Circumcision....right or wrong ?

Question

Do you think that members of religious groups who practice circumcision on their young should be brought to court for committing actual bodily harm ?

This question should not be regarded as anti-semitic, as it is not only the Jewish faith who indulge in this practice.

Answer 1

I can't believe that people wrote in saying that there are health benefits or that most doctors support this. Every single national medical or pediatric association in the entire western world without exception says that circumcision does NOT provide health benefits. Don't take my word for it. Look it up for yourself. They do, however, all say that it is a very painful operation. (It also removes a healthy part of the baby's body and the baby gets no say in whether they get to keep their parts or not).

Let me repeat, don't take my word for it. If you really care, look up what is said by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the British Medical Association, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the Canadian Pediatrics Society, the Australian College of Pediatrics, or for that matter, any other medical and pediatric association in the entire western world.

It should be obvious that the operation is immoral. Would you cut strips out of your daughter's labia for no medical reason, knowing that it would hurt her? I certainly hope not, and circumcision is no different.

The fact that something has been done for hundreds of years is not a justification for doing it. Men have hit their wives longer than babies have been getting circumcised, but we don't think that that is ok.

When people get a fever, they will listen to the advice of the medical community, but when they are thinking of cutting off a part of their son's body, suddenly they think the doctors are all idiots who don't know what they are talking about.

As for the Bible telling Christians to do it, it most certainly does not. The Old Testament said that Jews should be circumcised, but read what is said about Christian circumcision in the New Testament

Acts 15:24: "... we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, 'You must be circumcised and keep the law' -- to whom we gave no such commandment ..."

Gal. 5:6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love."

Gal. 6:15: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation."

In fact, Galatians 5:2 forbids it, saying "Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing."

Before you cite the Bible, read it.

Answer 2

It was a commandment from god to his people in earlier times.
The apostle Paul speaks of the circumcision of the heart as does Isaiah ( i think ) . After Cornelius was converted the ' gentiles' were also allowed to benefit from the holy spirit.
Circumcision is not necessary. but has been suggested that there are small benefits and there are cases of people getting the procedure done because out of necessity due to medical conditions.
Interestingly Jehovah commanded that the Israelite boys be brought for circumcising on the eighth day. this at a time when not a lot would have been known about Vitamin K.
Vitamin K levels studies have poved reached their peak in the human body, when ? that's right , On the eight day after normal births. this vitamin helps blood clotting ,( i think )
Peeece , and jam.

Answer 3

Personally, I don't like the procedure, I think medical intervention for no reason is just stupid. If there's a medical reason, fine - and if an adult wants it done, great. I think to cut bits off a baby for no reason defies common sense. However - babies nerve endings are incomplete and they don't feel much. I wouldn't call it barbaric as they're not suffering, I just think it's senseless. I understand people with strong religious beliefs not wanting to rock the boat within their community, but I would find to accept that any God would discriminate against a child whose parents decided against cutting some of his skin off. Re the hygiene debate, I'm sure that when the Israelites were roaming the deserts, it certainly would have made keepingthe penis clean easier, but it these days of daily showers, it's really not an issue unless you choose it to be by being a smelly slob! Lets face it, women manage to keep clean and their bits are a lot less accessible!

Answer 4

Forced circumcision is wrong.


Circumcision is a form of male genital mutilation. It is generally the forced removal of the foreskin from a child without the ability of the child to consent.

The foreskin is the most sensitive part of the penis and therefore very significant during sexual intercourse. Circumcision removes as much as 75% of sensation [ http://www.nocirc.org/touch-test/bju_6685.pdf ].
The foreskin reduces the force required by the penis to enter the vagina. It also increases the sexual enjoyment of the female partner. Here is a study to back this up: http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/ohara/

The foreskin keeps the glans soft and moist and protects it from trauma and injury. Without this protection, the glans becomes dry, calloused, and desensitized from exposure and chafing.

Specialized nerve endings in the foreskin enhance sexual pleasure.

The foreskin may have functions not yet recognized or understood.



Performing circumcision on a child can and does result in the deaths of children due to blood loss and/or failure of the immune system.
It can and does result in very significant scaring.
It can and does result in sexual problems later in life.


The idea that it provides better hygeine is flawed and is simply a matter of performing good genital hygeine. The study that you are less succeptible to aids if you are circumcised is flawed(see link: http://www.cirp.org/news/sydneymorningherald11-06-03/ ). A condom is still required to prevent transmission of STI's.
Studies about the rate of transmission of aids with respect to both male and female circumcision have been conflicting.
A collection of said studies can be found linked from here:
http://www.mgmbill.org/aids.htm
Furthermore:
"The United States has one of the highest rates of male circumcision and also one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the developed world, suggesting that circumcision is having exactly the opposite effect. Conversely, Finland and Japan have some of the lowest rates of circumcision and also some of the lowest rates of HIV/AIDS."

Do not do it for hygeine issues. It is a trivial task to ensure good genital hygeine.


The vast majority of the world(83%) is not circumcised.
There is no good reason to perform male genital mutilation.
Leave your child decide what he wants when he is old enough to decide himself.



See this site:

http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/



Here is a tracking of circumcision news articles which is kept very up to date:

http://www.cirp.org/news/

Have a look at some of these websites:
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/
http://www.noharmm.org/
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9712/23/circumcision.anesthetic/




Finally, since you posted about religious groups, I just thought I'd point out that it is prohibited by Islam:
"Islamic juridical logic cannot acknowledge the distinction between female and male circumcision, both being the mutilation of healthy organs which is damaging to the physical integrity of the child, whatever the underlying religious motivations. Furthermore, both practices violate the Koran: "Our Lord, You did not create all this in vain" (3:191), and "[He] perfected everything He created" (32:7). In our opinion, a god who demands that his believers be mutilated and branded on their genitals the same as cattle, is a god of questionable ethics."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7731348&dopt=Abstract




Would you like to see this babaric and heartless surgery in progress?
Would you like to hear the child screaming?
I wonder if you could watch this video:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=352478&fr=ybr_sbc

Answer 5

NO. Should members of religious groups be taken to court for causing and psychological harm? Of course they shouldn't.
Circumcision is such an emotive issue. I hear many calling it 'mutilation' well what about getting your child's ear peirced? Taking out teeth. Is it 'mutilation' - not in my book. My son was circumcised when he was ten and it caused him less pain than getting a vaccination. Its only people who have an issue with it that make it into a much bigger deal than it is.

Answer 6

No because you could take EVERY doctor to court for committing actual bodily harm for cutting the umbilical cord at birth

I just had a thought though...

Why would God want it removed at birth (foreskin I mean, not umbilical cord)? Why would he put it on to have it taken off immediately? Doesnt that mean that God isn't all-knowing because he changed his mind about how the human body should be formed?

Answer 7

Mr wink. Are these the same tribes that think that having sex with a newborn will cure you of aids? It's there for a reason, why remove it? If it was simply to avoid later problems then why do we not all have our appendixes removed at a young age as well?
It seems to me that there are a lot of people out there who don't know the basics of personal hygiene.

Answer 8

I agree with One Hot Momma. I can't verify it, but I saw on
TV maybe the History Channel, where a researcher found
african tribes that circumcised had lower incidence of AIDS
than those that didn't. The research is controversial though.

Answer 9

I've always wondered why circumcision was introduced (aside from the mythological story)

And why people think it was healthy, when we realise that - for thousands of years - people were practicng it with no knowledge of sterilization, bacteria or cross-infection.

Answer 10

I'm pissed off that I was circumcised as a baby and thereby entered into an ancient blood pact with a demonic middle eastern god before I had the ability to choose whether or not I wanted to be associated with it. I'd kind of like to have my foreskin back.