Hi
I agreed with much of what Rick wrote, but would like to take a
different tack on one thing he said.
On Sun, 13 Jun 1999, Rick Adams wrote:
> To add just a touch of "psychology" to this message, if
> we apply the "morality" of both religion (using modern
> Christianity as our example) and science (using
> psychology--absent the limitations on publication set by the
> APA as a result of religious pressure in society) to examine
> the recent article on child sexual abuse discussed in this
> group:
> 1. Christianity takes the position that in any and all
> instances sexual interactions between adults and non-adults
> ("children" is misleading--in some states a "child" is under
> 14, in other s/he is under "18" and there is a great deal of
> difference between consensual sex between an 18 year old and a
> 17 year old and between a 10 year old and a 40 year old) are
> "evil" and harmful to the "innocence" of the non-adult.
> Religion does not permit exceptions to be made to this rule, it
> is set by their "laws" and not subject to examination (other
> than to alter the age of "non-adulthood" according to the
> society). Thus any research examining such relationship must,
> by necessity, demonstrate the above results or it is
> unacceptable and may not be published (or conducted).
The point I would make here would be that there are undoubtedly
religions somewhere in the world that actually advocate
adult-child and other forms of abusive relationships. So Rick's
comment might apply to Christianity, but could not be claimed as
a universal religious position. If we went far enough back in
Christianity we might even find cases where the Bible was used to
justify such relationships, perhaps especially when they
involved non-Christian groups that did not warrant the
protections of Biblical teachings. And, of course, "altering the
age of adulthood" is hardly a minor or simple issue and would
certainly benefit from or require a scientific orientation.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9313
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L02A
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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