'Mild Paedophilia Never Did Me Any Harm': Atheist Scientist Richard Dawkins Declares

[Xithras]

22. The truth, of course, is in the middle somewhere.

Dawkins claims that it's not harmful because he wasn't harmed by it. His statement (which he also made a few months back) is in response to the "common wisdom" that "mild pedophilia" is always harmful to the victim and causes permanent problems.

Like so many things, the truth lays somewhere in the middle. My sister and I were both molested by the same person at the same time. 30 years later she still has psychological issues from it. I don't. Same crime. Same time. Same perpetrator. Completely different outcomes. The truth is that every victim is different, and there are no hard and fast rules that apply to everyone. We punish molesters because it's ALWAYS a crime, and the children are ALWAYS victims. Bank robbery isn't less of a crime simply because the bank could "spare the cash". Molestation is a crime, and molesters must be punished, even if the child doesn't suffer serious harm. They don't get an "out" just because they chose their victim well.

Dawkins is fundamentally making the same mistake that many of the molestation victims opposing him tend to make. He is taking his personal experience, declaring it "normal", and then applying it to everyone else. With sexual crimes, you simply cannot do that. Everyone's "normal" is different.