Jeffrey Epstein and the pedophilia conflation

Where I see apples and oranges, the State says all fruit is the same.

During the Obamacare debates of nearly a decade ago, one of the main issues was whether insurance companies should cover preexisting conditions. Whether or not this was a good idea, my peeve was that this isn’t “insurance,” it’s the opposite.

After all, insurance is about coverage for something that might happen in the future; preexisting conditions is about, well, something that has happened in the past. What was really being promoted was forced charity on insurance companies. The twisting of language seemed deliberate to confuse us all. Compensation of doctors and hospitals was conflated with health insurance, making it more difficult to understand what needed to be fixed or reformed.

Conflation of distinct ideas has a long and terrible history. Politicians conflate vices (self-harm) and crimes (deliberate external harm) to increase their power. In some conservative Christian sects, all sins are equally repugnant to God. The sin of taking short cuts on compliance paperwork nobody reviews is the same as pounding a table in anger which is the same a serial rape which is the same as genocide. In the eyes of some psychopaths, this theology gives them permission to do grave evil if they repent afterwards.

In the eyes of other believers, however, obedience to The State is conflated with obedience to God. Upright citizens who wouldn’t do evil for…