Quote:
Originally Posted by astarte_literati
Pedophelia may be regarded by many as "icky" today, but in ancient Greece, Rome, and Persia pederasty was a social institution.
So, what do we think?
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There's alot to sort out here. Are we talking about consensual or non-consensual situations? Slavery and the sexual exploitation of slaves may have been "acceptable" in certain cultures in the past, but I don't think that makes it right.
Determining when a person "comes of age" might be relative--16 in some cultures, 18 in others. But the principle in any case should be that sex should involve consent and should not be exploitative.
Not everything our culture deems to be acceptable and even honorable (like, for instance, the oppression of homosexuals) is right. Our culture eventually learned that slavery was wrong, that the oppression of women was wrong. We call that progress.
I think we are developing a global culture and eventually international law. The people of the world will need to come to a common understanding of what human rights and morality consist of. We've already come along ways towards that.
Steven Webster