Musk Calls NYT 'Disgusting' Over Resurfaced 2014 Pedophilia Op-Ed
The Spin
Right narrative
Musk and Lee are right — this resurfaced NYT op-ed shows how far America's moral compass has slipped. Calling pedophilia a "disorder" risks normalizing the worst harm imaginable and blurring right from wrong. A healthy society stigmatizes evil, protects children without ambiguity, and punishes these crimes in the strongest possible terms. The media must stop sanitizing moral lines and face consequences for pushing this slippery slope.
Left narrative
The NYT piece is being twisted; it drew a clear line between an involuntary attraction and the crime of abuse. Treating pedophilia as a mental disorder enables therapy, medication, and early intervention that prevent harm before it occurs. Driving people underground with stigma makes children less safe. Evidence-based care and clear legal penalties for abuse — not moral panic — protects kids.
Cynical narrative
In today's world, the pattern is increasingly obvious — people who rush to "contextualize" pedophilia are often protecting themselves or their circles. After Epstein exposed elite silence, media nuance looks more and more like cover, not compassion. Defending the concept signals complicity — proof that powerful institutions shield their own while policing everyone else.
Metaculus Prediction
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