unthinkable, for now
Liberals emphatically do not love pedophiles - very far from it, abhorrence of pedophilia is one of the very few firm anchors remaining in liberal sexual morality politics. Thank God.

However, it is by conscience and a remnant of natural human decency, and not by reasoned extension of their principles, that sexual liberalism retains any exception to the ideal that consensual sex deserves full protection as a civil right, regardless of the age or relationship of the individuals.

International Planned Parenthood recites orthodox liberalism (Goal 3):
"Society must recognize the right of all young people to enjoy sex and to express their sexuality in the way that they choose."

The essential principle shared across a spectrum of sexual liberal politics, is autonomy. Mikhail Bakunin, the Russian anarchist, put it equally radically: "Children do not constitute anyone's property: they are neither the property of the parents nor even of society. They belong only to their own future freedom."

The prohibition against children having sex with adults, if they wish it, belongs to a view of children as weak, dependent, and in need of unequal protection - which is ultimately anathema in light of the ultimate goal of complete equality of every person.

Echoing Kevin's article, with regard to those who think that equality is more fundamental than justice, it is impossible to guess how long conscience and decency can hold out against the logic of "sexual preference".

RedWhite&Blue writes:     Sunday, August, 06, 2006 8:25 AM
Perhaps a Little Hyperbolic...
But otherwise on the mark. No, of course all liberals don't love pedophilia. However, I have read many people defending "consensual" pedophilia, and every one of them are politically liberal. Of course, there have been pedophiles among the Catholic clergy, but none of them have to my knowledge actually defended their actions as a valid moral choice. Furthermore, because one is a Catholic priest does not necessarily make one a conservative. In fact, a sexually active priest of any stripe is flouting official Catholic doctrine. But in any case, while McCullough may be guilty of a gross exaggeration, he is correct in saying that a complete rejection of moral absolutes and sexual boundaries of any type, such as many on the left espouse, leaves one without a real reason to condemn "consensual" pedophilia. And many voices from the left are being sounded (courtesy of my tax dollars and yours) in the halls of higher learning. If you doubt me, here is a sample from a 2005 article on the "Reclaiming America" website:

Cornell University

Cornell University professor Pat Califa teaches a course called "The Sexual Child." Califa, well known for her outspoken support of pedophilia, once wrote, "Culturally induced schizophrenia allows parents to make sentimental speeches about the fleeting innocence of childhood and the happiness of years unbroken by carnal lust - and exhaust themselves policing the sex lives of their children. Children are celibate because their parents prevent them from playing with other little kids or adults... Even though many prominent sex researchers have documented the existence of sexual capacity in children (for instance Kinsey verified the occurrence of orgasms in girls and boys at less than six months of age), our society is fanatically determined to deny it."

John Hopkins University

John Money, director of the Psychohormonal Research Unit of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, believes that America’s fear of pedophilia stems from a "self-imposed, moralistic ignorance." In the introduction to his book, Boys on Their Contacts with Men, Money writes, "It surely should be self-evident that we need a basic science of pediatric sexology, so as to have the actual data on which to base a sound policy of rearing children to be sexually healthy... Most adults enjoy cuddling and caressing children, and children respond to this type of intimacy by getting sexually and erotically aroused."

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota published Judith Levine’s book, Harmful to Minors: The Peril of Protecting Children from Sex. The book features a foreword by Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the Clinton administration's Surgeon General, openly advocating for the repeal of sexual age-of-consent laws. Levine wrote, "The research shows us that in some minority cases of young-even some quite young-people can have a positive [sexual] experience with an adult... Sex is not harmful to children. It is a vehicle to self-knowledge, love, healing, creativity, adventure, and intense feelings of aliveness. There are many ways even the smallest children can partake of it... America’s drive to protect children from sex is protecting them from nothing. Instead, often it is harming them."

University of Missouri-Kansas City

Dr. Harris Mirkin, associate professor and chairman of the political science department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, wrote a column in the Journal of Homosexuality. Mirkin labels pedophilia as the "last great sexual forbidden." His column, "Sex, Science, and Sin: The Rind Report," noted the progress made in the movement to sexualize American children. Mirkin wrote, "Children are the last bastion of the old sexual morality... Like all arguments against deviants, the condemnation of pariahs allows the non-deviants to identify with each other as the moral protectors of Western Civilization."

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University professor Gilbert Herdt co-authored the 1996 book Children of Horizons: How Gay and Lesbian Teens Are Leading a New Way Out of the Closet. In an interview with Paidika, a Dutch journal advocating pedophilia, Herdt argued, "The category ‘child’ is a rhetorical device for inflaming what is really an irrational set of attitudes."

New York University

New York University Press’s published an article in the Lavender Culture, actively promoting the repeal of all "repressive, ageist legislation." Translation: legalize pedophilia. Calling the innocence of children an "archaic" notion, the article encourages young gay people to "get out of their families as soon as they can." Otherwise, the author warns that there will be "future generations of gay people who wait until their twenties before they start to live."

University of California - Santa Cruz

University of California - Santa Cruz Professor Gayle Rubin believes that all laws prohibiting sex with underage children have "more in common with ideologies of racism than with true ethics." Ms. Rubin believes, "Boy lovers are so stigmatized that it is difficult to find defenders for their civil liberties, let alone erotic orientation. Consequently, the police have feasted on them."