Why circumcision?

Question

God gave that extra foreskin there for a reason? why remove it?

Answer 1

First off there is nothing "extra" about a foreskin, it is a vital, sensitive, protective organ. To say the foreskin is extra is like saying the eyelid is extra. The eyelid is not needed to see either, but with out it the eye would soon become be as ineffective for vision as the glans becomes for sensation.

Circumcision came about to remove as much of a mans sexual pleasure as possible and still leave him capable of fathering children. If they removed any more he would not function and there would no more children to bring into the tribe or to become solders for the king. This is shown in early writings by several rabbis, they speak of the necessity of "moderating the needs of men"

Claims have been made for all kinds of "benefits" of circumcision as being more hygienic, curing masturbation, preventing cancer, protecting from STDs and on and on. All based on garbage science! None of it stands up to reality.

Cancer of the penis strikes 1 out of 100,000 men and has been found to be more related to other factors such as the standard of living and smoking. Cancer of the cervix is not caused by friction from the foreskin but rather by the human papiloma virus (HPV), which is transmitted in the sperm from an infected male whither or not, he is circumcised.

STDs are not stopped by circumcision but by safe sex and condoms. The fact that most US males are circumcised has not stopped or even slowed the infections. Sweden doesn't circumcise and their incidence of STD infection is fifty times less than the US, (now Sweden has banned childhood circumcision)

Even the claim that circumcision would "cure" masturbation is wrong, circumcised males tend to masturbate more and are also more likely to seek oral and anal sex. Largely because of the reduced pleasure they get from vaginal sex. A lubricated vagina doesn't provide very much friction for the circumcised penis. Circumcised males also are more likely to resist using a condom because it lowers sensitivity even more. The recent study claiming that circumcision lessens the risk of HIV has already been embraced by circumcised males as a green light for unprotected sex.

Surgery is no more needed for male hygiene than it is for female hygiene. It is assumed that because a male urinates with his penis it must be dirty but really urine is very sterile, only tears are more bacteria free. The exception to this is in the event of a bladder infection, which is rare in even uncircumcised adult males. Of course urine smells because it contains ammonia and even small drops of it are noticeable. But simple soap and water washing are all that is needed to remove any traces of urine or smegma (which by the way females produce too!)

By the way children (both male and female) need training in hygiene an unwashed foreskin is not the only part of the body that can stink. Perfume can't eliminate the odor of bad tuna either.

There is the comment "who knows what is growing under that foreskin?” Think about it, the foreskin and glans of an uncircumcised male are among the most sensitive parts of his body; you may as well ask what is growing under his eyelids. If you give an uncircumcised male a yeast infection he will know it within hours and he will seek treatment. On the other hand a circumcised male's dry-keratinized glans can be infected and not show or feel any symptoms. So an infected circumcised male will keep re-infecting his partners. And his characteristically more vigorous trusting will leave the walls of the vagina abraded and more prone to infection.

Lastly there are the religious reasons, some desert tribes maintain circumcision as a tribal rite for various reasons; however the rights of US born children, male or female, should not be ignored because of some old tribal customs.

Christianity has no requirement for circumcision. Saint Paul in his letter to the Galatians states, "neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love." He ends the passage "I wish those agitators (for circumcision) would go the whole way and emasculate themselves." So on that note if you believe in circumcision because is says so in the Bible you can just castrate yourself and get back to us.

It is strange how many of the victims of this mutilation seem to think they are better for it. It seems they would be admitting to being less of a man if they felt they had been injured. So they profess a love for their altered state. I for one am not threatened by the fact that I was coerced into being mutilated as a child. My penis can still outlast my wife, (a lot of good that does me!) I am the one that gets less pleasure out of it.

Matt you are still a child. Cut for 2 whole years.

Answer 2

Why? Ignorance mostly. Superstition. False information about hygiene which has been completely disproved. Stupidity - like HE should have the end of his penis cut off because SHE thinks it looks cuter! Absurdity such as "he should look like his dad" - is his dad really going to yank out his penis so the little boy can inspect it? EEEEwwwww! Laziness - parents don't want to have to teach him to clean himself. (You can smell the kids of that kind of parent across the room - they didn't teach him to wash anyplace else either.)

Maybe I should add "so he won't have to have it done when he's 90": did you have your kid's appendix removed at birth, too? How about that breat tissue your little girl has on her chest; it's likely to become cancerous some day, you know. I can't believe someone would mutilate an infant because of something that just might (but probably won't) happen to him if he gets to be very, very old!

Those are the bad reasons. The only good reason is an extremely rare birth defect. Most other conditions for which "medical circumcision" was once done can now be taken care of with less drastic surgery.

Answer 3

I agree with you completely! Either make them both legal, or both illegal. It would be very interesting in seeing how something like that were to go through the court system. I don't have an issue with adult males being circumcised at their own will; we pierce, tattoo, pickle our bodies all the time- why should this be different? As long as my premiums for universal healthcare don't pay for it, I couldn't care less. It's with infants i have a problem with. It's his damn body! The "looks better", "matches the father", "easier to clean" "safer from STDs" is all crap: Looks better: Like you said, that's subject to opinion. Matches the father: OH GREAT! The father was beaten with a belt as a child too! Wanna have your son re-live THAT pain too? Easier to clean: Bugger off. Get off you lazy a$$ and clean your kid! And teach him good hygiene when he's old enough. It wasn't hard for me to grasp. Safer: If there is apparently no undisputed scientific fact out there that proves I didn't choose to be gay, I refuse to believe that there's undisputed scientific proof that says that cut men are more resilient to STDs. Now on to religion: My best friend is jewish and is quite proud of his cut penis. In fact it's sometimes part of his opening line when he meet's someone new. My friend has always been sensitive about his religion (even though he's reform and basically non-practicing) to the point where if you don't agree with any certain part of his religion, he gets defensive. I used to say that it was fine to do it for religious reasons, but then I thought... wait. There are other religions and cultures that require female circumcisions- those cultures exist here in Canada and the US, yet FGM is illegal. So what's with the double standard? Don't compare the severity; they're both barbaric unnecessary operations- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE? The same friend's girlfriend plans on having her kids cut. Why? "It's cleaner. Oh he won't remember it." This girl is a HUGE hypocrite. Why? She's pro-life to the highest degree- to almost the level of Palin's pro-life stance. Ok.. Child's rights, bla bla bla... Now what about when the child is born? Where are his rights then? With all due respect to everyone who practices a faith of some kind, I say to hell with religious, traditional, or cultural reasons. Outlaw infant circumcision for BOTH genders or make both legal.

Answer 4

Like God made the hair in your nostrils to keep foreign matters out of it and your eye lashes and the hair in top of your eyes and I don;t know what the pubic hair is there, but the same principal applies to protect your thing from harm once you are a clean guy, but Jesus was circumcises, so it must be a good thing, even he has no said in the process as many in this world are in the same boat, I was circumcised after 10 years of marriage it was a discomfort to have that extra protection. By the way I almost die in the simple operation.

Answer 5

Circumcision has its roots in the Jewish scriptures. Abraham was called to sacrifice his son Isaac, but at the last minute God provided a ram instead. As a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham, circumcision was done on all the males in his household. Abraham is the ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. According to these traditions, God wanted it OFF.

Other cutures have various cutting rituals, including female circumcision. There are various reasons given, usually as some kind of right of passage. Of course, there is the issue of men having problems keeping the penis clean under the foreskin. This might not be a huge problem in Westernized cultures, but in many other cultures the problems caused might have led them to start doing circumcision in the first place.

Answer 6

I agree somewhat with mini above..I didn't have my son circumcised, he hasn't had a problem..you just teach at an early age to clean well. He is happy that I didn't have him cut. It is barbaric and the babies do feel it, don't kid yourselves.
But Mini..not all women do this, and some men want it for their sons just as much or more then moms. I was lucky that my son's father went with my decision, without a fight, not to have our son circumcised.

Answer 7

I thinks its a personal decision. In the past when bathes weren't as plentiful it helped a lot in the cleanliness department, but nowadays its purely for looks. I myself prefer how circumcised looks, but whatever. I think parents should leave their sons intact and let them make that choice for themselves.

Answer 8

I am a nurse. I was totally against a circ for our son...i think it's barbaric. However, my mind was changed when one day i saw 2 men scheduled for a circ at the ages of 78 and 83. I decided then that i would not want my son to have to go through that surgery (and, at that age, it is surgery, not just a procedure) when he's in his 70s or 80s. (the men had chronic urinary and other infections related to not being circumcized)

Answer 9

Circumcision is not only necessary for your cleanliness but that of your sexual partner.
It has been proven medically that a woman has a greater chance of getting cervical or uterine cancer when having sex over a long period of time with an uncircumcised man.
Yes,God did put it there for a reason but he never intended the penis to get around as it does today thusly increasing the chance of infections,not only for the man but for his sex partner.

Answer 10

there is no reason to remove the foreskin, but from what I have heard being circumcised is supposed to be more sanitary