A relevant cross-post (from a VoA discussion):

Yes. Activism's done more than any of us individually realize because the nature of activism is that its affects are extremely local. It only changes a couple minds at a time if it even succeeds. The vast majority of people are not independent thinkers in the sense that they live their lives by their own moral standards instead of the ones determined by groupthink. Independent thinkers can go horribly awry and have a truly negative impact on those around them or even on a global scale (think Hitler). On the other side of the equation, this is balanced out by the independent thinkers who have a very positive impact (think Gandhi). What it takes for change is for enough of the independent (but non-selfish) thinkers to acknowledge the apparently excruciating truths about pedophilia, and this happens only after the initial anxiety gives way to compassion and, eventually, an understanding. This can never be rushed or forced.

Enough independent thinkers like this will inspire the "best" independent thinkers who are capable of swaying crowds to speak up, and that's when the issue becomes a public one and we can expect changes to the framework itself.

And by "the issue", I don't mean the issue of pedophiles existing; I mean the issue of pedophiles (and their friends) being oppressed by society because of the associated stigmas, causing them to turn self-destructive in nature (desperate but caged) - by the assumption that they are by definition inherently bad even though an objective look says that much of the time, they're not. What we really have is a scapegoat which actually serves to mask the REAL bad actors, by persecuting ALL PEDOPHILES rather than targeting and persecuting PEOPLE WHO HURT KIDS, which shares a massive overlap with non-pedophiles (i.e., almost everyone else) - so much so that expecting a pedophile will hurt kids is not a statistically rational assumption to make.

We are visibly moving in the right direction - thanks to activism (what else?). In a case like what's happened to pedophiles, activism isn't so easily defined as handing out fliers or running a site like this (although both forms contribute significantly in their own ways). Since it's what's called a "social issue", activism in this case covers a virtually indefinable range of concept, right down to INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDIES. In other words, as Keegan pointed out: activism is as local as simply being a harmless (and confident) pedophile.

Activism is somewhat localized because we're still in the somewhat early stages of the development to larger-scale change. We are still in the process of converting (for lack of better word) the non-pedophiles who are non-selfish independent thinkers. But I'm confident we will win enough support from the heart over time that the oppression will come to an end in much the same way as for other groups that have been liberated.

For the time being, though, the mass of non-independent thinkers will continue to reproduce the narrative as they - well - see it.

~ r a i n b o w l o o m