header header

Entrapment: Beware!

Published: 2004Updated:
 

BEWARE!

Rainbow color bar

In 1771 Captain Cook, on his visit to the Friendly Islands (now known as Tonga), heard the Polynesian inhabitants 
refer to certain things or actions as taboo. We have him to thank for the universal adoption of the word. But why was
the term needed in the first place? Every culture has always had its own word for "forbidden" which is what "taboo"
actually meant. The answer lies in the fact that the things the Polynesians considered "taboo" were thought of as the
irrational prohibitions of an inferior culture. Such ethnocentric bias is universal. What is prohibited at one time or
in one place can easily be considered as an irrational aversion or a "taboo" at another time or place.


We tend to be blind to our own taboos and invent rationales for seeing them as completely reasonable. Boy lovers are
no strangers to this blind spot in American society. Affection for a boy not one's direct relative is at best considered strange
and suspicious. Add
to it the slightest erotic dimension and the consequences can be calamitous. Taboos are irrational and
so are the punishments inflicted by the societies that hold them. In the United States, the manufactured fear and aversion
to man/boy love has exploded to unbelievable proportions. Police agencies, no longer finding "victims," are busy entrapping
boy lovers by posing themselves as "victims." The scams are conducted almost exclusively on
the Internet.

The newest entrapment twist involves enticing individuals into trips abroad. Everyone should be aware that even
planning such a trip with the intention of sexual encounters prohibited in the United States subjects the individual to
Draconian Federal charges. The fact that this legal invention borders on mind control should not fool anyone into thinking
that the law cannot be enforced. Taboos always trump common sense. Not since the
Roman Empire have the consequences
of defying the state been as horrendous.


Love is blind and "the love that dare not speak its name" is no exception. We just hope that our warning will shine a light
bright enough to make the blind see the danger in front of their noses.


There is a saying that God looks after children, fools and drunkards. It is unlikely that this is any longer true for those
belonging to the last two categories. Unfortunately, we do get some letters and
e-mails from fools. They are always
indistinguishable from police
entrappers.
Return to first pageCopyright © NAMBLA, 2004.  All rights reserved.