The other day I listened to a very interesting debate about freedom of speech. One assertion which is hard to contradict is that "freedom of speech" with regard Mohammad and Islam has been eroded or lost. After the Paris attack there was a worldwide outpouring of support for Charlie Hebdo - je suis Charlie. They were the defenders of free speech. We wanted to support them but not raise our own heads above the parapet just in case some crazy Muslim came and shot it off. We all awaited the subsequent issue of Charlie Hebdo - would they tease(offend) Muslim zealots again? Without doubt freedom of speech with regard Mohammad/Islam has been lost. Indignant offence taken and the likely prospect of violence that will follow means that while we support free speech - we want people like Charlie Hebdo to exercise it. We have not got the courage to exercise it ourselves. This is my preamble!
Yesterday I went for a haircut. My hairdresser asked me what I thought about the Alan Johnstone case. A quick recap - Johnstone 28 - a highly paid professional footballer - met a 15 year girl in his car (intercourse did not take place) - and he has been found guilty of paedophilia. He is due to be sentenced and the judge has warned his prison sentence would be in the 5 to 10 year category. What is my answer. Do I have the courage to say what I really think for fear of being shouted down. Well lets see - here goes!
To me a paedophile has always meant someone doing despicable things to children. The most disgusting perverted, revolting individuals imaginable. I would throw away the key. However is that Alan Johnstone? He meets a 15 year girl - someone who within less than 12 months could legally marry. Is it the same thing? I have no wish to condone what Johnstone did. I cannot imagine why someone of 28 wants to be with someone who is 15 - it certainly shows immaturity on his part. However it is also true that many young teenagers are sexually active and many young girls act older than their years and know what they want.(in many countries the age of consent is 15 - in Italy it is 14). I have not followed the Johnstone case particularly and I don't know about the young woman involved but as a general point high profile and rich professional sportsmen are often targets of young women.
Cut to the chase. I do not think Johnstone other that in the strictest, most narrowly defined terms is a paedophile. I do not think he is a sex offender. I think he is a fool. He should have known better. He has made a stupid mistake. I think the 15 year old girl and for that matter her parents also share some responsibility for the situation she found herself in. I think it highly unlikely the young woman (not child) involved will have suffered any significant "harm". Just get over it and move on. Long term prison or prison at all is totally disproportionate but I know many zealots will shout me down for this view.
While I am on this subject I will stick my neck out on the topic of rape. A violent man leaps out from behind a bush with a knife and forces an unsuspecting woman passerby to have intercourse. This is rape - as bad as murder. Throw away the key. A young sexually active couple are drinking together - she goes back to his room late at night. Intercourse happens. She claims rape the next day. It is rape if she does not give clear consent. There are some people who see no difference between the two situations. Both men are rapists. Rape is Rape. Both men should be imprisoned. Both men should be on the sex offenders list for the rest of their lives.
Cut to the chase. While personally I cannot understand why a man would want sex if it is not freely given - that making love is more about giving pleasure than receiving - I do see something very different about the two scenarios. They are not the same crime and should not be treated as such in my view. (The woman is not without some responsibility for what happened in the second scenario.)
To round off - I am going to South Africa in a couple of days. Johannesburg has a reputation for street crime. I will not to be wearing my Rolex (if I had one) or dangling an expensive camera around my neck or flashing lots of cash at a 24 hr cash machine. I have the right to do so but would it be sensible? I will not be so provocative. I will try hard not to contribute to my own downfall if it happens.
I suspect my views are shared by the vast majority of ordinary commonsense people but they fear being shouted down by the zealots and the politically correct and therefore will not utter it.
Yesterday I went for a haircut. My hairdresser asked me what I thought about the Alan Johnstone case. A quick recap - Johnstone 28 - a highly paid professional footballer - met a 15 year girl in his car (intercourse did not take place) - and he has been found guilty of paedophilia. He is due to be sentenced and the judge has warned his prison sentence would be in the 5 to 10 year category. What is my answer. Do I have the courage to say what I really think for fear of being shouted down. Well lets see - here goes!
To me a paedophile has always meant someone doing despicable things to children. The most disgusting perverted, revolting individuals imaginable. I would throw away the key. However is that Alan Johnstone? He meets a 15 year girl - someone who within less than 12 months could legally marry. Is it the same thing? I have no wish to condone what Johnstone did. I cannot imagine why someone of 28 wants to be with someone who is 15 - it certainly shows immaturity on his part. However it is also true that many young teenagers are sexually active and many young girls act older than their years and know what they want.(in many countries the age of consent is 15 - in Italy it is 14). I have not followed the Johnstone case particularly and I don't know about the young woman involved but as a general point high profile and rich professional sportsmen are often targets of young women.
Cut to the chase. I do not think Johnstone other that in the strictest, most narrowly defined terms is a paedophile. I do not think he is a sex offender. I think he is a fool. He should have known better. He has made a stupid mistake. I think the 15 year old girl and for that matter her parents also share some responsibility for the situation she found herself in. I think it highly unlikely the young woman (not child) involved will have suffered any significant "harm". Just get over it and move on. Long term prison or prison at all is totally disproportionate but I know many zealots will shout me down for this view.
While I am on this subject I will stick my neck out on the topic of rape. A violent man leaps out from behind a bush with a knife and forces an unsuspecting woman passerby to have intercourse. This is rape - as bad as murder. Throw away the key. A young sexually active couple are drinking together - she goes back to his room late at night. Intercourse happens. She claims rape the next day. It is rape if she does not give clear consent. There are some people who see no difference between the two situations. Both men are rapists. Rape is Rape. Both men should be imprisoned. Both men should be on the sex offenders list for the rest of their lives.
Cut to the chase. While personally I cannot understand why a man would want sex if it is not freely given - that making love is more about giving pleasure than receiving - I do see something very different about the two scenarios. They are not the same crime and should not be treated as such in my view. (The woman is not without some responsibility for what happened in the second scenario.)
To round off - I am going to South Africa in a couple of days. Johannesburg has a reputation for street crime. I will not to be wearing my Rolex (if I had one) or dangling an expensive camera around my neck or flashing lots of cash at a 24 hr cash machine. I have the right to do so but would it be sensible? I will not be so provocative. I will try hard not to contribute to my own downfall if it happens.
I suspect my views are shared by the vast majority of ordinary commonsense people but they fear being shouted down by the zealots and the politically correct and therefore will not utter it.
Hello David, it was fun meeting you guys yesterday evening. You really are the three tenners ! It's fantastic to see South Africa through fresh eyes. You are clearly having a fabulous holiday and have seen and done much more than your average tourist. It didn't look like it with my fags and my wine, but I have hiked all over southern Africa. there;s actually a hiking festival on the Garden Route this weekend and all the fees are waived. If you ever return and want to do something more serious www.footprint.co.za is my club and I highly recommend it. They usually do all the big ones in SA and Namibia every year. Otherwise, interesting post ... Funny, my first boyfriend was 22. I was 15. My friend, 16, was going out with his brother, 20, and Jim and I just hit it off. No one in my family or his batted an eye. It lasted a couple of years but then I got another boyfriend who was a bit younger. Jim wanted to get more serious. Otherwise, the first and last word on paedophilia can be found in the Hadith, the holy writings on the the life of Mohammed, which are used to interpret the Quran in Islamic jurisprudence everywhere, laid down and finalised by the 9th century and never to be changed on pain of death ho-hum. (fee-fi-fo-fum). It's why the Yemeni whose eight-year-old child bride died of injuries sustained as he raped her last month is sentenced under sharia because he didn't show the mercy of the prophet, who waited until Aisha was 9 before having intercourse with her. He married her when she was 6 and here is what the hadith say is permitted. https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Qur'an,_Hadith_and_Scholars:Aisha#Sexuality btw, I used to wake up in the middle of the night and vomit violently when I first started speaking openly about Islam but now all that's mostly past. Enjoy Cape Town ! Sally
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