Is this anti-semitism?

Question

Circumcision rates in the US are declining even though doctors have shown that men who are circumsized have lower rates of penal cancer, certain std's, urinary tract infections, and HIV - AIDS. ( Research it if you disagree )
Are people who are telling parents what to do with their children using a form of AntiSemitism to eliminate some of the Jewishness of Jews?
Circumcision is still widely practiced in America, but if this trend continues, will Jews be targeted with "child endangerment" by people who think they know better when they are doing what they feel is best for their children?
I am looking down the road a bit, but will these really be discrimation cases? Against freedom of religion?
Many of my friends and family members are Jewish.

Answer 1

there are immigrants coming into the country who do not have that tradition.

It's only Jews, Muslims and American whites who do that.

Positive effects of circumcision are real, but they vanish in people with proper hygeine.

Answer 2

I think it may have more to do with the fact that doctors are now openly telling new parents that it is majorily for cosmetical purposes only and the parents probably don't want their new child to go through such an invasive experience. Or it could be, now that the average age of a female having a child is getting lower, the babies being born are getting smaller and having such a lower birth weight that the notion of a circumcision isn't an option for the boy until later in life?

Answer 3

No, I don't think it is. I know there is a movement to stop circumcisions and a lot of the people doing that are men who were circumcised and want it reversed because a) it doesn't feel natural and b) it's not natural, a mutilation on an unwilling child who cannot consent to the procedure.
Circumcision was started as a way to avoid disease and became a ritual in one religion The opponents are not looking at religion, but at the procedure. I talked to one gay guy in my city who leads an anti-circumcision protest. He talked about nature and mutilation and non consent. It's not a big group but they make a lot of noise.
You don't have to listen to them. When I was young it was a standard procedure for all male children, regardless of their religion...so they didn't have a bris, just a surgical nip.

Answer 4

There are hundreds of thousands of men in the US who are circumsized who aren't Jewish. In fact, quite a healthy portion of them aren't any specific religion at all. i think most boys are circumsized based on what their fathers are (if the father is involved in the baby's life), which may extend from a long lineage leading back to a Christian or Jewish background, but for the most part i don't think that the majority of procedures are done based solely for religious reasons.

Answer 5

I thought it was a case of circumcision as a human rights abuse (as it is performed on a non-consenting individual and does not offer significant health benefits until recently confirmed by studies showing a large reduction in HIV transmission risk)...

But that was just me. I don't see discrimination cases, but I think all cases of circumcision will decline.

Answer 6

You can't claim anti-semitism or anything else until you know the main reasons why people are deciding against circumcision.

Answer 7

Some of your information is wrong.

Penal cancer and certain STI's are not affected by circumcision. This is a myth that was disproven a long time ago.
"circumcision is not of value in preventing cancer of the penis." American Cancer Society [ http://www.fathermag.com/health/circ/acs/ ]

Relation of circumcision to cancer of the cervix
"No significant differences were found in the circumcision status of marital partners of cases and controls. This held true even when the invasive and in situ pairs were combined to provide a series of 172 pairs." [ http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/terris1/ ]


With respect to a urinary tract infections, an girl is 4 times more likely to get a urinary tract infections than a boy who is not circumcised.


And what about HIV and Aids?
A lot of the information perpetuated about circumcision preventing diseases is false.
The study that you are less susceptible to aids if you are circumcised is flawed. Here is a discussion of the report and its methodology by "Doctors Opposing Circumcision": http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/info/HIVStatement.html .

Have a read through their statement. It is very informative. It shows the methodological flaws and poor conclusion in the report that the WHO has jumped upon. Everything is aptly sourced.


Men may often feel a need to justify their own circumcision by the generation of claims of health benefits.[ http://www.cirp.org/library/psych/goldman1/ ]
"The medical literature is full of protective claims for various diseases, such as sexually transmitted disease , male and female cancers, and urinary tract infection. All such claims have been disproved."[ http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/info/HIVStatement.html ]




"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."

Condoms have been proven to be an effective means of combating AIDS.

More information about AIDS and circumcision can be found on these sites:
http://www.mgmbill.org/
http://www.nocirc.org/




The illegalisation of circumcision will not interfere with constitutional right to freedom of religion albeit they will not be allowed to circumcise their children just as female circumcision is currently illegal even if it is religious. It has nothing to do with Judaism.

There are many disadvantages and danger to circumcision.

It's perpetuated by culture, just as FGM in other areas and the majority of people who force it on their children do not know the true facts.

It should be the choice of the victim as to whether or not they want to undergo the procedure. There are many men who try to undo the damage done to them every year: http://www.norm.org/
It is wrong to force an irreversible process onto them that they may not undergo as a adult if they still had the choice.


No medical institution in the developed world actually recommends the practice.
Let's have a look at medical associations in the developed world. The British Medical Association, Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Canadian Paediatric Society, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Australian College of Paediatrics and Australasian Association of Paediatric Surgeons. Every one of them recommends AGAINST performing the procedure. Their positions on the procedure can be found here: http://www.circumcision.org/position.htm


Here is a video of the operation. Watch it if you want to learn more. Please do watch it.
http://youtube.com/watch?search=&mode=related&v=XmX6RdRNoqk
Or this video:
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=352478&fr=ybr_sbc
It is not just a little snip here and there. Watch the above video of a circumcision in progress.


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.
[ http://www.nocirc.org/publish/pamphlet7.html ]

"Circumcision removes the most sensitive parts of the penis and decreases the fine-touch pressure sensitivity of glans penis. The most sensitive regions in the uncircumcised penis are those parts ablated by circumcision. When compared to the most sensitive area of the circumcised penis, several locations on the uncircumcised penis that are missing from the circumcised penis were significantly more sensitive." 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/

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.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=512542
Approximately 230 American males die every year because of circumcision. [ http://www.sexuallymutilatedchild.org/deathsdo.htm ] This is a meaningless and very sad loss of life.

It can and does result in very significant scaring.
It can and does result in sexual problems later in life.

Circumcised males have a much higher rate of sexual dysfunction and premature ejaculation. [ http://www.cirp.org/library/sex_function/ ]







This is not anti-semitism. It has nothing to do with the Judaism religion.
There is already a growing trend of many Jewish people refusing to circumcise their children.
http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/
"Any medical procedure that involves even the possibility of risk to life is halachically forbidden. Judaism affirms the sanctity of human life, embracing the idea that every life is of infinite value. Halakah also tells us that since danger to life takes precedence over all else, medically hazardous procedures are strictly forbidden. The halacha (jewish law) recognizes the potential for harm that circumcision can bring, and so it stipulates that if a mother has 'lost' a child to circumcision , she is not obligated to circumcise future sons... this can be extrapolated to our shared humanity..enough mothers and children have suffered from this procedure..enough sons have been lost..let love and healing take precedence over fear and cutting

It is a violation of Torah commandments to physically assault or harm another person (Exodus 21:18-27). Yet that is exactly what circumcision is! Thus, it is against the most fundamental concept of Jewish law." [ http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/jewish.htm ]





The Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation
http://www.britmila.org.il/

Answer 8

wow....maybe i'm just not that in touch with the jewish community in my area...but in NO WAY to i think this is antisemitic.

i think fewer kids are getting this done because of the same reason why guys don't spay their dogs....they see themselves in their possition and they don't want their nuts cut off!

dads don't want their kids penis cut! that's it...i think it's that simple. it seems yucky and painful and they imagine themselves lying there and they just don't want it done if they don't have too.

i think it's this more "natural" movement...like, not interfering with nature.

i do NOT think it's about jewish people.

Answer 9

no, it is simply a trend amoung people in the US.

I think it has to do more with the poor and uneducated are having a huge majority of the children, and simply not having them circumcised because they weren't, and its an ongoing cycle of uneducated people doing uneducated things.