Circumcision Opposed

Kenneth Turan felt we saw more than we needed of a ritual Indonesian circumcision in “Keep the River on Your Right” (“A Return to One Man’s Heart of Darkness,” April 20).

I felt it made a point about the voyeuristic tourists, but what we saw was just a glimpse of what is done to about 60% of U.S. baby boys today, more than two a minute on average, 1.2 million a year. (Actually, it’s more traumatic in babies, because the foreskin has to be torn away from the glans.)

If more people knew just what it involves, it would stop tomorrow.

HUGH YOUNG

Pukerua Bay, New Zealand