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Sex offender starting a business.
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A few days ago, a letter was sent to everyone in my neighborhood warning them about a supposedly dangerous development in the area. A convicted sex-offender and his wife are trying to open a concert hall which advertises musical events and dance parties. The letter explains the dangers of such establishment for its potential for drawing youth. In case the connection between the owner of the business and the customers is lost on the reader, the letter explains that the hall might be used as a meeting place for people of different ages for devious purposes:
Our kids will be able to walk right into a room filled with patrons from 15 to 35. Not only will it encourage those in attendance to act older than they are, or perhaps form inappropriate relationships with the people they interact with there. As a dance club everyone will be dancing next to each other, how great will the temptation be for 16 and 17 year olds to take advantage of the 14 and 15-year-olds?
The paragraph perfectly captures the paranoid mentality of our sex-negative society. The main purpose of the letter is to prevent the sex-offender from operating a business. The nature of the business is irrelevant. Clearly, children and teenagers will make an appearance in almost any type of business. A notable exception would be an adult only establishment, which would inevitably draw more vigorous attacks. The purpose of the letter’s authors is much like those of sex-offenders registry. Unlike all other offenders, sex-offenses are seen as deserving of permanent punishment for as long as the offender lives. It’s not uncommon for people to argue for the death sentence for child molesters. Capital punishment for sex!
The laughable warnings about 16 year olds hooking up with 15 year olds are followed by some baffling sensationalism. To summarize, the author is asking whether it is not plausible for 21 year olds to buy alcohol for their 19-20 year olds friends, who will then drive intoxicated within the proximity of 16 year olds (these are the specific ages used in the letter).
The author is hoping to get a thousand signatures for her petition. Fortunately, the petition has been signed by a single person (the petition’s authors, perhaps). There may be some hope for us after all.
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