Why is Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene so obsessed with pedophilia that she called all Democrats pedophiles on 60 Minutes? This obsession worries me for lots of reasons.
First of all, I'm a Democrat and I'm not a pedophile. I take offense with a member of Congress who is paid by our tax dollars naming me with an offensive title. She's elected to serve the American people in positive ways, yet instead she'd disparaging a great percentage of Americans with a false derogatory title. Why would she do that?
Next, pedophilia is a dangerous behavior that has lifelong negative consequences for the children who experience this as well as the people who engage in this illegal, abusive behavior. As the oldest of six children, an elementary school teacher for 34 years, and a parent of three sons, I am well aware of what pedophilia is and how that can negatively affect a person's life. At our school, we had a good education program to teach children about this danger in an age-appropriate way. I also educated my own children about this to keep them safe. To simply call large percentages of people pedophiles is to diminish the fact that pedophilia is a serious problem, and one that should not be spoken about in false, propagandist ways. Why doesn't Greene understand this?
Also, typically when someone is obsessed with an issue, they have some personal connection to that issue. Perhaps Greene experienced the dangers and harm that pedophilia causes in some way. If that's true, rather than use the word to disparage innocent people, she could work with others to rid our culture of pedophilia and the harm it causes. She could study the issue in depth and forward good legislation to mitigate the issue and help those who face that issue. As with most issues, educating the public about what to look for in order to keep children safe from pedophilia would be a first step.
We can't make light of serious issues, instead we have to tackle those issues with intelligence, respect, knowledge, collaboration, honesty, and good effort to remedy the situation. To promote the use of terms simply as a means of propaganda does no one any good? Do the right thing.