Thumb Sucking For Power And Pleasure

Most any social practice can be conceived of as an aberration or as an uplifting necessity.

Whether "it" is a necessity or an aberration can depend on the time of day, time of month, time of year, election cycle proximity to November 4th, and the like. That is, when "it" is being done can be a big factor for some reason.

All of that, of course, also heavily depends on who is doing the conceiving as to whether "it" is an aberration or an uplifting necessity.

So for an attention getter, I use thumb sucking adults as the "it" to get everyone's attention.

I use the subject matter thumb sucking adults not as a bad example or a good example, but just as a simple example.

This phenomenon has religious and cultural manifestations which is not unique to United States culture:

Does thumb-sucking affect the fast?

Assalamu alaikum

I have an awkward problem, that is I still suck my thumb since I was a child!, it can be quite extreme when I am not feeling too well. I am in doubt if this is Haram at all, and does it nullify my fast? I heard a friend say anything that enters the body nullifies the fast. Plse answer my question a.s.a.p. because Ramadan is beginning soon and it is extremely embarassing for me to talk to anyone about it, not even my husband!.

Jazakum allah alf Khair

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Praise be to Allaah.

Wa ‘alaykum al-salaam wa rahmat-Allaahi wa barakaatuhu.

You have to try hard to give up this habit, and take your thumb out of your mouth every time you realize that you are sucking your thumb. Whatever happens because of forgetfulness will not affect your fast. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has forgiven my ummah for what they do by mistake or out of forgetfulness, and what they are forced to do.”

(Islam Q&A). Thumb sucking begins while a human is yet embryonic and still within the mother's womb.

It is a personal comfort thing, attached to an individual's own psyche, and to the extent understood, is normal up to a point, but no longer normal beyond that point (so say the gods of normality anyway), and as usual, "that point" varies like political doctrine and taste for beer.

The robe wearers (psyche-doctors of various and sundry sorts) disagree and agree among themselves, as they do on most any topic, as to why thumb sucking arises and why it is perpetuated in some adults but not others.

My take on it is different strokes for different folks, but that goes nowhere fast.

Some of my observations detail how the bullies hurt people to get more pleasure than they can get from thumb sucking, and how they quit thumb sucking as soon as their bully business prospers sufficiently, and they then have a sufficient clientèle on the playground whom they can terrorize.

Lets note that they would have done far better as thumb sucking adults.

Others on the playground take up finger painting, sports, the swings, daydreaming, or hanging out with other kids they like, and leave the thumb sucking behind that way.

Whatever.

Our social structures do not deal with any of this effectively, because our cultures look at what the kids put down on paper during tests as the be all, leaving both aberrant and normal playground dynamics to parents and prison wardens to sort out later.

My concern is that this is no way to develop cosmic adults, no way to preserve the human species into our cosmic future, and just plain "no way".

Of course we all say it takes a village to raise a child, and that is true, but our failing as a species is our concept of the size and shape of "a village".

Clearly, a cosmic village is globe shaped my friends.

The next post in this series is here.