The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Honor Bound

4.15.02 @ 12:01AM

(Page 4 of 4)

Don't get me wrong -- as a pediatrician for 25 years, I do between three and five circumcisions per week. I long since gave up trying to talk parents out of it (it doesn't work). But if I had another son today (my son was born when I was a naïve medical student, and he IS circumcised), I would not have the procedure done again. I think my rationale for that decision comes basically from my conservative point of view.

Additionally, I know a few other conservative pediatricians (a rare breed, we) -- all agree and all for the same reasons. Admittedly, some of my liberal colleagues also believe routine newborn circumcision is wrong, but their reasons don't seem to be the same.

By the way, scripturally (I am also an ordained minister) the New Testament church has clearly been exempted us from the legal responsibility to be circumcised that had been imposed upon the Old Testament Jews.

My only reason for raising this debate is that, I fear, your comments may cause your conservative readers to believe that having their own sons circumcised is the "conservative" choice. In my view, it is not.
-- B. Paul Choate, M.D.
Colorado Springs, CO

HEAVY MEDAL
Re: Reader Mail's Mean Machine:

I'm amused at Pat Lhota's complaints about the efforts of one wealthy man to expose the hypocrisy of the legions of limousine Leftists who use our allegedly "mainstream" media outlets to demonize conservatives and present their illiberal brand of "liberalism" as nothing more than what any decent human being would believe in.

If indeed Mr. Scaife is singlehandedly putting the Left to rout, I say he deserves a medal.
-- Kevin M. McGehee
Coweta County, GA

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Bill Clinton, Business, Abortion, Conservatism