Expecting the best from people is a foolish way to live. However, expecting people to act out stupidly, as they almost always do, is not.

I understand what you're saying, and I tend to agree that a lot of caution is needed. When I was responding to your post I wasn't really doing so in the specific context of sharing with others about our BL attractions, I was doing so more generally. All I meant to get across is that people are NOT garbage, and they have inherent worth because they're made in the image of God.

But why do they sometimes (often?) have such a negative reaction whenever anything BL/pedophile is brought up? I think a lot of it has to do with strongly-held (but wrong!) worldviews, and ignorance.

So much of who we are is a product of our upbringing and our culture. I am sure there are aspects of what we each believe that are so much a part of who we are, and yet we don't even know why we believe these things, or that they even make sense. But we have been told these things time and again by our parents and the culture, and it would take a miracle for us to suddenly decide, "hey, that's not right; why have I believed that all these years?" I think it's like that with the view that "pedophiles are all evil child-molesters". It's not true, but it's such a part of the culture that it's almost understandable that people would believe it -- absent any obvious evidence to the contrary.

Since most of us, by necessity, have to remain hidden for our own protection, all most people ever hear about pedophiles is that they molest children (and probably chop up their bodies and bury them afterwards). There is NO "evidence to the contrary" out in the open. That makes them "ignorant". No stupid ... just "unknowing". They don't know that many of us just want to "do the right thing", and are no more likely to rape a child than one of them is to go out and rape a co-worker or the cute girl behind the counter at the coffee shop. Does that make their view right? No! But, again, I think it's almost understandable, and I don't think it makes them particularly evil for thinking what they do about us ... they just don't know any better.

What about how people think about God? So much of their understanding about God is based on lies. It's based on televangelists. It's based on the crusades. It's based on some hypocritical "christian" they know who says one thing and lives another. It's NOT based on the truth of who God really is. It's based on worldview and ignorance. If they, for just one moment, had their eyes opened to see that much of what they have believed is just plain false, and that God is not the person they thought He was ... I believe a great many would change their views and come to love and follow God. But, unfortunately, that hasn't happened yet. The ignorance remains.

How does that relate to us as BLs? I certainly don't mean to suggest that any of us is in any way righteous and holy like God ...we are NOT. But, if God, who IS perfectly righteous and perfectly holy, can patiently endure millions of people having a false, ignorance, bigoted view of who He is -- and still love them -- I think we need to try and "have grace" for those who speak badly of us out of ignorance or skewed perceptions of who we are. That doesn't make their views right, but I do understand why they believe what they believe, and I don't hate them for it.

Blessings,
Rainboy