No not everyone, but I am willing to acknowledge that most are not as bright as they could be (including myself when i was that age). And I am pretty sure more adults understand that kind of relationship better than kids. 16/18 is an arbitrary line the government has drawn. I'm not even talking about them specifically. What I am talking about is children. I have never met a child that is actually ready for a sexual relationship.

It is the Adults responsibility to protect the Children and this includes from people who want to have sex with them. It can cause huge psychological trauma and i would rather no child do that. While i am a limited Government person, I think the government has perfect right to try and protect children from going through that trauma. Frankly all parents have a right to protect their kids.

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"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

That is your opinion that they are not ready. I personally think the vast majority of Americans is too stupid to vote for any government officials. Does that mean we ban them from doing it?Where was this responsibility written and why do you assume it is your responsibility to stop other people from making decisions you consider to be "wrong," but which have nothing to do with you?It can be. Just like agreeing to a bad deal with a car salesman could be later on. What is your point? We legislate against the making of bad decisions, especially opinion-based bad decisions?You are assuming it is trauma.Sure. They can try to stop intercourse, but if it is determined that it was consented on both sides, I see no problem with punishing the parents for assault/kidnapping/whatever they did.

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

Slon - I sincerely hope you are indeed still a child yourself.

If not, and you are an adult - I think I can safely speak for everyone here that your opinion on this matter is disturbing to say the least.

If you are old enough to know better than I am honestly concerned about the safety of children around you. If you cannot see that there is something very, very wrong with an adult having sex with say a 13 yr. old - then you need deep counseling.
If you cannot realize the damage done to children by sick adults who think there is nothing wrong with screwing children, and cannot acknowledge that as a civilized society we have a DUTY to protect children from predators - then there is nothing I can say or anyone else here that will change your mind.

Again, I hope you are a kid still - otherwise you are going down a very dangerous path.

Wow Slon I agee with Iamwhatiseem this is actually kind of scary.

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"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

So why don't you present a good argument against it? One that does not contain assumptions and generalizations.Wrong? Maybe I see something morally wrong with it. It would still only be my opinion. I might see it as wrong when two gay men have sex. But I don't try to keep the former banned or try to ban the latter.This damage can be done to certain people with emotional problems as well. Again, you are making generalizations and assumptions.You assume that they are predators and assume that the children are "prey."You can try to make an argument that is not based on assumptions and generalizations.Why is that? Why do you assume I am trying to support this form of legislation (or rather, this lack of legislation) for my personal gain? Don't you think people might support things more or less irrelevant to them simply out of principle? Just because they think it is the right way to govern, or not to govern?

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

Anyone that supports adult/child sexual relations is a total pervert. Children, as a rule, cannot make decisions for themselves until the legal age of their state. Until that time, it is up to parents to protect them so if we didn't have a law on the books stating that having sex with children is wrong, parents would be forced to mete out their own justice against pedophiles.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Never mind, Mrs. M., the physical implications of sex between an adult and a child. It's as much a developmental issue as a legal one.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

How true!

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

I see you come from a selfish group with no principle that is only interested in legislation that directly assists them. Otherwise, you would understand that people are capable of supporting legislation out of principle, even if it does not directly benefit them, in which case you would not make such assumptions as the one above.Well, that's precisely the debate, isn't it, Mrs. M? Should the state ban children from making certain decisions, based on "ageist" assumptions and generalizations, as if the children were the private property of the state? That is indeed the argument, but I don't see how restating that adds anything to the debate.A law doesn't state that something is "wrong," it states that something is "illegal." Furthermore, don't you think it would be possible for parents to take a middle ground, like maybe teach their kids not to have sex? What kind of a careless parent needs the government to protect their kids from having sex?

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

I don't have time right now to address the rest of your bs but I did want to answer the bolded question now. Parents can tell their children until the cows come home not to have sex but that does nothing to protect them from sexual predators. At least with laws against it, parents have a legal recourse when one of these perverts forces their child into a sexual relationship.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"

Slon, just to clarify (and i this is not an assault on your opinion) you are saying that there shouldn't be a law because it's not the governments business right?

If that is true, then i would say there are some things that are just so morally wrong that they just shouldn't happen. Murder, stealing, rape, etc... All fall under this category. Most of society agrees that adults having sex with young (and I repeat young) children is so incredibly morally wrong. Since most of society agrees with this we have a law to keep those we feel are breaking a moral standard.

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"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

I agree, yet disagree. It's not needed to be a law because it's a moral standard held by a majority. It's needed to be a law because it's for the protection of innocents.

If the majority find homosexuality to be "wrong," I could hardly justify a law against it on that basis.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

That is true too, but I'm just trying to get to the moral level since (if I interpret slon right) it is a "generalization" to think they need protecting.

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"A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."
-John Calvin

Ah, so you dodged the rest, and you didn't even get the part that you addressed right! Nobody is discussing legalizing forced sex (or rape). So your argument is irrelevant.

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If a neocon whines about big government wealth redistribution, just ask him what he thinks about the portion of that big government that sends aid to Israel.

No, I didn't dodge anything. I told you that I didn't have time to answer you at that time. I'm home now and will address the rest of your bs.

No principle? No principle is when someone advocates allowing children to decide to have sex with adults. A ten-year-old girl is not capable of understanding the long-term ramifications of sex with anyone, much less an adult. She can be "bought" by a predator with promises or she can be forced with threats but either way is wrong and shouldn't be allowed. Only a pervert would think otherwise.

Yes, the state should ban certain decisions, based on ageist assumptions and generalizations. It is up to adults to protect children and the laws help do that.

Yeah, yeah, a law doesn't state that something's wrong. BFD. Wrong, illegal, whatever.
Don't you think that parents do try to teach their kids not to have sex? Do you believe that kids always listen? A smooth predator will lure a girl with promises of tomorrow in exchange for a sexual relationship that she's too young physically and mentally to understand. That's one reason why we need the laws. Another reason is it takes out that element of "consensual" sex, thus taking away a predator's defense of "she wanted it".

I truly hope you never have children of your own, especially daughters. I shudder to think of what would happen to them under your care.

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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, What a Ride!"