I’ll agree he had a very crass way of putting it.

Whatever you say, God!

Just exactly like all the beer and whiskey just happens to find itself ruining a liver, through no fault of the alcoholic, of course… or all those fried fatty foods causing heart disease. And lets not forget all the diabetics eating their way into comas and amputations.

Now, unless you are a perfect person, and you, nor any loved one’s, have ever had any medical condition that COULD have been brought about by their own negative behavior, then you really should not be throwing stones.

Behavior, all behavior, including his puritanical judgementalism, is a result of biological processes.

That does not mean however, that it is helpful to medicalize it, or that it should be medicalized in all contexts. Some behaviors for example, might be usefully thought of medically in the psychiatrists office, while out of his office to do so is to do harm as it reinforces ones sense of helplessness and demoralization in their struggles to reduce it.

Obesity is not, I think, usefully treated judgementally or as a moral flaw. Ethics usually deal with interpersonal behavior, and there is not evidence that fat people are any greedier in a general context than thin people. The most generous people I know are fat. The stingiest are thin. I do not, therefore think greed is an appropriate label.

No one wants to be fat. It is the one behavioral compusion, except compusive face tatooing, which is immediately obvious to everone you meet. The compulsive masturbator, compulsive gambler, compulsive shopper, even the compusive judgmental prude, can reveal or hide their flaws whenever they choose.

The fact that obesity is so soundly condemned and yet is increasing even as we build a new civic religion around health and yet rarely successfully defeated in a sustained fashion is a testament to the fact that there are forces at work much more powerful than personal values or preferences.

Anyone who can’t deal with fat people without being judgemental really ought not be practicing medicine these days, or perhaps should specialize in some condition that fat people never get.

“Unless of course your fat” should be “Unless of course you’re fat”

Otherwise love the blog.