And in case I didn't make it clear above, spare me your linkspam for or against vaccines and circumcision. I know what both sides of the argument are.
I got a linkspam in the comments. Rather than being upset that people only read part of my posts, or being irritated that they ignored half of what I said, I'm going to point out that the commenters actually prove my point, though they mean well.
The links commenter Mark listed in his response to my entry are dated 2004, 2006, 1996, and 2006. Forgive me for thinking this is a new trend. Did you know circumcision is over 5,000 years old? Drawings in Egypt depict Egyptians and Jews getting circumcised. Cave paintings that date to 9,000 years ago show what many appear to be a circumcision. Independently rising cultures, in Africa, Europe, South America, Central and North America, Australia, and India all adopted circumcision practices.
Now, whether they did that because the trimmed boys didn't get have smegma to give them phimosis, or because just by chance every culture on the planet independently developed the cultural practice of trimming boys, I cannot argue. I am not an archeologist, I am a scientist.
But the point here is that for 5,000 years circ has been a widespread, good idea, and this idea that "there is no medical benefit" is, relatively speaking, a snap of the fingers in the long history of humanity.
In developed countries, where hygiene and cleanliness are more widespread, perhaps circumcision isn't totally necessary. Most of the ailments caused by an untrimmed foreskin can be prevented through thorough washing and care. But in developing countries, where hygiene is deplorable, circumcision is, as it was for the last 5,000 years, obviously beneficial.
Wouldn't even anti-circ people agree that the evidence is overwhelming that AIDS and many other diseases could be prevented in sub-saharan Africa through (if hygiene isn't available) circumcision?
The point I was trying (and succeeding, if you ask me) to make was that natural law compels us to make medical decisions based on the species as a whole, regardless of personal preference. Maybe there will be a day, far in the future, where all humans will have clean water, access to soap and shower facilities, at which time we can reevaluate the necessity of circumcision. But until that day comes, we owe it to our species to perform the voluntary medical procedures like circ and vaccinations that although might not help our children directly, may help children worldwide.
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