Is pedophile fantasy a sin?

In the past, pedophile advocates have pushed for lowering the age of consent. This is not representative of the opinion of your ordinary pedophile, in which case the Virtuous Pedophiles organization was founded in 2012. The organization focuses, as an advocacy platform, on fantasy rights, meaning, in sex-critical feminist/children's rights terms, the right for pedophiles to treat their condition with pro-social fantasy. "Fantasy rights" in the 1990s meant something entirely different, meaning the right to role-play with a teenage girl of legal age, which is something I opposed on Christian purity and children's rights grounds. But, being a pedophile is not a sin, and struggling with unfair sexual thoughts about your child is simply a struggle many parents deal with, sometimes with their children, and often with their friends.

The human mind is a strange thing. With any unwanted thoughts, pushing them off or repressing them gives them strength. Gentle parenting coaches have long taught parents not to shove their adult anger at children, but to deal with it, largely by working through it, either by letting the unfair thoughts fly by or take a time-out and punch a pillow. Pedophilia works the same way, with fantasy being the moral equivalent of punching a pillow. You still feel the unfair feelings for your child, bur only on the back burner, and you can otherwise approach the child is an appropriate, non-abusive manner...Pedophilia is simply unfair sexual thoughts in an adult towards children. That's all it is.

Is it a sin to have these thoughts? Thoughts alone are not a moral crime. Sin here refers to moral crimes, and ALL moral crimes must be visible to your neighbor to be judged. Sexual fantasy is generally indulged in behind closed doors in a solitary manner, with the thoughts invisible to anyone but the person themselves regardless. It says in Matthew 5:27-28 KJV:

Ye hath heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh upon a woman with lust hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.

The Greek root word translated "lust" is επιθυμέω (Latin: epithumeo) and is also cited in Colossians 3:5:

Mortify therefore your members which are evil; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil conscupience, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For things' the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.

"Inordinate affection" is often used as a reference to pedophilia itself being a sin, but it isn't. Inordinate affections refers to sexual entitlement, meaning in this case sexual tendencies and fixations towards a target that is inappropriate, namely one outside the realm of a Christian marriage, meaning having a crush on a married colleague or co-worker, or else on a child. The base word here is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and refers not only to wanting or desiring a child sexually in terms of sexual fantasy or stray thoughts, but wanting a child to the point of seeking to impose said want onto a child, leading to theft/abuse, meaning damages perceived by a child, meaning in this case perceiving the rays of adult sexual desire towards children under age 18 in terms of antisocial "leer" at the very least.

Pedophiles aren't the only individuals to worry about the morality of fantasy. A bulk of men, meaning about 20%, have an attraction to children under age 18, usually a secondary attraction. The answer here is to just let those thoughts fly by, and know that they are just thoughts. The more you do this, the less powerful such thoughts will be. At the same time, taking an entitled adult outlook towards "being an authority" over children will make you be entitled to sex with teenage girls. Most men who victimize teenage girls do so as a punishment, not a reward out of a "relationship", usually over "impurity of dress" or some other imagined purity offense. Adult men in particular who do support gentle parenting values, and feel that children owe them absolutely nothing, only feel the need to sexualize children in mental fantasy, and treat children normally in real life.

The idea is to know the thoughts are there, nod to them, and leave them fly by. That's what I do, in which case I very rarely offend a child with my glance. This is because the less entitlement you feel towards children in general, the more you are able to center your sexual desires towards children, and the more children feel safe around you.

No, it is not a sin to fantasize about children, unless you are doing it to plan an offense. Some men in particular would, but most adults who fantasize about children put too much of a burden on themselves, and that burden might come out in the form of sexual behavior towards a child, which is always abuse. The idea is feel comfortable in your skin about any sexual attraction to children. A lot of adults have sexual attraction to children, and so if you feel that way towards children, you are not alone. Know you are not entitled to anything from a child, but at the same time, if no child is present or involved directly or indirectly through child pornography, there is no moral crime.