Child pornography should be legal to posses.

I agree with my opponent that this debate should be judged based on the arguments, not the viewpoint each debater is representing. Let me also point out that my opponent believes that drunk driving and the possession of dangerous and unnecessary assault weapons should be legal. You will not find a country in the world where drunk driving is legal. This should give you insight into his skewed logic. Also, his claim about conspiracy is weak. Conspiracy to commit murder or terrorism does not harm anyone; it is the act of murder or terrorism which harms them. Just as viewing CP doesn't "harm" anyone, the act of producing it does. Someone might be conspiring to murder me right now, but I don't know because it doesn't directly impact me. Perhaps my opponent believes this should be legal as well? The difference between CP and a video of a murder is that the tape of the murder wasn't made explicitly for the enjoyment of its viewers. The murder was going to occur anyway, and the cameraman either happened to see it or wanted it as proof that the murder occurred (i.e. Budd Dwyer, Daniel Pearl). If there were a wide demand for murder videos for people's sexual fantasies, I think we would see a different attitude towards them. My opponent's argument centers upon these two points: 1. Possessing CP does not harm any specific person; the damage has been done by the producer 2. However perverted we may think sexual fantasies about children may be, possessors of CP have the right to these fantasies I have already argued about the dangers of allowing people to view these images, as they often lead to the viewer physically abusing a child. However, I will now address these claims from a different perspective. Each and every time a CP image is viewed, that child is victimized again. The lives of these children have already been permanently changed, and the abuse they have suffered is inescapable as the images are circulated around the world. The damage of this enduring reminder of their exploitation is something which should be minimized at all costs. Next, even if I was to concede that a person's sexual fantasies about children are harmless; they have other outlets for these fantasies which are already legal and less harmful. The main example of this are the digitally altered photos which have been made to look like CP. Pseudo-CP, as some people refer to it, contains the face of a child superimposed onto the body of someone who is over the age of 18. While still disturbing, it allows pedophiles to indulge in their fantasies without possessing an image of an actual child who has been raped or otherwise victimized. In this scenario, there is no need for actual CP to be produced, and it's already legal. When thinking about this matter, we must seriously consider the effects of these images on the children who are depicted in them. The following is an excerpt from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's information section about CP: It is important to realize these images can have a devastating and lasting effect on children. In addition to any physical injuries they can suffer in the course of their molestation, such as genital bruising, lacerations, or exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, child victims can also experience depression, withdrawal, anger, and other psychological disorders.24 Such effects may continue into adulthood. For instance women abused as children have statistically significant higher rates of nightmares, back pain, headaches, pelvic pain, eating binges, and other similar symptoms.25 Child victims also frequently experience feelings of guilt and responsibility for the abuse and betrayal, a sense of powerlessness, and feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem.26 These feelings are often expressed through increased fearfulness and changes in sleep patterns including re-occurring memories, flashbacks, dreams, and nightmares associated with posttraumatic stress.27 Younger children tend to externalize stress by re-enacting sexual activities through play, while adolescents may experience negative effects on their growing sexuality as a result of inappropriate early sexual experiences.28 The lives of children featured in these illegal images are forever altered, not only by the molestation but by the permanent record of the exploitation. Once sexual exploitation takes place, the molester may document these encounters on film or video. This documentation can then become the "ammunition" needed to blackmail the child into further submission, which is necessary to continue the relationship and maintain its secrecy. In addition these documented images allow molesters to "relive" their sexual fantasies with children long after the exploitation has stopped. (http://www.missingkids.com...) This is not something which we should take lightly. These are not just fantasies; they are the manifestations of dangerous minds. As far as whether or not it is our country's duty to insert at least some semblance of morality into its citizens, I will leave you with this quote by one of the fathers of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine: "When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary."