SandyWho said:
Dear Custer — First, thank you for your comments and willingness to engage in an intellectual exchange on this topic.
Hey, you're welcome. Thank you for your reply, Ms. Sandy.
SandyWho said:
One correction, though. I don't think that pedophiles have any interest in woman or men, rather they prey on the very young and that is never acceptable.
You're right, of course. I was overly-hasty with that suggestion. So, I'll concede this point.
SandyWho said:
But, adultery and breaking vows of chastity in the Catholic church is a fine tradition going back more than a thousand years.
I'm not Catholic, nor am I any sort of religious historian, but I'm confident you're right about this as well.
SandyWho said:
I was raised Catholic, but only attend church now to please my mother on holidays and special occasions.
Sounds like a reasonable compromise. Pretending the universe is managed by some sort of supreme authority who looks like an elderly man (not a woman) with long flowing white hair, a long flowing white beard, wearing a long white robe, is often very important to parents and/or grandparents, not to mention a whole lot of other people.
The basic myth is well-illustrated and presented by:
Crumb, R., 1996, The Book of Genesis Illustrated: All 50 Chapters (nothing left out; adult supervision recommended for minors; W.W. Norton and Co., New York / London).
R. Crumb, as you may recall, is arguably the best.. or certainly among the best... of the graphic novel artists. It's good; I recommend it.
SandyWho said:
Growing up I never experienced, or even saw any sexuality from the priests or nuns that I interacted with.
That, of course, is the way it's supposed to be.
SandyWho said:
But, I know that one of my mother's friends had a teenage daughter who was "led astray" by a young priest.
Ah well... those things happen...
SandyWho said:
But, from what I remember, she had been led astray by almost every male she ever met.
Ah-ha! Further evidence that it is not only some men who are strongly sexual (i.e., more than one standard deviation above the mean), but also some women (my guess would be, a roughly similar percentage), and such women recognize themselves as strongly sexual from an early age. In any case, good for her!
SandyWho said:
Which goes to your point, who is the seducer? —Sandy
My hypotheses is, women who are strongly sexual have their antennas up and rotating most of the time, as do men who are strongly sexual, and they readily come up on each other's radar screens. Then... for reasons of social convention... they begin the dance of mutual seduction, called "flirting," in accordance with the above definition: "seduction — when a man pursues a woman until finally she catches him."
Perhaps you could comment on this...?