Most people only think about the way they feel about an issue. They see their perception, not true reality and are blinded from seeing other people's views. "I'm not over reacting," someone may say. "This is serious. What's wrong with you?" We're no different in the United States. Americans are far more arrogant today than we are patriotic. During the "church crisis", America wanted the entire world-wide Catholic Church to change when every other country viewed America's "over reacting" as ridiculous. Still, this is America. We complain about gas prices but are against drilling in our own country. In California, during a power shortage, Californians didn't want a power plant built in "our backyard" (in state). Not surprisingly, California has also led the American movement to create a "global standard" for the age of consent (18, although many women support 21).

Currently there is no standard, not even within the US. The Age of Consent law presumes that any sexual or sensual act is rape or molestation on the part of the older person if the younger person is under the legal age. Hence the term statutory rape, as someone under the legal age, by law, cannot give consent to the act, even if they initiate it. However, with someone in New Mexico capable of consenting at thirteen and someone in California not capable of such a mature decision until eighteen, you can easily see why those states and countries with higher age of consent laws (and you can see them all at agofconsent.com) are pushing for a standard age. Those states with the age at eighteen naturally end up with more "sex offenders" than states where the age is sixteen or lower. It's not because more "sex fiends" live there, but because age of consent laws make otherwise ordinary people into criminals. The following thoughts in this series (labeled AOC) will focus on why we have an age of consent and reasons to rethink the law. They will also deal with cultural understanding, biology, psychology, and, as always, the inevitable moral lesson.