Okay here's one for you S.J. Give me ONE instance where the molestation of a child would be justified. Bet my pension cheque you can't.
Don’t bet your pension check, JLM. I have no particular desire to deprive you of your monthly stipend (nor do I need it).
Abuse of children (both physical and sexual) doesn’t even come close to being a moral absolute; it misses it by a mile.
Dexter has already explained it quite well, but let me add another angle that he missed. Marriage between an underage girl and an old man are quite common in many Islamic countries today. There was a news feature a while ago about such marriages in Afghanistan (I think it described marriage of 8 year old girl with a 45 year old man). There also was the news item that Islamic court granted divorce to an 8 year old girl from her 45 year old husband in Egypt (only after worldwide outcry).
Such marriages also were quite common in India, until 100 years ago. Even today, while they are officially abolished, who knows what goes on in villages, away from the eyes of the law?
These religions also consider wife to be the property of her husband. So it follows that when a 45 year old man marries 8 year old girl, he is free to abuse her any way he wants, sexually, physically etc.
So child abuse is not a moral absolute (much as you and I would like it to be). Child abuse is officially sanctioned in many societies (Afghanistan, Egypt, Somalia and no doubt several others) even today.
However, this is one area which I wish were a moral absolute, in my opinion, child abuse is always wrong, whether occurring within a marriage or without a marriage.
Unfortunately it is not. Many societies, currently and in the past approved child abuse (in the form of child brides). And there were of course reasonable, rational, thinking people in these societies, who did not raise any particular outcry against it.
So one has to conclude that rational, reasonable people disagree about child abuse (though I haven’t heard any arguments on the other side, and I don’t see any arguments on the other side convincing me).
No, child abuse is unfortunately not a moral absolute, though I would like it to be. Indeed, this is the only instance that I wish for the presence of moral absolutes. I cannot conceive of even one circumstance, however far fetched, where child abuse would be acceptable.
Anyway, so don’t worry about your pension check; I wasn’t interested in it anyway.