Trojan horses
In late November, the moderator of three highly trafficked websites posted a message titled “R.I.P.” It offered a convoluted explanation for why they were left with no choice but to close.
The unnamed moderator thanked over 100,000 “brothers” who had visited and contributed to the sites before their demise, blaming an “increasingly intolerant world” that did not allow children to “fully express themselves.”
In fact, forums on the sites had been bastions of illegal content almost since their inception in 2012, containing child sexual abuse photos and videos, including violent and explicit imagery of infants and toddlers.
“Intolerant.” Denying children — even infants — the opportunity to “fully express themselves” by being sexually abused.
This is language intended to play to liberals. Conservatives like me fear that it will one day succeed, when someone with cultural power decides to go along, or to start asking “what’s so wrong about ____________?,” or to titillate a niche market with some naughtiness.
And liberal scoffing at the idea is exactly what we’d expect until that someone decides to go along.