Final_Product said:I agree.
In Ancient Cultures, the taking of a young boy as a sexual companion by an older, experienced man was quite the norm. However, this was entirely commonplace, so there was no trauma involved, per se. Today, such an act is socially forbidden, and thus doing so can traumatise the child/family to such a large extent it is quite unfathomable. In turn this drives paedophiles to become predatory in their search for a sexual companion - and THAT area is what sickens me the most.
My studies of ancient cultures has led me to believe the intrinsic act of sex with a child is not evil without some social context, and given our current social context, paedophilia is outright abhorrent.
If we look at the greek culture (which often is asociated with the behaviour you described) the taking of a younger boy must be seen in a greater context because sexuality was just one of many sides of the relationship, others being for example teaching (when the older shares his knowledge to the younger). This creates a kind of companionship where they both give and take, something that differs greatly from pedophilia. It's also important to note that the boys where taken by the older men from the day they turned 14 and onwards until military service, so one could argue that they mostly already had reached sexual maturity.
This behaviour was not by any means the norm in greek society. It was strictly an aristocratic trend.