal. I don't have a problem if someone says pedophilia is not normal. But there is something I have a problem with - when someones use the claim that pedophilia is not normal to claim that pedophiles are bad. It's the trick of using the word "normal" in different meanings. (I could say something similar about claims, that pedophilia is an illness or disorder.)
Last, while sexual offences against children definitely aren't something that every pedophile does and while lots of them are committed by non-pedophiles, I have to speak up against stereotyping of those offences and offenders.