Melvin Konner’s Weak Defense

Edgar Schoen: Among a long line of Jewish doctors seeking to circumcise all American boys for dubious reasons

Konner seems inclined to fear Intactivism as something prone to anti-semitism, instead of a reasonable concern about cutting babies’ genitalia.

MB: It seems like odd timing, given the uproar over health care reform. Rush Limbaugh is already saying, “Leave our penises alone, too, Obama!”

MK: That’s where I put on my Jewish hat and start worrying that you’re going to get some nasty things said about Jewish influence on medicine. Male babies in many cultures are circumcised, including in Islam and many African cultures, but in the West it’s associated with Jews. Although I think most of the opposition to circumcision is not really in any sense anti-Semitic, there’s a fringe that thinks somehow this has been imposed on the American baby by the Jews because there are so many Jewish doctors.

Well, Melvin, why would this fringe think such a thing? Because it isn’t just that “there are so many Jewish doctors,” but also, because so many of the circumcision advocates have been Jewish doctors.

Look.

So I have a solution. Jewish doctors should recuse themselves from the debate on routine neonatal circumcision since they are culturally biased. Instead of bringing in Operation Abraham from Israel to preach the glories of genital cutting for American babies, we should have no Jews in this debate, since we have far too much skin in this one.

And Jewish pro-circ advocates need not get in a huff that they are being targeted for a bias that they SO DON’T HAVE, but rather, should rest assured that this won’t affect the debate one iota, since the science is so very much in their favor anyway and they will be surely vindicated. {snicker}