Our society is running headlong into insanity’s nonjudgemental arms.
With a heavy dose of follow-your-heart philosophy, medical student Mirjam Heine delivered a stunning TEDx talk at the University of Würtzberg in May. She explained that pedophilia is, in her view, a “natural” sexual orientation not unlike heterosexuality.
“Anyone could be born a pedophile,” she told the audience as they listened intently, describing the erotic attraction to underage children as an “unchangeable sexual orientation just like, for example, heterosexuality.”
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Heine went on to explain that, though pedophilia is “natural,” it should not be conflated with child sexual abuse — an odd claim for one to make, assuming she understands that, followed to its logical end, pedophilia will ultimately result in a sexual relationship between an adult and a child who cannot consent.
Nevertheless, the young student admitted living out pedophilia “will end in a disaster.”
The TEDx speaker then placed the blame for those who do live out their attractions squarely on a society unwilling to accept their deviant inclinations, as if merely feeling them legitimizes their place in an established culture.
Heine lamented pedophiles are unable to “be completely frank with someone else” about their attractions:
“We shouldn’t increase the sufferings of pedophiles by excluding them, by blaming and mocking them. By doing that, we increase their isolation and we increase the chance of child sexual abuse.
Just like pedophiles, we are not responsible for our feelings. We do not choose them … but it is our responsibility to … overcome our negative feelings about pedophiles and to treat them with the same respect we treat other people with.”
But Heine’s argument is only half-baked. How can one argue something is entirely “natural” and worthy of acceptance, but stop short of claiming such interactions are admissible? Furthermore, the embrace of pedophilic feelings denies those who experience them the opportunity to seek the psychiatric treatment needed to manage or reverse its effects.
Alas, this is just another step to the beat of the morally relativistic drum drowning out the remnants of absolute truth in our hell-bent society. Sweeping moral changes not unlike this often start with just a little notch until eventually there’s a cavernous hole where our moral structures once stood tall.
The problem with Heine’s arguments and those like it is a blatant unwillingness to accept — or even entertain — the depravity of humanity. We are born into sin, so our inclinations do often feel “natural,” but that doesn’t make them right. Cancer is, in a sense, “natural.” But everyone readily accepts it’s a grotesque distortion of life, and researchers and doctors are rightly working around the clock to eradicate it and reverse its effects.
Acceptance of pedophilic feelings as “natural,” and therefore acceptable, boils down to arrogance. As a society, we are appalled by the idea that our own feelings, experiences, and thoughts might not lead to the greatest moral good.
It is an affront to our human sensibilities to admit there’s a God who rules over us and sets our destinies separate and apart from our own desires. As the prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
Our feelings alone are never a good moral compass. Left unchecked, they recklessly lead us toward insanity.
It should be noted TEDx decided to remove Heine’s talk from its official YouTube account, noting her comments could result in “serious misinterpretation.” Heine also wanted the video to be taken down “because she had serious concerns about her own safety in its wake.”