You don’t need an ethics speaker and an ethics consultant to explain that our country has gone crazy. Sometimes, it is crazy-good but unfortunately, it can also go crazy-bad.
Do I like “social unrest?” My answer is, that it depends. Should our nation strip itself of posturing and pretending and have honest – and action-oriented discussions on race? Absolutely. It is past-due time for self-reflection, understanding and compassion. To do otherwise, is unethical.
Should we be enraged at child trafficking, anti-semitism, sexual abuse, and gender discrimination? Most definitely. It has no place here anymore. Should our society be more tolerant of the LGBTQ+ community. Of course, it should.
And, I know what some of you are thinking, for I have had these ethical debates in virtual and in-person forums. The argument:
“So Chuck, are you saying that anything goes and we shouldn’t have rules?”
Absolutely not.
Normalization
Ethically, there is a not so fine line that civil society should not cross. And, because a tiny percentage in a society want to normalize an unacceptable behavior does not make it right. The first step toward normalization is language. Our society is all too frequently enthralled with the language of cover-up. Indeed, every group I mentioned above: people of color, Jews, gays and lesbians, and on and on, have had to endure “tropes,” figures of speech used to cover abhorrent behaviors.
Normalizing the language around something repugnant has long been a tactic of those who hate; normalizing the language around abhorrent acts as a way of making it societally acceptable will inevitably lead to gray outcomes from Black & White issues.
A Long Dark Shadow
The latest example at the attempt to normalize objectionable behavior comes in the form of a book by a professor at Old Dominion University. Dr. Allyn Walker recently wrote a book entitled “A Long Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity.”
Dr. Walker, who refers to “itself” as non-binary (neither male nor female) is emblematic of how we are using language as both screen and cudgel.
Walker, an associate professor of sociology and criminal justice, has coined the language Minor Attracted People (MAP) as an alternative to pedophile. Said Allyn:
“[MAP] is less stigmatizing than other terms like pedophile. A lot of people when they hear the term pedophile, they automatically assume that it means a sex offender. And that isn’t true. And it leads to a lot of misconceptions about attractions toward minors.”
Walker’s comments, made to a child-abuse website Protasia.com, seem on the surface to be innocuous. However, substituting “Minor Attracted People” for pedophilia and similar terms, carries serious weight.
The Protasia organization itself has been the subject of a great deal of criticism. Writer Anna Saitz a women’s rights advocate and sharp critic of Protasia wrote (August 28, 2021):
California-based charity Prostasia…while marketing itself as a children’s rights organization is a veritable grab-bag of causes surrounding sex and sexuality, but there is plenty of evidence to demonstrate that the real story is not so simple…in Prostasia’s blog entries, ‘child protection’ routinely ends up in the same sentences as ‘free speech,’ ‘kink,’ or ‘sex positivity…’ and often with no barrier between, child sexuality and child sexual abuse.”
Therein Lies the Problem
While Walker has scrambled to clarify his comments as to using “Minor Attracted People” in place of pedophiles, his critics at Old Dominion University and elsewhere, are enraged. In fact, “ODU” has had to issue statements separating itself from its professor. They said (in part):
“Following recent social media activity and direct outreach to the institution, it is important to share that Old Dominion, as a caring and inclusive community, does not endorse or promote crimes against children or any form of criminal activity.”
Then the university went on to defend the “quest for knowledge,” so why worry about stigmatizing the use of the word pedophile and simply keep exploring research in the area?
Walker reiterated an earlier statement he made on the Protasia website:
“I want to be clear: child sexual abuse is an inexcusable crime. As an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice, the goal of my research is to prevent crime. My work is informed by my past experience and advocacy as a social worker counseling victims…”
The ethical problem is the use of actions or language to normalize behaviors that should be rejected by reasonably thinking people. I am bothered not by Walker’s work, but I wonder when the first adult accused of pedophilia will protest that he/she is not a pedophile but a Minor Attracted Person?
We were recently witness to physician Larry Nassar who abused hundreds of young women. Should he have defended himself by saying he was not a pedophile, but a Minor Attracted Person fighting his psychological demons?
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