Amazon.com accused of aiding molesters

Amazon.com has been accused by a nonprofit legal group of "contributing to the potential rape and molestation of children."

The online retailer's sale and promotion of the book "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers," by David L. Riegel, is an unfair and unethical business practice, according to a letter sent yesterday to Amazon CEO Jeffrey Bezos by the United States Justice Foundation of Escondido, Calif.

The USJF has given Amazon 30 days to pull the book or face "protracted litigation."

In Riegel's book, released in 2000 by a publisher called SafeHaven Foundation Press, he writes: "Men who sexually pursue young boys are not monsters, but sincere, concerned, loving human beings who simply have a sexual orientation that is neither understood nor accepted by most others."

The book's introduction credits the Internet for bringing into "public awareness" a topic that has been "disparaged and forcibly silenced."

"Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers" also can be bought through the bookseller Borders, which has a special arrangement with Amazon.com.

"For them to allow these nuts to come on and suggest that this is a good thing is an absolute travesty," said Richard Ackerman, litigation counsel for the United States Justice Foundation, who noted that he was a victim of molestation. "I'm not ashamed that I can speak from personal experience to say how evil this is."

In the book's introduction, Riegel says: "Whereas men who were loved as boys, and men who have shared their lives and themselves with one or more boys, were before almost totally isolated from one another, the Internet has made possible extended discussions among all who choose to participate."

Ackerman charges that Amazon.com, which allows readers to post their own reviews of books, has created its own "free-for-all forum whereby pedophiles can share their darkest fantasies and promotion of child-sodomy with all Amazon.com visitors, including children."

One reviewer wrote, "As a pedophile myself, I found this book to be enlightening in my quest to truly come to terms with my own sexuality."

On Amazon's site, readers can connect via e-mail with this particular reviewer, whose e-mail address begins with "minrfiend."

Another reviewer says, "As a boylover, I found this book extremely helpful. But it is not intended for the boylover community: It is meant for the general public who fear the phenomenon of pedosexuality. As such, it sets out to explain in plain language what this phenomenon is about."

"Amazon.com should not be used as a potential 'dating service' for those who would molest children," Ackerman wrote in his letter to Bezos, obtained by WND. "How, exactly, are you going to find peace of mind if one of your child-customers happens to be lured into molestation because of your site?"

Ackerman warns Amazon that it could find itself "in the position of being sued for wrongful death, negligence or other tortious conduct should a molester and child be joined up with each other as a result of your site."

"Even if you are not interested in doing what is morally right in this case, your commercial general liability insurance carrier should view the potential liability as an unacceptable financial risk," he said.

Yesterday, Amazon listed on its main page, under "Quick Picks," several of the titles it recommends to readers interested in Riegel's book. They include "Dream Boy," a story about two adolescent boys and their homosexual relationship, and "Touched," a novel about a molested boy.

A spokesperson for Amazon.com told WorldNetDaily that the company certainly does not endorse "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers."

"Simply because we sell a book does not mean we agree with the ideas it contains," said Patricia Smith.

"We believe that people have the right to choose their own reading material," she said. "Our goal is to support freedom of expression and to provide customers with the broadest selection possible so they can find, discover, and buy any title they might be seeking."

Smith noted that "that selection includes some titles which most people, including employees of Amazon.com, may find distasteful or otherwise objectionable. However, Amazon.com believes it is censorship to make a book unavailable to our customers because we believe its message to be repugnant."

The Web retailer published a brief review of Riegel's book under the company's name, by editor Christopher Hart, which stated: "Is there such a thing as a legitimate sexual relationship between an adult male and an underage boy? Most civilized people would answer emphatically 'no,' and 'Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers' won't convince them otherwise. Defensive in tone and amateurishly produced, this monograph uses both pseudo-scholarship and anecdotes in its attempt to justify its target audience's actions and feelings."

In 1999, organized protests forced Amazon to drop from its website another book that promoted pedophilia, "Varieties of Man-Boy Love," and customers have lodged complaints about the sale of books on bestiality and incest.

Riegel said in an introduction that the book, "while certainly bound to be controversial, and which espouses certain changes in various laws, is carefully maintained within the limits of current laws, there is nothing in it which could possibly concern any postal inspector, or which could create any legal liability."

However, Ackerman wrote in his letter to Bezos that Amazon could face legal action under California law, based on the premise that unethical acts can form the basis for liability for unfair business practices.

"Clearly, it is an unethical business practice for you to allow the promotion of child molestation in the manner presently available on your website," Ackerman wrote. "The potentially dangerous nature of your activities gives rise to a valid basis for seeking injunctive relief, and we fully intend on seeking such relief if you do not immediately take action to eliminate the risk to children that your site presently creates. Because protecting children is in the public interest, you may also be held liable for damages under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act."

Free speech has parameters that would have been understood clearly by the Founding Fathers, insists Scott Lively, head of the Pro-Family Law Center in Citrus Heights, Calif.

In contrast, "today's idea of free speech really assumes there is no law above the law and that any kind of speech is acceptable regardless of the consequence to society," he told WND.

"The current approach to free speech in the United States is the French egalitarian model, that there are no standards by which we measure speech," Lively explained. "My belief is that the Founding Fathers assumed a Judeo-Christian premise in all of the founding documents, and therefore anything that is fundamentally contradictory to the nature of human beings created in the image of God" is not permitted.

Lively believes that the societal barriers against adult-child sex are eroding quickly, following on the heels of the breakdown in social consensus on subjects such as infidelity and homosexuality.

"This is not an anomaly," he said of Riegel's book. "My prediction is we are going to see legalized adult-child sex within three to five years."

He noted that in many states the age of consent has been lowered to 16 years, allowing some teachers who had sex with students to walk away free of prosecution.

"In the Title IX guidelines put out by the federal government on sexual harassment they actually have a policy asking whether or not the sex was consensual, giving discretion to the school district as to whether or not they are going to consider different policies based on whether the teen consented or didn't," Lively said. "So these are all things moving very rapidly in the direction of child sex."

A book released earlier this year that condones adult-child sex is part of a wider effort by some academics to bring pedophilia into the mainstream, according to researcher Judith Reisman.

Judith Levine's "Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex," seeks to challenge "widespread anxieties" about pedophilia, according to a promo.

What marketing?

So, you don't think that offering this book for sale to the thousands of pedophiles out there who can just go to Amazon and search for 'pedophilia' to find it and buy it is encouraging them? Hey - I'm Jeff NAMBLA Bezos. Got a new website that sells millions of books. And if you're a pedophile who likes to rape little children, I have a big selection of books that promote pedophilia - just for you! Yeah, that's right. Want to rationlize your evil desires for the flesh of kids? Got a book for you. Want to gain tips on how to approach little kids? Got a book for you. Want tips on how to explain your lust for little kids to others? Got a book for you. Want to learn about other pedophiles and how they're organized? Got a book for you. You're morally blind, there, general_re, or willfully morally obtuse. - There was a time when the vast majority of (moral) people would so excoriate someone like Bezos. Not any more. Somewhere, it's quite likely that a little kid will be brutally raped as a result of Bezos' action. And you've defended him. Think about that. Think about that little kid.

What, if anything, should be done about it?

Well, I think good people should rise up in arms and expose Bezos for the molestor-abettor that he is. And there's always the boycott (the Baptists have hurt Disney, e.g.). I'm sure not going to buy any more books from Amazon. Although I suppose that doesn't interest you, since you don't think he's done anything wrong.

Good. You should do exactly that - I support your right to take such actions 100%. I think you should absolutely follow your conscience in such things. But I don't think it will have any effect on Amazon at all.

But I don't think it will have any effect on Amazon at all.

Nor do I, given the state into which our society has sunk. When I was a kid, parents worried about their sons' possibly getting a girl pregnant. Today, parents worry about their sons' getting molested at Church, or at school. They worry about their kids getting harmed from all sorts of drugs, including ones slipped into drinks at parties. They worry about people telling their sons that anal intercourse with a guy is normal and positive. They worry about people encouraging their children to cheat at school (50% say it's OK now). They worry about their sons' being exposed to vile types of pornography (and not just a naked woman) on the internet. We have a far scummier society than we once did, and people like NAMBLA-Bezos add to the level of scum. And I'm afraid, I worry about people like you too, for whom selling pro-pedophilia books is not a bad thing. I don't know if you have children, but if you do, you've got to know how scummy the world's getting for them. That's a shame, a real shame.

Actually, I think that Southern Baptist boycott has actually hurt Disney quite a bit.

Has it? The Baptists have been boycotting Disney for what, five years now? And Disney still hasn't changed the things that upset that Baptists in the first place - they still have Gay Day (or whatever it's called), still have same-sex partner benefits for employees, et cetera, et cetera. Can't be hurting them all that much....

It's true they can probably sell this book and get away with it, based on the First Amendment, but the question is, do they want to risk things like boycotts and bad publicity? This action is similar to parents suing a recording artist and record company for their kid's suicide because the "artist" sang about suicide. The interesting thing about this action, however, is that it is conservatives taking a page out of the liberal playbook to turn the tables on them (and it's in California yet). I understand the argument and wouldn't even mind seeing Amazon lose this one, but what it comes down to is, do we have freedom of speech in this country or not, and increasingly, the answer is no. It's a fancy argument but it still comes down to an attempt to silence someone elses free speech that they don't agree with. Only this time, instead of the liberals trying to silence their conservative critics free speech, it is conservatives trying to silence a liberal point of view. A delicious irony.

Sure, I understand the legal arguments. But I would note that NAMBLA's writings, similar to what's in this book, specifically led some molesters to molest young boys (by their own testimony).

<sarcasm> And of course we can trust the testimony of criminals to be totally honest and in no way self-serving or rationalizing or making excuses for their crimes, right? </sarcasm>

And of course we can trust the testimony of criminals to be totally honest and in no way self-serving or rationalizing or making excuses for their crimes, right?

Well, lots of well-perused NAMBLA writings were found at the homes of the two men. You don't think a book that validates child rape will cause some men with those horrific inclinations to feel support for what they want to do? The fact is, bad and stupid people are often are prone to acting on suggestions from others. Bullies are often goaded into doing bad things, kids do stupid things that hurt themselves after watching programs like JackAss on TV, kids have hurt themselves doing stupid things after watching stupid pro-wrestling junk. It's wrong and immoral and irresponsible to sell books that promote child rape. Be as sarcastic as you want. (Why don't you add a few more tags for an even greater effect?) In the town next to mine in suburban New Jersey, we had a young teenage boy who went to a town carnival. He was pulled inside a dark area by a man, sodomized repeatedly and then suffocated. You want to encourage a guy like that? In the other direction from that, in another neighboring town, we had a Catholic priest sodomize six teenage boys over several years, every week at the rectory. Child homosexual rape is becoming more and more common every day, and people who promote it, and give sanction to it are evil. Bezos' action may well lead to actual child rapes. Some innocent child (or children) may well be brutalized. If you don't care about that, so be it. You can join the NAMBLA support group of which Bezos is a defacto member. No good person in this world promotes child rape. No good person in this world helps others to promote child rape.

And of course we can trust the testimony of criminals to be totally honest and in no way self-serving or rationalizing or making excuses for their crimes, right?

I'm a Disney shareholder, and it's hurt them substantially financially. Check out the history of Disney's stock price. Disney's hurting (for a variety of reasons, including the boycott) significantly.

Seeing as how you have not divested yourself of your Disney shares, I take it that you are not honoring the boycott?

They were a gift that would cause disappointment should I sell them. But I will NEVER take my family to Disneyworld (or Disneyland). They promote lots and lots of harmful garbage that I don't want anywhere near my family. In that sense, the boycott stands with me. (And I'm not Baptist!)

I am sure that most people would be able to understand why you cannot continue to hold the stock and receive dividends from Disney, given a gentle explanation of your principled stand. After all, receiving dividends from Disney stock is profiting by policies that you clearly hold to be immoral.

Perhaps Amazon customers will also discover that it would cause others disappointment were they to refuse to patronize Amazon ;)

My uncle is not most people, I'm afraid.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.