missing the obvious . . .

Did you note a common theme in most of the quotes?

Anxiety and depression.

I think that most PJers grew up in an anti-ped environment, and knowing how they feel about children turned that negativity against themselves - and being prone to anxiety they did not merely turn that negativity towards themselves but amplified it.

It's a common thing. According to some sources I have seen from roughly 1850, it was an open secret that in the southern states many of the people who campaigned hardest for stricter laws to control slaves were part black, and studies have shown that the biggest homophobes tend to be people who are disturbed when they find themselves attracted to members of the same sex.

Perhaps we should think of PJers as unfortunate souls whose anxiety over this issue has caused them great pain which makes them lash out at others, just as rabid animals are driven by the pain of their disease to attack anyone or anything within reach - which does not make them any less dangerous but does change the moral calculus somewhat.

Thus, we can go further back and find those who early on perpetuated the myth that an attraction to children is somehow bad - people like Anita Bryant and John Walsh, whose ignorant claims led these people with anxiety problems to turn on themselves and others. But in fairness, I wouldn't be surprised if they had some mental illnesses themselves.