"Pedophile" book withdrawn from Amazon.com

Late last week, if one was browsing through the online book selection at Amazon.com, a very controversial option could be found. "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure" was available for purchase for the Kindle. As one might imagine, this led to a firestorm of angry Amazon customers, asking why the company would make a book like that available. People threatened to boycott Amazon if the book and others "promoting" pedophilia were not removed from the website. As of Thursday of last week, it produced and error page that the page was not a functioning website.

Amazon issued this statement: "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain book simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not promote or support hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions." In light of that statement, negative publicity for the book may have had the opposite effect. In the beginning of the week the book was ranked 155,221 out of all books available for sale. By the end of the week, it was ranked in the top 100 and rising.

Another interesting fact was that the book's author, Philip Greaves, who was interviewed by his local TV station in Colorado, said "Every time you see them (pedophiles) on television, they're either murderers, rapists or kidnappers, and, you know, that's just not an accurate presentation of that particular sexuality, it's not."

In general, it is likely that the majority of the population (like me, and Dr. Whitmore) disagrees with the practice of pedosexuals. This act hurts children physically, mentally and emotionally. The majority of the population probably also disagrees with censorship. So who is right here? It is right for individuals to love who they wish. It is also right for individuals to search for and read books or articles that they are interested in. If someone wanted to read Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, they would find 622 results on Amazon.com. Again, a majority of people most likely disagree with the totalitarianism of Hitler and the genocide of the Jewish people in World War II. But should the book be banned or censored because a majority of people disagree with it? Would this ignite a slippery slope of censorship for other books about homosexuality, bomb-making, murder or other titles of minority?