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Moderated What's wrong with porn?

Hypocritical to what?

This ...

... I am an adult, and don't feel a need to run to the teacher if someone isn't "playing nice". I simply walk away. I can do that.

... is very easy to interpret as a personal attack. It implies that SkeptiChick is incapable of these things. Yet just prior you said this ...

I am not the one that seems to want to make this personal.

Now it may not have been your intention to come across that way, but you did.
 
I posted a link much earlier regarding those convicted of sex crimes against children and the percentage which admitted to using child pornography--and by the way, the study, and no study I have seen yet with sex offenders, differentiates between VCP and "real" child porn, so people are jumping to conclusions when assuming what studies have been done only refer to "real" child pornography--a point that seems to be lost somewhere.



Um... VCP is not considered pornography. You do realise that right? I mean I've said it at least twice in this thread. A study looking at pornography use amongst sex offenders is therefore by definition excluding VCP.

Again, for the hard of reading/learning. In the USA child pornography only includes pornography that involves the use of actual children. Artificial images depicting minors in sexual ways (so-called "Virtual Child Pornography") are not considered child pornography.
 
Um... VCP is not considered pornography. You do realise that right? I mean I've said it at least twice in this thread. A study looking at pornography use amongst sex offenders is therefore by definition excluding VCP.
I'm not entirely sure the above is accurate. Do you have a reference to support that?

My understanding is that the ban on child pornography falls under the sex crime laws, and the ban on VCP falls under obscenity laws instead, as things stand anyway. So yes, they're different. But they're both still pornography (thus the P in VCP...).

Again, for the hard of reading/learning. In the USA child pornography only includes pornography that involves the use of actual children. Artificial images depicting minors in sexual ways (so-called "Virtual Child Pornography") are not considered child pornography.
This is correct though, afaik.
 
Why are you afraid to address what ZirconBlue actually said?
It's not a question of being afraid. You should know better than anybody I have no qualms about "addressing" anything that anybody's prepared to cast my way (unless it becomes juvenile, repetitive and/or nonsensical (and even then I'm often prepared to indulge, to a degree)). There is simply no realistic basis for ZB's assertions - not even one of "reasonable supposition" - at least not so far as what's been posted here goes.

If you are under the misapprehension that "circumstantial evidence" cannot be compelling then you haven't been spending enough time with your law dictionaries.
Off-topic semantics.
 
I'm not entirely sure the above is accurate. Do you have a reference to support that?

Apologies I meant to say "is not child pornography". There's no legal definition of pornography, AFAIK.


My understanding is that the ban on child pornography falls under the sex crime laws, and the ban on VCP falls under obscenity laws instead, as things stand anyway.

There is no ban on VCP. Individual works can potentially be deemed to be obscene, but anything at all can be deemed obscene, so there's nothing particularly noteworthy about this fact.
 
Thanks

Not long:
  1. VCP use leads to an increase in child abuse.
  2. VCP use leads to a decrease in child abuse.
  3. VCP use has no net effect on the incidence of child abuse.
I meant generally!

I don't see how the "supposition that VCP can lead to child abuse" is any more "reasonable" than the supposition that it can reduce child abuse. Or that it will have no appreciable effect either way.
Have you even posited any reasonable suppositions?

Regardless, "reasonable suppositions" without supporting evidence should not be a basis for law, particularly when it comes to freedom of speech.
I think it should, so long as the reasoning is sound, particularly when it comes to child abuse.

I don't know why you're bringing manga into the discussion.
What other significant(!) category of society do you suppose a VCP ban should be lifted for the "benefit" of?

Um, what? Of all the myriad stupid things you've said in this thread, that's certainly one of them.
I can see why somebody who, for whatever reason, is incapable of interpolation, might draw this conclusion.
 
Apologies I meant to say "is not child pornography". There's no legal definition of pornography, AFAIK.
No problem, I had a feeling it was just a typo anyway :)

There is no ban on VCP. Individual works can potentially be deemed to be obscene, but anything at all can be deemed obscene, so there's nothing particularly noteworthy about this fact.
Technically, you're correct. My fault for using the term "ban" loosely. I should have said the "illegality", instead of ban -- meaning that VCP, when it is found to be illegal, is found to be illegal under obscenity laws and not sex crime laws.
 
Using one term, instead of the other, confounds the issue. I see it as dishonest, and it smacks of trickery, when someone purposefully confounds an issue when they could otherwise easily avoid it.
The term "drama queen" comes to mind.

Both VCP and child pornography are currently banned. But for different reasons, and under different laws. Even the law differentiates between the two things. And yet, you continue to refuse to do so, even for the simple reason of making discourse easier? Fine.
I believe it's simply because sugarb's reason for supporting the banning of both is the same for each, therefore she doesn't need to differentiate, even if the law currently does. Your reason for only supporting the banning of "real" child porn, I believe, is because it harms actual children, whereas VCP is "harmless". I really can't understand why you're struggling to see this most plain of different stances (actually, I can, but let's not go there).

Me re-reading would not tell me anything about why YOU came to a conclusion, as I am not YOU, and cannot read YOUR mind to find out what YOU think a certain passage means. If I could, I'd be at least a million dollars richer right now.
Maybe not, but you might see it differently from before (if you were to re-read open-mindedly, and objectively, of course), and you might be a whole lot wiser and enriched by now (money isn't everything, you know!).
 
Why are you afraid to address what ZirconBlue actually said?
It's not a question of being afraid. You should know better than anybody I have no qualms about "addressing" anything that anybody's prepared to cast my way (unless it becomes juvenile, repetitive and/or nonsensical (and even then I'm often prepared to indulge, to a degree)). There is simply no realistic basis for ZB's assertions - not even one of "reasonable supposition" - at least not so far as what's been posted here goes.


There's every bit as much as there is for yours. But you're still dodging. I asked you why you felt the need to change what he said and respond to your own "quote" instead of responding to his statement.

If you are under the misapprehension that "circumstantial evidence" cannot be compelling then you haven't been spending enough time with your law dictionaries.
Off-topic semantics.
Curiouser and curiouser. The comment was made by you. I simply pointed out that it was wrong.

I won't dispute about your comment being off topic since you brought it up in the first place, but you should be aware that the correction I offered to you is not a semantic one.

Is English your first language? You seem very confused in your efforts to use it at times, you know.
 
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Well, historically, it's been because the production of child pornography involves children -- who are unable to give consent -- engaging in sex acts. Which obviously is harmful to those children.
Extending that prohibition to VCP doesn't make sense.
Not to you, but to others it does, who are looking at it in a different context. Wouldn't it be just so neat if such a simple throw-away one-liner were to serve to show that this entire thread has been futile. Unfortunately, however, it isn't.

Why does it matter what the intent is? What matters are the results. Real child pornography demonstrably harms children. VCP does not.
Not necessarily true - evidently. Would you argue the same about attempted murder?

Therefore there are compelling (and, frankly, obvious) reasons for not treating them the same way.
Now this I agree with. Those reasons, however, lead me to the same conclusion, namely that all child porn should be banned. And I'm with sugarb on this - not only should VCP be banned because of the reasonable supposition that it promotes child abuse, but that there's simply no justification in society for the publication of child porn per se. You might argue there's justification for not banning it, on freedom of speech grounds, and I can appreciate that (notwithstanding the camel's nose), and that would need to be reconciled, but I repeat, there's simply no justification in society for the publication of child porn per se.

Except you're assuming with no evidence that the VCP is harmful. If it were discovered tomorrow that the existance of VCP actually reduces child abuse, would you reverse your opinion? It's not "caution" to presume one outcome is correct and back that side. "Caution" is acting when you have evidence. Not leaping to conclusions.
Reasonable supposition, my friend. But yes, absolutely I would wholly support the publication of VCP if it were "discovered" (even by reasonable supposition (of course, adequately countering the current reasonable supposition to the contrary)) tomorrow that it actually reduces child abuse in net terms, and that the publication and availability was regulated to the extent necessary to ensure such net reduction. Yes I would.

Agreed. But we're not talking about children. We're talking about drawings.
Claims the person who just wrote this:
What matters are the results.


Yet, even though VCP involves only adults, you've decided it's off-limits.
There are no actual children (or animals!) involved. Do you object that the paper and pencil cannot consent? The pixels?
Again, claims the person who just wrote this:
What matters are the results.
 
... I am an adult, and don't feel a need to run to the teacher if someone isn't "playing nice". I simply walk away. I can do that.
... is very easy to interpret as a personal attack. It implies that SkeptiChick is incapable of these things.
Clutching at straws. I don't believe SkeptiChick has done any such "running to the teacher" (she might have, but I don't recall seeing anything to even suggest so). Sugarb was simply setting out her own personal stance with no comparison intended. I think you're seeing only what you want to see for the sake of provocation.
 
... not only should VCP be banned because of the reasonable supposition that it promotes child abuse, but that there's simply no justification in society for the publication of child porn per se.

So that which has no justification in society should be banned? Interesting.
 
Um... VCP is not considered pornography. You do realise that right? I mean I've said it at least twice in this thread. A study looking at pornography use amongst sex offenders is therefore by definition excluding VCP.
Again, for the hard of reading/learning. In the USA child pornography only includes pornography that involves the use of actual children. Artificial images depicting minors in sexual ways (so-called "Virtual Child Pornography") are not considered child pornography.
Academic to the debate.
 
There's every bit as much as there is for yours. But you're still dodging. I asked you why you felt the need to change what he said and respond to your own "quote" instead of responding to his statement.
What, exactly, are you claiming I "changed" in what he wrote?

Curiouser and curiouser. The comment was made by you. I simply pointed out that it was wrong.
I made a relevant (and hence on-topic) comparison. You, however, homed in on a technicality that in no way served to invalidate the comparison, but which would have served to take the discussion off topic, had I allowed that. Funnily, I don't find that curious at all! You'd might as well have "pointed out" that I'd made a simple typo. That would have been equally "on-topic" as what you did post!
 
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... not only should VCP be banned because of the reasonable supposition that it promotes child abuse, but that there's simply no justification in society for the publication of child porn per se. [emphasis added]
So that which has no justification in society should be banned? Interesting.
What part of "not only" don't you understand? Very interesting.
 
Since several participants seem unable to keep to their Membership Agreement the thread is being placed on [Moderated Thread] status. If a Mod has the time to go through the most recent posts there may well be additional moderation action which may include suspension.
Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: Darat
 
The concept of absolute freedom only applies to things/creatures that don't spend any neurons on social interaction, and thus from our pov they are mindless.
That doesn't of itself preclude the validity of the concept of "absolute freedom" as a starting point, though, for appreciating where we are right now.

Rights are an inherent, irrevocable entitlement held by all citizens/humans from birth.
No they're not. Show them to me, in the genes.

Rights in general don't incur costs, only in the rare cased that the right must be enforced and even then society will try and compensate the individual.
Try living in society without money for a year, then come back and tell me your view.

A privilege is a special entitlement or immunity granted by an authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. If something must be earned before its used then its a privilege.
Again, academic to what I'm arguing. Forget I even used the word, if you like, it makes no difference.

Actually such a vision of reality doesn't work, if it did the laws would only need to list the prohibitions. Its my opinion that you try to over-simplify reality so that your concepts can work. Shades of grey are the normal state of reality.
Laws do, essentially, only address prohibitions, either directly or by inferred exclusion. They tend to set out what is illegal, not what is legal. Otherwise, they tend to dictate what one shall do in certain circumstances, not what one may do. In other words, they govern how one may and may not behave in society, thereby restricting one's freedom to otherwise behave exactly how one wishes.

The predator has no right to a meal, he has to earn it by outlasting or outsmarting the prey. Nor has the prey in this case have a right to live. See its neutral.
You're incorrectly translating "earning" into a restriction on freedom. You're still maintaining that if something is not freely (at no cost) available than no right to it exists. As I wrote, everything has an opportunity cost, even breathing air, which uses energy thereby requiring food. By your reckoning we have absolutely no freedom! Show me what restrictions are placed on the predator and the prey, other than physiological and environmental (opportunity costs).

Ever wonder why such places are hellholes?
Irrelevant to the discussion. Is the savanna not a "hell hole", if you're a wildebeast with a pride of lions chewing on your intestines while you look on because they have every "right" to?!

And even in your example something must have proceeded the killing to justify it. A true right to murder wouldn't require that.
Oh, here we go, a "true" right. I enjoy pointing out this particular fallacy, ever since I committed it and had it drawn to my attention.

I haven't forgotten it, that is a repeat of your opinion.
This is a repeat of my opinion?:
Also I would like to ask if you understand the difference between a right and freedom.
:confused:
 

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