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CNN Live At Daybreak

Professor in Hot Water Over Article Written Three Years Ago

Aired May 02, 2002 - 06:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just say the word pedophilia and you are likely to get a disgusted, angry reaction, especially in the wake of the Catholic Church scandal. Perhaps because of the attention, comments made by a Missouri college professor three years ago have gotten him into hot water today.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

BEGIN VIDEO TAPE

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The poster on Harris Mirkin's office door at the University of Missouri campus in Kansas City says a lot about how he thinks.

So you think the world needs to be turned upside-down every once in a while.

HARRIS MIRKIN, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: I think it's good for students to think; I think it's good for people to think.

LAVANDERA: It's not what he thinks, but what he said about pedophilia that has people angry. The point you're trying to get people to discuss is that not necessarily any - every contact between adults and teenager or child or youth is necessarily wrong.

No, I think we are creating a society in which there is such fear.

LAVANDERA: Fear, he says of normal contact, like hugging a crying child. He says, people too often mistake innocent touching for sexual misconduct. Mirkin says, just look at the Catholic Church scandal.

Did you think, perhaps, a lot of the people who are coming forward with stories of abuse might not have been abused?

MIRKIN: I think that there is a possibility - there's a lot of money to be made by saying you were abused.

LAVANDERA: Professor Mirkin never intended to join the public debate on pedophilia in the US Catholic Church. The article that is getting so much attention, he wrote three years ago for a publication called, "The Journal of Homosexuality". Not a lot of people read this, but in the article, he questions the public's understanding of pedophilia, and he says that's what's angered so many people. MIRKIN: The rape of a kid and the hugging of a kid is so that we could have wise policy ...

LAVANDERA: So he's been making the interview rounds to explain his most controversial view that the country should at least discuss the standards of pedophilia. That other cultures throughout history considered it permissible. Mirkin says the hysteria surrounding pedophilia is just like what happened when feminists and homosexual issues were discussed for the first time. The debate was usually cloaked in anger.

UNKNOWN MALE: (INAUDIBLE) and tally the vote.

LAVANDERA: Mirkin's article angered enough Missouri legislators that 100,000 was yanked out of the school's budget. They say it is roughly the equivalent of Mirkin's salary and benefits.

DON LOGRASSO, MISSOURI STATE REPRESENTATIVE: He thought that sex between adults and children is OK sometimes. And I found that to be absolutely outrageous.

JOHN LOUDON, MISSOURI STATE SENATOR: This is Missouri, and there is even more force of legitimizing this kind of stuff when it comes out of the conservative values heartland.

MIRKIN: ... this is not a stand ...

LAVANDERA: But Mirkin, who has tenure, has the University's support. His boss saying, a professor's job is to provoke thought. Mirkin just hopes all this blows over. He says he's done talking for now, but he does hope he provoked a civilized discussion about the best way to confront the problem of pedophilia.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Kansas City, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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