Re: Circumcision in San Francisco
Mmm... the legality of this is definitely questionable. Freedom of religion for the parents... but then again, freedom FROM religion for the children... maybe a nice middle ground would just to make it harder to get circumcisions? Like people can't just decide on it in the hospital. They have to go through a bureaucracy, do work, in order to get it done. This way, jewish people and muslims who really, really want it can get it done, but the average lay person who just has the 'heh, why not' attitude probably won't follow through.
On to my "here is my completely logical argument as to why you should no circumcise your children" rant.
Well I've always felt like parents shouldn't have that decision over their children... I mean, I've read a lot of health reports about circumcision and foreskins.... foreskins lead to std's in africa... except people who got circumcised got advice from doctors, thereby knowing how to avoid infections. Uncut feels more? Except in the studies where it doesn't. Cut is cleaner? Except not really, in practice. If they are cut, they'll blend in with their peers? Except nobody showers after gym class anymore, I've never seen any of my friends naked- and you'll make your son an object of ridicule in other countries if they go there for work or college, where foreskins are the norm most of the time.
For every scientific article I've found for/against circumcision, I've found an equal and opposite article from the other side of the debate.
So I ignore the science. Maybe cut or uncut isn't objectively better than the other. But people still have subjective feelings about foreskins. Most people like whatever they have, but some people genuinely like foreskins, while some genuinely like being cut. Therefore, leave your child intact. You don't know what their opinion will be later in life. If they'd rather get cut, they'll get cut. If they're cut, and they'd rather be uncut, they're fucked for life. Admittedly, the percentage of people who genuinely like uncut is probably close to 5%; but still, if we cut all our kids without taking their wants into consideration, 5% of our population ends up unhappy about their penises for the rest of their lives. If we leave them intact, the people who want to get circumcised will get circumcised, and EVERYONE ends up happy.
I think the part where parents get confused is that their children are not them; their children may have differing opinions from them. Just because you like cut, doesn't mean they will. Don't force it on them. You may feel like it's a small issue, but for some people, it means a lot. Leave them intact; let it be their choice. If they get cut anyways, you should be happy with the fact that you are giving you children as many choices in life as possible so they can be happy.
