NAMBLA, Ancient Greece, and the Fallacy of Man/Boy Love
Posted on July 4, 2011 by dianajustice1972
In case you haven’t heard, there is an insidious, large organization of pedophiles dedicated to changing sexual abuse and age of consent laws in the United States. They refer to themselves as NAMBLA, or the North American Man Boy Love Association. Their overarching goal is to legalize pederasty, which is defined as a sexual relationship between an adult male and a male child. This relationship specifically includes the act of the adult male anally penetrating the young boy.
In recent years, I have noticed that organizations like NAMBLA as well as other pro-pederasty and pro-pedophilia organizations like to use a practice that occurred in ancient Greece as a strong justification for their position on the legalization of Man/Boy love. The practice of pederasty, which occurred in ancient Greece around the 6th century B.C., involved older men taking on young boys (pre-pubescent) as students and apprentices. These older men served as teachers to boys both sexually and academically.
Pedophiles like to site this historical occurrence frequently in order to attempt to normalize their viewpoint; however, what they always fail to mention is that this relationship was never established between an adult male and a free-born Greek youth. Further, these relationships did not involve consent on the part of the youth for several reasons, but mainly because the only boys that were permitted to be used in this practice were slaves. Also, when pedophiles site this occurrence, they fail to mention that pederasty, even at the time, was shunned by the Greek culture at large and was not considered acceptable. In addition, as scholar Enid Bloch notes, the “most shameful thing that could happen to any Greek male was penetration by another male.” Yet, many pedophiles wrongly paint this historical occurrence as one that was consensual, loving, beneficial to the boy, and absolutely acceptable within the culture at that time. Pedophiles like to misconstrue and romanticize the practice of pederasty with the implication that their view is simply more sophisticated and evolved than the rest of us “heathen” who are not evolved enough to possibly understand “Man/Boy love”.
What’s interesting is that this misinformation about the act of pederasty in ancient Greece has made its way into popular culture and it works in very subtle ways. For example, one day, I was having a casual conversation with a gentleman in the medical profession and the topic of pederasty somehow entered the conversation. The physician’s first response was flippant and he remarked that pederasty was once widely practiced in ancient Greece and that it was an acceptable, mutually beneficial relationship for the men and boys within their cultural context. He went on to comment that maybe it is our modern view of morality that is skewed and that perhaps the ancient Greeks were more correct and progressive in their viewpoint. Of course, he was thinking of pederasty in false terms and had taken in the propaganda that it was consensual and widely accepted at the time. When I educated him on the correct history and context of pederasty, he was surprised. The notion that “it was just something completely normal that the Greeks did” had been deeply ingrained in his mind and he had never thought to question it. This physician had so thoroughly accepted the lie and it had never occurred to him to explore its validity or morality. When people in the medical profession become so subtly deceived and desensitized to the pro-pederasty propaganda that is quietly infiltrating our culture, we are in a heap of trouble.
One of my mentors, who is a licensed therapist, retired this year. A couple of years ago, I asked him what mental health concerns were the most challenging to treat. He didn’t even need a few seconds to think about it and immediately said with much conviction: “the most challenging mental health condition to treat is the combination of concerns that manifest as a result of childhood sexual abuse. Trying to get an adult victim of sexual abuse to feel somewhat normal and to help them live a somewhat normal life is the most challenging thing I have encountered in my years of practice.” I queried, “Is it really that bad?” And, with even more conviction, he answered, “Yes, it is that bad and I have come to the conclusion that it is a kind of soul murder. It strips the victims of foundational qualities such as trust, openness, joy, and the ability to deal with normal day-to-day stress.”
If you read the statistics, you will see that 1 girl out of 3 will be sexually abused before she reaches adulthood, and 1 boy out of 6 will be abused before he reaches adulthood. What’s more disheartening is that researchers know that even these figures are grossly under-estimated. The fact is that over 90% of sexual abuse cases involve a family member or close family friend who has taken on the dual role of perpetrator/closest confidant. Common sense certainly tells us that many children will be easily manipulated into keeping this shameful secret simply because children inherently know it is wrong– and they feel shameful, frightened, and dirty, but most of all, they feel responsible for the abuse. In addition, many perpetrators are skilled at making threats that lock the child in a cycle of secrecy and active attempts at covering up of the truth.
Then there’s the issue of suicide. Psychologists have found that many adults who attempt suicide have a past that specifically involves sexual abuse. This is even more so true for men than for women. Studies have shown that because of the cultural context in which we live, adult male survivors of sexual abuse have an even harder time at recovering than adult female survivors. From what I understand, this is because when a male is sexually abused, another layer of complexity is added regarding his victimization. Men in our culture are taught to fight and to defend themselves.They are taught that if they are victimized they are like women and sexual victimization is the ultimate in emasculation. It targets a man’s core identity as masculine, strong, and capable, and detonates metaphorical nuclear bomb that obliterates the core of his masculinity and therefore his sense of self. As an adult, he not only grapples with severe and debilitating depression, chemical dependency, and anger issues; he also grapples with his very sexual identity. This is precisely why my (male) mentor referred to sexual abuse as soul murder. Are you getting the picture?
So, what I want to say to NAMBLA, if you are reading, that your notion of Man/Boy love is an insidious fallacy. When a man engages in sex with a minor, whether male or female, he is performing an act of hate and that act of hate is for his own selfish sexual gratification. Pedophiles, if you have a heart, please realize that though you may be attracted to children sexually, they are not attracted to you sexually. It’s true that children need reassurance and validation, but this does not include sexual touch, sexual comments, sexual talk, or sexual penetration. Children are looking for love that is based on purity and the protection of their innocency.
If you want to love a child, find out all you can about sexual abuse and how to prevent it. Then take all measures possible to protect your own children as well as the children of your community.
God Bless and God Be with You,
~Diana Justice |
