Dog Spit Heals Wounds

Several weeks ago, I was blessed to spend a week in Boise with my two grandsons. While playing in our back yard, the eldest Brayden—all of five years, fell out of a tree and skinned his leg. He was mostly frightened by the episode, and he started to cry. He had a bleeding wound on his leg that was quite superficial and our Australian Shepherd—Guinn, started licking his wound. He became more agitated until I told him that dog spit helped heal all wounds and I used to prescribe this for my own post op surgical patients. That wasn’t completely true, but I do believe in the magic powers of “dog spit”.

That night after saying his prayers with his father and as they reviewed his day, he retold the story of the fall and how the dog spit was helping heal his wound. I listened in from my room as his father told him “That you can’t always believe everything PAPA tells you and the dog spit thing is iffy at best.” My grandson immediately turned on his father—my son and said: “Papa is a scientist and a doctor, and he is OLD, and he knows stuff”. Instant credibility for Papa. I certainly don’t take it for granted.

Here is another fact that is based on science and medical evidence—MEN CANNOT HAVE BABIES. I am a doctor and a scientist, and I am “old” and as Brandon (JB) would say—”that’s a fact Jack”.

Without being too graphic, but at the same time remaining empirically factual here is the story. If a person has two “X” chromosomes, they are a woman. If they have an “X and a Y” chromosome they are a man. There are karyotypic aberrations and chromosomal anomalies like Klinefelter’s Syndrome “45XXY”. These phenotypic males have small testicles and immature secondary sexual characteristics. This happens less than 1/1000 live births. Turner’s Syndrome (45XO) occurs less than 1/2000-5000 live births. These patients are usually raised as females supported by hormones like estrogen and growth hormones. These patients with chromosomal aberrations are not what is at issue when we talk about gender identity and gender ambiguity. Gender identification and sexual ambiguity are completely different issues and should not be confused. I am a doctor and a scientist, and I know this to be true.

The psychology of gender and sexual identity, the entire field of human sexuality, is confusing and complicated and it has been made more confusing by mixing up issues of biology, genetics, and psychology. A proclivity for aberrant behavior that tries to rationalize itself in genetics immediately provides an excuse for those acting on the premise of “biology”. The same excuses that are based on faux science have been given for adultery and homicide, People who have the urge to steal are given a scientific sounding name—kleptomaniac. It is easier for me to understand most forms of aberrant human behavior by understanding theological concepts like “sin” and “the fallen nature of man” and our need for centering our lives on God and His Commandments and by understanding that we are all sinners and that there is no sin greater than His love and is Grace. Starting from such a position we then understand that we are capable of being responsible for our actions and we stand accountable to ourselves, each other, and before God.

By filling the “holes in our hearts” with the appropriate Spirit, we can hope to manage the tensions that evil can bring to our lives. Science has a very big place in helping us to understand our relationship to God and our Universe, but “faux science” that makes an excuse for acting on our proclivities is itself self-destructive. Saying that sexual and gender identity are the same thing is an example of such hubris.

Only women can have babies. Carrying the life of a child is a gift, a responsibility, and a duty that God uniquely gave to women. It was Mary who said “yes” to God—not Joseph. Mary trusted God, and Joseph trusted Mary. That is the truth—no matter how much we try to fabricate an excuse to make ourselves our own god and fashion our own truth. A truth grounded in Scripture, or a truth grounded in empiricism and reason will ultimately prove to be the same truth. The truth of gravity and the electromagnetic force are just as true as the truths of the New and Old Testament. They are all God speaking to man. The Genesis explanation for creation and astrophysical theories like THE BIG BANG are today proving to be consistent. The numbers and the words tell the same story.

“As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be”. Men are designed to be men and women are designed to be women. “Everyman is a father, and every woman is a mother”. Whether one has a child or is celibate or chooses to remain unmarried without a child, or maybe one is a sister or brother raising a sibling or an adopted child, the design and purpose for the difference remains the same. Dog spit really heals wounds. It is a scientific and medically proven fact. I am a “doctor and a scientist and I am old”.