More Taoist thoughts on circumcision, Question to Steve

What more did you want to know?
I thought my comments were pretty comprehensive . . . S

>>more to the end of whether you are an m.d./pediatrician
>>or something to that effect..

No, I’m not an M.D., but everything I said was medically
accurate, and part of the party line.

>>several key thoughts that come to mind are health versus dogma..
>>also, there are the arguments of cleanliness and infections…
>>many people basically seem to throw the towel in on the infections
>>and run with their dogma..

Well assuming the procedure heals appropriately, the person will
have less infections, since the likelihood of developing a yeast
infection in the foreskin is reduced to near zero. However, as I
indicated in the other posts, these infections are easy enough to
avoid if an uncircumcised male takes care with cleanliness and cleaning
under the foreskin.

All in all, it’s an unnecessary procedure unless the person has a problem
with repeat yeast infections of the foreskin, or there is
repeating tearing/trauma of the foreskin–however, this can be dealt
with on a case-by-case basis rather than just circumcising as a blanket rule.

>>this brings up the whole issue of is it ANY parent’s right
>>to alter their child’s anatomy without the child’s express permission..

Well, this is a touchy issue. Some kids are born with vestigial tails and
the parents have the doctor cut them off; some kids are born with extra
digits–fingers and toes, and they have the doctor cut them off; etc.

Most parents make these sorts of decisions based out of love for the child,
and a desire for their child to be perceived as “normal” with respect to
other children. They like to minimize possible psychological traumas
to the child by doing things to make the child appear to be the same as
other children.

Thus–excepting for religious reasons, say Jews–most parents in the US
have their children circumcised because they feel that most other
boys are going to be circumcised and they don’t want their child
to “look strange” when they are in situations of nudity with
other children. Doctors usually mutter something about decreased
yeast infections, mention that most other boys are circumcised,
and mention that it’s easier to do now rather than wait until older,
and then due to the above reasons the parent tells the doctor to
do it–not out of malice, but out of the same desire to help their
child be “normal” in the same way that they have tails and digits
removed.

You may argue that the parent doesn’t have the right to alter their
kid’s anatomy, but no child has complete freedom. As long as
a parent doesn’t endanger a child’s general health and wellbeing, the
parent can do whatever they want to. All kinds of decisions–
vaccinations, different types of medical care, etc.–are all made
by the parent, and the parent needs not get approval from the child
in any way to do so. The child can always take issue with these
decisions after the fact as an adult and tell their parents that they
didn’t approve of this decision or that decision, but as a child
there is no complete freedom. The best that can be hoped for is
that your parents will have made as many decisions in agreement
with your adult opinion as possible.

As a general rule with regard to circumcision, I think more and
more parents in the US nowadays are opting to leave children
uncircumcised–as more and more people realize that it’s unnecessary
to do as a general procedure (just like there are a lot less
tonsillectomies today than there used to be). Things always ultimately
get fixed, even if it takes several decades or more.

Why this fascination with circumcision anyway?
Are you upset that you were circumcised?

S