The ABC Homeopathy Forum
Israeli and Jewish Parents Keeping Sons Intact - A Jewish Case for Bris without Milah (Covenant Without Cutting)
Israeli and Jewish Parents Keeping Sons Intact'BUT CHOOSING TO LEAVE A SON INTACT IS NOT JUST a choice being made by American Jews. Increasingly, Israeli Jews are making this choice. Kahal ( http://www.kahal.org ) was established in June 2000 by parents in the Tel Aviv area who decided not to circumcise their sons. The community is not a formal organization and includes only parents with intact sons.
Another website, www.gonnen.org, in Hebrew cites reasons against circumcision and quotes the Guide for the Perplexed in which Maimonides (Rambam) says: This is also one of the reasons for circumcision, to minimize intercourse and weaken this member.
Raquel Lazar-Paley is a parent who chose not to circumcise her son and she says she has several friends in the Haifa area who made the same decision. Goldin says the fact that there are an increasing number of parents in Israel who decide not to circumcise their sons is just another indication of the growing rift there between the religious and secular.'
- THE JERUSALEM REPORT APRIL 25, 2011
'Laurie Evans is the director of the New York Hudson Valley Chapter of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers ( http://www.nocirc.org ).
She said that as a Jewish woman, it was difficult to stand up to her family.
'Once I witnessed a bris (ritual Jewish circumcision), understood the function of the foreskin and the long, lasting harm of circumcision, I had to follow my conscience and leave my son intact,' Evans testified.
'My son is now 20, is grateful, as he understands just what he was spared,' Evans said.
'When I realized how many parents were uninformed about this surgery, I founded and became director of the New York Hudson Valley Chapter of NOCIRC. ( http://www.nocirc.org )' - WND, March 05, 2010
In Israel, opposition to circumcision has happened in just two decades, and now these rebels number in the tens of thousands, according to Ronit Tamir, founder of Kahal, a support group for parents who choose not to circumcise their children.
- Jewish World, 3/11/10.
'Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon, who was brought up Orthodox, produced a documentary called Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision, which examines male circumcision
from a religious, scientific and ethical perspective. He also interviews his Orthodox father and his brother in the film. Another American Jew who works against circumcision is Laurie Evans, the director of the New York Hudson Valley chapter of NOCIRC ( http://www.nocirc.org ). I went to a brit and couldnt believe I was standing in a room of people who usually question so much, but didnt think of the baby. It was one of the worst days of my life. I feel our religion is in our heart and soul, not in our genitals.
When Evanss children were born, she wanted to be more involved Jewishly, despite not being brought up to be practicing. She still maintains some of the Jewish customs, but her difficulty with circumcision has created a fissure between her and Judaism. Its hard for me to accept that we dont accept tattooing and we like questioning, but this cant be talked about. I see it like foot-binding in China.
- THE JERUSALEM REPORT APRIL 25, 2011
'In the Jewish state live today tens, maybe hundreds of parents who decided, for ideological reasons, to spare their sons from the Brit Milah and leave them whole the way they were born. In addition, there are quite a few adult men who never underwent a circumcision, not to mention the thousands of new immigrants who were not circumcised.
This phenomenon is getting public attention, perhaps for the first time, after the establishment of the Association Against Genital Mutilation. The organization was founded by human rights activists who see the Brit Milah as a barbarous and primitive act that must be banished foreverand quickly.
Movements against circumcision have appeared recently in the US and in Europe, claiming that it must be banned not only because it is barbaric, but also because it is harmful to health. One study found that the pain treshold of baby boys who underwent circumcision was lower than that of boys who were not circumcised. Many more boys die from circumcision than from genital infections, claims one of the organizations founders, Rafi Rozen from Eilat.
The organization counts in its midtst tens of activists, among them parents who chose not to circumcise their sons. The members meet every other week and exchange ideas and opinions. They plan to be more active in the future, going to centers for natural birth to try to convince parents not to circumcise their sons.
Jonathan and Limor Enosh from Tel Aviv have been convinced already. They gave birth three months ago to their son Tzof and decided to spare him from Brit Milah. For a long time my wife and I were opposed to circumcision, thinking it was a cruel and painful act, says Jonathan.
I told our families that whoever believes that the Brit makes a child Jewish is wrong, tells a woman from Jerusalem whose two sons, ages 7 and 14, were not circumcised. There is no need to cut off anything to be Jewish. I decided not to take part in a deed that could lead to long-term mental trauma and physical harm, as well as reducing their pleasure in bed.
- Itamar Eichner, Yediot (Israel) - May 6, 1997
'According to modern scholars, circumcision is not even mentioned in either the earliest, 'J', version of Bereshth ('Genesis') nor the next three rewrites by other authors. Most importantly, the story of Abram is there in its entirety, except the part about the Covenant being 'sealed' with circumcision. The parallel Covenant story of 'a smoking kiln and its blazing torch' passing between the halves of animals and birds sacrificed by Abram is in J. Many biblical scholars agree on this point, and it is in accord with the mitzvot against desecrating the body.... It has even been suggested that early Judaism forbad circumcision!'
Case for Bris without Milah.
http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish.html
http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html
'an article in the January 1999 British Journal of Urology reported that women who had slept with both circumcised and intact men preferred sex with men who were not circumcised. The article reported that the women achieved orgasm faster, and were more likely to achieve multiple orgasms.'
- Michael S. Kimmel, Tikkun, 2001.
Michael Kimmel is the author of Manhood in America and, most recently, The Gendered Society (Oxford University Press). He teaches sociology at SUNY Stony Brook.
'Circumcision harms the developing brain: Recent studies published in leading medical journals have reported that circumcision has long-lasting detrimental effects on the developing brain, adversely altering the brain's perception centers. Circumcised boys have a lower pain threshold than girls or intact boys. Developmental neuropsychologist Dr. James Prescott suggests that circumcision can cause deeper and more disturbing levels of neurological damage, as well.'
- Paul M. Fleiss, MD., MPH., Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Southern California Medical Center.
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
'An Israeli research project in the early-1990s sought to measure changes in sexual satisfaction after circumcision among Russian immigrants who got themselves circumcised after immigration to Israel. The research was carried out by Dr Avi Teper and Dr Eliezer Shalev, from the Women's Department, Ha-emek Hospital, Afula. They mailed a questionnaire to 108 males, 76 of whom replied.
The circumcised immigrants reported a significant decrease in sexual satisfaction. Before circumcision 54 per cent reported 'great sexual satisfaction', but afterwards the number was only 24 per cent. The proportion of those reporting 'medium satisfaction' rose from 30 percent to 61 percent. There was no change in the number reporting 'small satisfaction'.'
Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin and R. Blustein, 'Challenges to circumcision in Israel: The Israeli association against genital mutilation', in George C. Denniston, Frederick Mansfield Hodges and Marilyn Fayre Milos (eds) Male and female circumcision: Medical, legal and ethical considerations in pediatric practice, New York, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999, pp. 343-50'
Published in Ynet Jewish World, 2008
Yes to a party, but no to a brit....the decision to give it a pass is becoming increasingly trendy in Israel.
'I've managed to stand up to the religious, overbearing establishment,' is an old, familiar motto. Only this time, instead of getting married in Cyprus or holding a non-religious funeral at a kibbutz, we've decided to keep the boy in one piece, without performing 'barbaric' incisions in his body. What's wrong with that? We have here caring, well-informed parents who are unwilling to swallow every nonsensical argument that an over-zealous circumciser tries to shove down their throat at the neonatal ward.
And even I, a mitzvah observing person, don't have a problem with the ever-rising number of uncircumcised Israelis.
- Tali Farkash. It just doesn't cut it. YNET Jewish World, Friday, December 19, 2008.
Published in the Jerusalem Post, 2002.
By Hilary Leila Kreiger.
Kasher says, 'I don't see any reason why I should cut my son's genitals. There is no reason and I don't think I have the right, even as a parent, to cut a normal part of his body just because other people do it.'
He foresees a time when the practice will be relegated to history books. 'Eventually I think religious people, too, will stop doing it.'
The issue, according to opponents of circumcision, includes the moral ramifications of cutting one's child and the psychological impacts stemming from the trauma. They claim that the level of discomfort experienced by the child increases his later response to pain and hurts the bond between the baby and his mother. They also maintain that circumcision diminishes sexual pleasure and that there is no medical reason to remove the foreskin.
Ben-Yami counters that 'Jewish identity can survive without circumcision, in fact, even better without it because more and more non-religious Jews have an aversion [to the religion] because of some of the things it contains, like circumcision. Judaism has enough content in it to survive without circumcision.'
'It's something that came into Judaism from other religions and other tribal [customs] and it will pass from Judaism [too],' Udi says.
'It's going to vanish by itself, from the people,' he says.
A group of 35 American Jews that claims members from secular to Orthodox tries to find ways of reconciling Judaism to a circumcision-free life. The organization, Jews Against Circumcision
(http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org), was started, as founder Gillian Flato of California puts it, because information against the practice 'must come from within.'
- JERUSALEM POST, 21 November 2002
'I believe circumcision is a major mistake (male or female)...The code of the Jewish law is called 'halacha' (the way). Within the Code, there is a provision that if a mother looses a son because of circumcision, she is NOT obligated to circumcise her next son. I extrapolate from this, the inter-connection of my human family, that enough deaths and maiming have occured because of circumcision. Therefore - circumcision is no longer a requisite! Just as we no longer practice the animal sacrifices in the traditional temple, so let us not sacrifice an important piece of our mammal in the temple of tradition.'
- Rabbi Natan Segal
One Rabbis' Thoughts on Circumcision, 2007
Rabbi Natan Segal, Rabbi of Shabbos Shul, the Shul of Marin County, Marin County, California, U.S.A.
Ordination: 1977 Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Yeshiva B'nai Or Philadelphia, Pa.
http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish.html
http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html
You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves (Leviticus 19:28)
'I am confident that my people have such an abundance of life-enhancing, life-affirming and mind-opening traditions, that our identity and sense of cultural self-heed will happily survive our outgrowing of circumcision, a cruel relic which has always felt to me like an aberration at the heart of my religion.'
- Dr. Jenny Goodman, Challenging Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective
http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/goodman.html
'I am a 72 year old retired physician, a Jew who is an active member of a Conservative synagogue, and a grandfather. Three years ago, as I was about to become a grandfather for the first time, my interest in the subject became more focused. I learned that more and more physicians now realize that any potential benefits of circumcision are far outweighed by its risks and drawbacks. Whether done by a physician in the hospital, or a mohel in a ritual brit milah, the procedure has significant complication rates of infection, hemorrhage and even death. Mortality may actually be higher than thought since some of these deaths have not been attributed to circumcision, but listed only under their secondary causes, such as hemorrhage or infection. Ive learned of the very important role the foreskin has in the protection of the head of the penis in the infant, and in sexual functioning in adulthood.
Growing numbers of American Jews are now leaving their sons intact as they view circumcision as a part of Jewish law that they can no longer accept. Alternative brit bli milah or brit shalom ceremonies (ritual naming ceremony without cutting) are being performed by some rabbis. Increasing numbers of intact boys are going to religious school, having bar mitzvahs, and taking their place as young adults in the Jewish community.
As a Jewish grandfather, I want to assure young couples about to bring a child into the world, that there are other members of the Jewish older generation, including other Jewish physicians, and even some rabbis, who feel as I do. If your heart and instincts tell you to leave your son intact, listen!'
- Dr. Mark D. Reiss, M.D.
'Nancy Wainer is one such mother. When her son was born 34 years ago, Wainer and her husband had him ritually circumcised. She has regretted it ever since. 'I can still hear his cries,' she said. 'He cried for hours. He was inconsolable.' Now, as a midwife in Massachusetts, Wainer advises mothers to leave their sons' foreskins intact.'
- Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh - May 24, 2007
Circumcision is a Violation of Human Rights
'What about religion? For boys and girls alike, under basic human rights principles, anothers right to practice a religion must end where that individuals body begins. Otherwise, individual protections carry little meaning. Many Jews and Muslims are involved with organizations working to stop male circumcision, and many are questioning whether removal of healthy tissue from the bodies of their children is required by or even consistent with their faith. When the child is of the age of consent, he or she can make up his or her own mind about his or her own body.' - Steven Svoboda, J.D., 'In Search of Fatherhood' Magazine Interview
http://www.arclaw.org
'Within the Jewish community, there is growing disagreement about circumcision. Some feel that circumcision contradicts other aspects of the Jewish religion. The Torah forbids the torture or causing of pain to any living creature, especially physically assaulting or harming another person (Exodus 21:18-27). Jewish law specifically forbids body modification, including the cutting or marking of the human body (Lev. 19:28). Jews are also required to help those who are helpless, such as newborn infants, and are exempt from performing religious duties that would cause harm to others.'
- Ryan McAllister, Ph.D.
'Coming from a European background... where many Jews reject a brit milla as an archaic and barbaric ritual... This author grew up in France in a traditional Jewish family. Not a single male of her generation or her children's generation within her large family (or in her circle of Jewish friends) was ever circumcised.'
- Nelly Karsenty, Humanistic Judaism, 1988.
'...it would be anti-Semitic of us if we didn't defend Jewish babies along with other children. We respect what is beautiful in every religion or culture and speak out against what is brutal. All cultures and religions are capable of evolving.'
- Mary Conant, R.N. and Betty Katz Sperlich, R.N. (a Jewish mom), founding members of 'Nurses for the Rights of the Child' ( http://www.nurses.cirp.org ), America's largest union of Nurses who refuse to participate in circumcisions.
http://nurses.cirp.org/Interview_by_Professor_Sam.html
'The more I talk to Jews, the more I learn how divisive this is within the Jewish community. The Jewish community is as diverse as any. I get emails from Jews, even Orthodox Jews, who are against circumcision. And I have gotten some support from Muslim men.
- Lloyd Schofield ( http://www.sfmgmbill.org )
THE JERUSALEM REPORT APRIL 25, 2011
'(Georgeann Chapin, R.N.) said there already is a federal law outlawing female circumcision, and she believes boys should have the same protection. She also doesn't believe there should be any exceptions for religious belief.
'All babies should be protected and we believe that people's faith is in their heart. There are many Jews who are devout with their religion, but there are lots of religious practices that people leave as they become more aware really of the reason for it,' Chapin said.
'Human sacrifice is in the Bible, and we don't do that. Many people practice religion and their customs selectively,' she said.
'Religious practices change over time, so Intact America ( http://www.intactamerica.org ) is primarily focused on medical circumcision but no, we don't believe there should be an exception for religious circumcision,' Chapin said.' - WND, March 05, 2010
ISRAELI INTACTIVIST VIEWS (IN HEBREW)
> http://www.britmila.org.il <
> Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <
> Kahal / Uncircumcised Israeli Parents' Group (Israel, in Hebrew) <
JEWISH INTACTIVIST VIEWS (IN ENGLISH)
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <
> Jews Opposing Circumcision (USA) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <
> An Alternative to the Milah, Brit Shalom <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <
> One Rabbis' Thoughts on Circumcision, by Rabbi Natan Segal, 2007 <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <
> The Case Against Circumcision by Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <
> The Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
> By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community (UK, USA)
♥ Homeopathy International 1 on 2010-08-29
This is just a forum. Assume posts are not from medical professionals.
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> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
'Jewish law is an evolving process that has always taken into account new developments in science and understanding, and attempted to integrate them. Given what is known about life-threatening complications of neonatal circumcision, there is an argument from within Judaism to adapt Jewish law, so that the circumcision of helpless, non-consenting babies becomes forbidden, not demanded.'
- J. Goodman, MA, MBChB, Jewish circumcision: an alternative perspective. BJU Int 1999; 83 Suppl 1:22-27.
http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/goodman1999/
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Mormons prohibit circumcision. In Moroni 8:8, in the Book of Mormon it is written that 'the law of circumcision is done away in me.'
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Published in Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), March 16, 2000.
'Male circumcision is also mutilation'
Professor Yngve Hofvander
Circumcision of boys is a cruel and very painful operation. It contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and should be called mutilation, just like female circumcision is now. So writes Professor Yngve Hofvander, former head of International Child Health at Uppsala University, regarding a proposed law tabled in parliament. The statement supporting the law is seriously conflicted. It would be logical even to ban male circumcision, he says. But first of all, the issue should be brought out into the light so that religious and cultural attitudes can undergo change. At the time of writing this, a tragic case has opened at the Stockholm City Court. A small Moslem boy was circumcised by a doctor in private practice, he screamed for several hours thereafter and was given a pain-relieving injection that was obviously of an incorrect dosage; shortly thereafter he ceased breathing and his life could not be saved.
SINCE THERE ARE currently considerable millions of boys circumcised annually - can all their parents really be at fault for having it done?
I want to answer 'unquestioningly yes' to this question. Many millions of girls are sexually mutilated annually - are their parents right or wrong? Many millions of Chinese girls had their feet bound so that they did not develop - were their parents right or wrong? It was the custom to beat children (with support from authorities, including pronouncements in the Bible!) - were their parents right or wrong? Up until 200 years ago it was the religious custom at Jewish circumcisions to suck blood from the circumcised penis (thereafter forbidden when it was shown to spread syphilis and tuberculosis) - was it right or wrong of the parents to accept this practice?
The above-mentioned often-bizarre traditions and practices have had social, cultural and sometimes legal acceptance, within their respective cultural worlds. Afterwards, in accord with human justice principles, they were no longer tolerated and were forbidden by law or forced out of practice.
http://www.cirp.org/news/dagensnyheter03-16-01/
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Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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PERSPECTIVES FROM FINLAND
Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland, Helsinki 25.8.2003
'The Central Union for Child Welfare considers that circumcision of boys that violates the personal integrity of the boys is not acceptable unless it is done for medical reasons to treat an illness. The basis for the measures of a society must be an unconditional respect for the bodily integrity of an under-aged person.
Circumcision intervenes in the sexual integrity of a male child causing a permanent change in organisms and has consequences pertaining to both health and quality of life.
The circumcision of girls is rightly considered as inhuman mutilation of the genitals and is punished abuse. Also boys must be guaranteed a similar protection by law.
The Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland hopes that the working group in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will consider measures to bring about a cultural change that will secure the integrity of children and leads to the end of circumcision.'
- Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland, Helsinki 25.8.2003
Presented to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2003)
http://www.cirp.org/library/statements/finland2003/
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
'Jewish law is an evolving process that has always taken into account new developments in science and understanding, and attempted to integrate them. Given what is known about life-threatening complications of neonatal circumcision, there is an argument from within Judaism to adapt Jewish law, so that the circumcision of helpless, non-consenting babies becomes forbidden, not demanded.'
- J. Goodman, MA, MBChB, Jewish circumcision: an alternative perspective. BJU Int 1999; 83 Suppl 1:22-27.
http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/goodman1999/
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Mormons prohibit circumcision. In Moroni 8:8, in the Book of Mormon it is written that 'the law of circumcision is done away in me.'
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Published in Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), March 16, 2000.
'Male circumcision is also mutilation'
Professor Yngve Hofvander
Circumcision of boys is a cruel and very painful operation. It contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and should be called mutilation, just like female circumcision is now. So writes Professor Yngve Hofvander, former head of International Child Health at Uppsala University, regarding a proposed law tabled in parliament. The statement supporting the law is seriously conflicted. It would be logical even to ban male circumcision, he says. But first of all, the issue should be brought out into the light so that religious and cultural attitudes can undergo change. At the time of writing this, a tragic case has opened at the Stockholm City Court. A small Moslem boy was circumcised by a doctor in private practice, he screamed for several hours thereafter and was given a pain-relieving injection that was obviously of an incorrect dosage; shortly thereafter he ceased breathing and his life could not be saved.
SINCE THERE ARE currently considerable millions of boys circumcised annually - can all their parents really be at fault for having it done?
I want to answer 'unquestioningly yes' to this question. Many millions of girls are sexually mutilated annually - are their parents right or wrong? Many millions of Chinese girls had their feet bound so that they did not develop - were their parents right or wrong? It was the custom to beat children (with support from authorities, including pronouncements in the Bible!) - were their parents right or wrong? Up until 200 years ago it was the religious custom at Jewish circumcisions to suck blood from the circumcised penis (thereafter forbidden when it was shown to spread syphilis and tuberculosis) - was it right or wrong of the parents to accept this practice?
The above-mentioned often-bizarre traditions and practices have had social, cultural and sometimes legal acceptance, within their respective cultural worlds. Afterwards, in accord with human justice principles, they were no longer tolerated and were forbidden by law or forced out of practice.
http://www.cirp.org/news/dagensnyheter03-16-01/
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Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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PERSPECTIVES FROM FINLAND
Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland, Helsinki 25.8.2003
'The Central Union for Child Welfare considers that circumcision of boys that violates the personal integrity of the boys is not acceptable unless it is done for medical reasons to treat an illness. The basis for the measures of a society must be an unconditional respect for the bodily integrity of an under-aged person.
Circumcision intervenes in the sexual integrity of a male child causing a permanent change in organisms and has consequences pertaining to both health and quality of life.
The circumcision of girls is rightly considered as inhuman mutilation of the genitals and is punished abuse. Also boys must be guaranteed a similar protection by law.
The Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland hopes that the working group in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will consider measures to bring about a cultural change that will secure the integrity of children and leads to the end of circumcision.'
- Central Union for Child Welfare in Finland, Helsinki 25.8.2003
Presented to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2003)
http://www.cirp.org/library/statements/finland2003/
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
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Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), March 16, 2000.
Professor Yngve Hofvander
'Male circumcision is also mutilation'
Circumcision of boys is a cruel and very painful operation. It contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and should be called mutilation, just like female circumcision is now. So writes Professor Yngve Hofvander, former head of International Child Health at Uppsala University, regarding a proposed law tabled in parliament. The statement supporting the law is seriously conflicted. It would be logical even to ban male circumcision, he says. But first of all, the issue should be brought out into the light so that religious and cultural attitudes can undergo change. At the time of writing this, a tragic case has opened at the Stockholm City Court. A small Moslem boy was circumcised by a doctor in private practice, he screamed for several hours thereafter and was given a pain-relieving injection that was obviously of an incorrect dosage; shortly thereafter he ceased breathing and his life could not be saved.
This is a medically meaningless operation - thus no complications can be considered acceptable. And yet a child becomes a victim in a ritual that is characterised by the demands of adults.
In the current debate about this operation, one could easily get the impression that it is a particularly Jewish custom. Representatives of the Jewish faith have been most articulate - but Jewish circumcision is clearly in a minority.
The situation is as follows. There are four different groups that practice circumcision. The Jewish: going back to Abraham 3 000 year ago (but already in existence 2000 years before that). Done on the eighth day, involves around 100 boys in Sweden. The Moslem: going back around 1300 years to the time of the Prophet Mohammed. There is no mention in the Koran and therefore no commandment. Done in the period 2-14 years of age and involves around 3000 boys in Sweden. The traditional African: done at the onset of puberty as an initiation rite for entry to the adult world. This involves several million boys annually. See Mandela's memoirs and his anxiety due to the operation.
The Anglo-Saxon, mostly occurring in the USA: Developed in the middle of the 19th Century as a prophylaxis and treatment for masturbation, but thereafter a hundred other bizarre indications were added. Done to neonates and involves more than a million boys.
It is thus important to see the phenomenon of circumcision in this entire, global context, and not as specifically Jewish, and neither in a provincial Swedish perspective.
CIRCUMCISION IS a cruel and very painful operation. Hemostatic forceps are tightly closely in the narrow end of the immature foreskin, a brunt probe is forced between the foreskin and the glans and pushed around to break the connecting tissues that nature has put in place in babies and young children. One or two haemostats are driven as far as possible in the fold between the glans and foreskin, closed fast and the foreskin pulled out. Forceps are fastened across it and at that point it is cut off - and thus one removes the foreskin, which in the developed state amounts to 10cm2 and contains hundreds of nerve endings for erogenous purposes, and similar quantities of sebaceous glands (sic) that secrete lubricant for similar purposes.
There is really no doubt about whether this process should be denoted as mutilation - for indeed removes healthy tissue is removed from a healthy body part. There has been a mindless fear about calling things by their correct name, due to the risk of offending religious groups. It took some years before one was able to call female circumcision, mutilation - but now this term is officially sanctioned.
Nor is there really any doubt about whether this involves an abuse against a child who has not asked for the operation and who cannot defend himself, beyond trying break free and screaming loudly. One can think of the equivalent situation of an adult man being held down by forceful hands and mutilated without anaesthesia. For babies have a fully developed sense of pain - and memory. The hormonal and biochemical changes that arise in the body correspond to those found during torture.
SINCE THERE ARE currently considerable millions of boys circumcised annually - can all their parents really be at fault for having it done?
I want to answer 'unquestioningly yes' to this question. Many millions of girls are sexually mutilated annually - are their parents right or wrong? Many millions of Chinese girls had their feet bound so that they did not develop - were their parents right or wrong? It was the custom to beat children (with support from authorities, including pronouncements in the Bible!) - were their parents right or wrong? Up until 200 years ago it was the religious custom at Jewish circumcisions to suck blood from the circumcised penis (thereafter forbidden when it was shown to spread syphilis and tuberculosis) - was it right or wrong of the parents to accept this practice?
The above-mentioned often-bizarre traditions and practices have had social, cultural and sometimes legal acceptance, within their respective cultural worlds. Afterwards, in accord with human justice principles, they were no longer tolerated and were forbidden by law or forced out of practice.
So certainly millions of people can be wrong. There are many other examples of wrongful practices that have been inflicted particularly on children, or others without power or whose voices were not heard.
So I say that the time has now come to seriously question male circumcision and mutilation. To this end we have a remarkable tool in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which can indeed be applied in many contexts, including the planning of housing and road crossings. Article 19 of the convention states that all legal measures should be taken to protect children against all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse. And (as stated in Article 24) countries that sign the convention are required to take all effective and appropriate measures to eliminate traditional customs that are harmful to the health of children. Could this be stated more clearly? Moreover, children have priority when interpreting the convention - whenever there is any difference between the rights of adults and children.
But to change immigrant traditions, especially those with religious overtones, is extremely difficult. Not least in the case where a much longed-for party is an integral part of the ceremony. What makes it even harder to work against circumcision is that it is a very lucrative business for those doctors who devote themselves to this industry as 'village barbers'. This conclusion was very evident at an international symposium on the subject in Sydney recently. One cannot count on any supportive lead from within these circles.
There are however some bright aspects. In many places around the world people have begun to practice circumcision without surgery, buy while carrying out the whole ceremony in all other respects. This is to oblige the many parents who cannot accept that their child should be mutilated, but who still want to be connected with their religious traditions. It is remarkable however that this has not been introduced in Sweden; no religious representative says it would be acceptable: 'it would like vaccinating with water'. Is there no innovator who can contemplate breaking the ice?
The proposed bill is now before the parliament and will be reviewed by The Standing Committee on Social and Health Matters and in the parliamentary chamber. Of course from a medical point of view it would be only logical to ban the phenomenon, as was done with female circumcision. It would however be unrealistic to demand this, not primarily due to fear that the operation would then be transferred overseas, but rather to allow time for a necessary change in attitude. Bringing the phenomenon out into the light where it has never been before, and freely debating it, would assist this process.
At the above-mentioned international circumcision congress in Sydney in December of 2000, there were appeals from many parties that Sweden must continue to stand out as a good model of child health care, and not further sanction the circumcision of boys with an law officially accepting circumcision as such (even with safe surgical measures). The law would go against all the good forces around the world working for enlightenment and to end circumcision.
As a minimum, the legislation must firmly state that circumcision is contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and that the law - if it is to be - should have a time limit while awaiting a very welcome change in attitudes.
Professor Yngve Hofvander
- Professor Yngve Hofvander. Male circumcision is also mutilation.
Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), 16 March 2001.
Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), March 16, 2000.
Professor Yngve Hofvander
'Male circumcision is also mutilation'
Circumcision of boys is a cruel and very painful operation. It contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and should be called mutilation, just like female circumcision is now. So writes Professor Yngve Hofvander, former head of International Child Health at Uppsala University, regarding a proposed law tabled in parliament. The statement supporting the law is seriously conflicted. It would be logical even to ban male circumcision, he says. But first of all, the issue should be brought out into the light so that religious and cultural attitudes can undergo change. At the time of writing this, a tragic case has opened at the Stockholm City Court. A small Moslem boy was circumcised by a doctor in private practice, he screamed for several hours thereafter and was given a pain-relieving injection that was obviously of an incorrect dosage; shortly thereafter he ceased breathing and his life could not be saved.
This is a medically meaningless operation - thus no complications can be considered acceptable. And yet a child becomes a victim in a ritual that is characterised by the demands of adults.
In the current debate about this operation, one could easily get the impression that it is a particularly Jewish custom. Representatives of the Jewish faith have been most articulate - but Jewish circumcision is clearly in a minority.
The situation is as follows. There are four different groups that practice circumcision. The Jewish: going back to Abraham 3 000 year ago (but already in existence 2000 years before that). Done on the eighth day, involves around 100 boys in Sweden. The Moslem: going back around 1300 years to the time of the Prophet Mohammed. There is no mention in the Koran and therefore no commandment. Done in the period 2-14 years of age and involves around 3000 boys in Sweden. The traditional African: done at the onset of puberty as an initiation rite for entry to the adult world. This involves several million boys annually. See Mandela's memoirs and his anxiety due to the operation.
The Anglo-Saxon, mostly occurring in the USA: Developed in the middle of the 19th Century as a prophylaxis and treatment for masturbation, but thereafter a hundred other bizarre indications were added. Done to neonates and involves more than a million boys.
It is thus important to see the phenomenon of circumcision in this entire, global context, and not as specifically Jewish, and neither in a provincial Swedish perspective.
CIRCUMCISION IS a cruel and very painful operation. Hemostatic forceps are tightly closely in the narrow end of the immature foreskin, a brunt probe is forced between the foreskin and the glans and pushed around to break the connecting tissues that nature has put in place in babies and young children. One or two haemostats are driven as far as possible in the fold between the glans and foreskin, closed fast and the foreskin pulled out. Forceps are fastened across it and at that point it is cut off - and thus one removes the foreskin, which in the developed state amounts to 10cm2 and contains hundreds of nerve endings for erogenous purposes, and similar quantities of sebaceous glands (sic) that secrete lubricant for similar purposes.
There is really no doubt about whether this process should be denoted as mutilation - for indeed removes healthy tissue is removed from a healthy body part. There has been a mindless fear about calling things by their correct name, due to the risk of offending religious groups. It took some years before one was able to call female circumcision, mutilation - but now this term is officially sanctioned.
Nor is there really any doubt about whether this involves an abuse against a child who has not asked for the operation and who cannot defend himself, beyond trying break free and screaming loudly. One can think of the equivalent situation of an adult man being held down by forceful hands and mutilated without anaesthesia. For babies have a fully developed sense of pain - and memory. The hormonal and biochemical changes that arise in the body correspond to those found during torture.
SINCE THERE ARE currently considerable millions of boys circumcised annually - can all their parents really be at fault for having it done?
I want to answer 'unquestioningly yes' to this question. Many millions of girls are sexually mutilated annually - are their parents right or wrong? Many millions of Chinese girls had their feet bound so that they did not develop - were their parents right or wrong? It was the custom to beat children (with support from authorities, including pronouncements in the Bible!) - were their parents right or wrong? Up until 200 years ago it was the religious custom at Jewish circumcisions to suck blood from the circumcised penis (thereafter forbidden when it was shown to spread syphilis and tuberculosis) - was it right or wrong of the parents to accept this practice?
The above-mentioned often-bizarre traditions and practices have had social, cultural and sometimes legal acceptance, within their respective cultural worlds. Afterwards, in accord with human justice principles, they were no longer tolerated and were forbidden by law or forced out of practice.
So certainly millions of people can be wrong. There are many other examples of wrongful practices that have been inflicted particularly on children, or others without power or whose voices were not heard.
So I say that the time has now come to seriously question male circumcision and mutilation. To this end we have a remarkable tool in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which can indeed be applied in many contexts, including the planning of housing and road crossings. Article 19 of the convention states that all legal measures should be taken to protect children against all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse. And (as stated in Article 24) countries that sign the convention are required to take all effective and appropriate measures to eliminate traditional customs that are harmful to the health of children. Could this be stated more clearly? Moreover, children have priority when interpreting the convention - whenever there is any difference between the rights of adults and children.
But to change immigrant traditions, especially those with religious overtones, is extremely difficult. Not least in the case where a much longed-for party is an integral part of the ceremony. What makes it even harder to work against circumcision is that it is a very lucrative business for those doctors who devote themselves to this industry as 'village barbers'. This conclusion was very evident at an international symposium on the subject in Sydney recently. One cannot count on any supportive lead from within these circles.
There are however some bright aspects. In many places around the world people have begun to practice circumcision without surgery, buy while carrying out the whole ceremony in all other respects. This is to oblige the many parents who cannot accept that their child should be mutilated, but who still want to be connected with their religious traditions. It is remarkable however that this has not been introduced in Sweden; no religious representative says it would be acceptable: 'it would like vaccinating with water'. Is there no innovator who can contemplate breaking the ice?
The proposed bill is now before the parliament and will be reviewed by The Standing Committee on Social and Health Matters and in the parliamentary chamber. Of course from a medical point of view it would be only logical to ban the phenomenon, as was done with female circumcision. It would however be unrealistic to demand this, not primarily due to fear that the operation would then be transferred overseas, but rather to allow time for a necessary change in attitude. Bringing the phenomenon out into the light where it has never been before, and freely debating it, would assist this process.
At the above-mentioned international circumcision congress in Sydney in December of 2000, there were appeals from many parties that Sweden must continue to stand out as a good model of child health care, and not further sanction the circumcision of boys with an law officially accepting circumcision as such (even with safe surgical measures). The law would go against all the good forces around the world working for enlightenment and to end circumcision.
As a minimum, the legislation must firmly state that circumcision is contrary to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and that the law - if it is to be - should have a time limit while awaiting a very welcome change in attitudes.
Professor Yngve Hofvander
- Professor Yngve Hofvander. Male circumcision is also mutilation.
Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), 16 March 2001.
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
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RELATED LINKS:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> http://www.britmila.org.il <
> Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.gonen.us <
> Gonen Al Hayeled / Protect the Child (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <
> Kahal / Intact Israeli Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew) <
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RELATED LINKS:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Jews Opposing Circumcision (Israel, USA) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <
> By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community (UK, Israel, USA) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
> *Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom: Alternative Non-Circumcision Rituals (Israel, UK) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <
> One Rabbi Speaks Out Against Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, CA) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <
> By Stacey Greenberg, 2004. My Son: The Little Jew with a Foreskin. (Israel, USA) <
> http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-1-0/little-jew.shtml.... <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <
> Paul M. Fleiss, MD., The Case Against Circumcision (UK) <
> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <
> by Laura Shanley. A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision (Israel, USA) <
> http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/circarticle.... <
> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
'The US male infant circumcision rate is now 32%, according to the CDC. This is great news for Intactivists and even better news for the more than one million boys who are now remaining intact every year.
The statistic was released during a presentation at the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna, Austria, late last month. Presenters were C. El Bcheraoui, K. Kretsinger, and R. Chen from the CDC, and J. Greenspan from SDI Health. The CDC hired SDI Health, one of the countrys largest health-care analysts, to do the research. They looked at 21% of hospital records for the last 4 years and found that the circumcision rate has continued to drop, from 56% in 2006, to 32.5% in 2009. SDI Health has worked with the CDC on previous studies. US circumcision rates peaked at about 85% in 1979.
Less than 1/10th of one percent of adult males opt for circumcision, indicating that circumcision has never been medically useful.'
- Circumcision Rates Plummet: 2 Out of 3 Boys Escape the Knife
http://www.icgi.org/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RELATED LINKS:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> http://www.britmila.org.il <
> Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.gonen.us <
> Gonen Al Hayeled / Protect the Child (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <
> Kahal / Intact Israeli Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew) <
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RELATED LINKS:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Jews Opposing Circumcision (Israel, USA) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <
> By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community (UK, Israel, USA) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
> *Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom: Alternative Non-Circumcision Rituals (Israel, UK) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <
> One Rabbi Speaks Out Against Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, CA) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <
> By Stacey Greenberg, 2004. My Son: The Little Jew with a Foreskin. (Israel, USA) <
> http://www.mothering.com/10-0-0/html/10-1-0/little-jew.shtml.... <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <
> Paul M. Fleiss, MD., The Case Against Circumcision (UK) <
> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <
> by Laura Shanley. A Jewish Woman Denounces Circumcision (Israel, USA) <
> http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/miscarticles/circarticle.... <
> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
'The US male infant circumcision rate is now 32%, according to the CDC. This is great news for Intactivists and even better news for the more than one million boys who are now remaining intact every year.
The statistic was released during a presentation at the AIDS 2010 conference in Vienna, Austria, late last month. Presenters were C. El Bcheraoui, K. Kretsinger, and R. Chen from the CDC, and J. Greenspan from SDI Health. The CDC hired SDI Health, one of the countrys largest health-care analysts, to do the research. They looked at 21% of hospital records for the last 4 years and found that the circumcision rate has continued to drop, from 56% in 2006, to 32.5% in 2009. SDI Health has worked with the CDC on previous studies. US circumcision rates peaked at about 85% in 1979.
Less than 1/10th of one percent of adult males opt for circumcision, indicating that circumcision has never been medically useful.'
- Circumcision Rates Plummet: 2 Out of 3 Boys Escape the Knife
http://www.icgi.org/
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Published in The Forward, Sept. 2005
Jay Michaelson, Chief Editor of Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture
That circumcision reduces sexual pleasure, and that it is fully experienced by the traumatized infant, is now well established. Jewish intellectuals have debated the practice's merits in magazines and at conferences, and even bloodless 'brit shalom' ('covenant of peace') rituals have been developed to replace circumcision surgery... 'the details of circumcision really are unsettling...as every new parent
knows, it's a brutal, bloody operation that, neonatal science now tells
us, is fully experienced by the newborn infant. It's trauma, it's
mutilation and it's done without consent...the evidence of the damage done by circumcision is sound. Yet few today really claim there is no harm done; the claim is that the harm is justified by various benefits... As these facts about circumcision become known, the practice may well become a source of controversy within the Jewish community. Every day, Jewish boys are having their sexual organs damaged without their consent and even without the knowing consent of their parents... one wonders if the current wave of anti-circumcision backlash, formerly the domain of marginal eccentrics but now the purview of Oxford University Press, might cause the practice to diminish in importance.
- Jay Michaelson, The Forward, Sept. 2005
Jay Michaelson's next book is God in Your Body (Jewish Lights, 2006). He
is the chief editor of Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture.
'Within the Jewish community, there is growing disagreement about circumcision. Some feel that circumcision contradicts other aspects of the Jewish religion. The Torah forbids the torture or causing of pain to any living creature, especially physically assaulting or harming another person (Exodus 21:18-27). Jewish law specifically forbids body modification, including the cutting or marking of the human body (Lev. 19:28). Jews are also required to help those who are helpless, such as newborn infants, and are exempt from performing religious duties that would cause harm to others.' - Ryan McAllister, Ph.D.
http://www.notjustskin.org/node/7
Dr Leonard Glick, MA, MD, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Hampshire College.
'A number of years ago I learned that infants undergoing circumcision cry in fact, scream in an entirely distinctive manner. That ought to have rung an alarm bell in my mind; instead it just left me feeling vaguely uneasy. Yet if anyone should have understood what I now call the circumcision dilemma, it was me. Im a cultural anthropologist with a medical background, and I taught European Jewish history to college students. In an earlier book, Abrahams Heirs: Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe, I mentioned circumcision incidentally a few times...it removes the most sensitive tissue in the male genitals. Mothers dont have to be told that a normal newborn infant, male or female, is a perfectly formed little person, with nothing useless, nothing designed by nature for removal! If there can be no good reason for removal of a body part from any normal, non-consenting person, circumcision raises a serious ethical issue.
I think thats unjust, and I wrote this book to try to explain why. Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America was published by Oxford University Press in June 2005. I hope it will help to show why routine circumcision should have no place in American society.'
- Dr Leonard Glick, MA, MD, PhD,. Compleat Mother Magazine, No. 79, Fall 2005, p. 25
Dr Leonard Glick, MA, MD, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Hampshire College.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Published in The Forward, Sept. 2005
Jay Michaelson, Chief Editor of Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture
That circumcision reduces sexual pleasure, and that it is fully experienced by the traumatized infant, is now well established. Jewish intellectuals have debated the practice's merits in magazines and at conferences, and even bloodless 'brit shalom' ('covenant of peace') rituals have been developed to replace circumcision surgery... 'the details of circumcision really are unsettling...as every new parent
knows, it's a brutal, bloody operation that, neonatal science now tells
us, is fully experienced by the newborn infant. It's trauma, it's
mutilation and it's done without consent...the evidence of the damage done by circumcision is sound. Yet few today really claim there is no harm done; the claim is that the harm is justified by various benefits... As these facts about circumcision become known, the practice may well become a source of controversy within the Jewish community. Every day, Jewish boys are having their sexual organs damaged without their consent and even without the knowing consent of their parents... one wonders if the current wave of anti-circumcision backlash, formerly the domain of marginal eccentrics but now the purview of Oxford University Press, might cause the practice to diminish in importance.
- Jay Michaelson, The Forward, Sept. 2005
Jay Michaelson's next book is God in Your Body (Jewish Lights, 2006). He
is the chief editor of Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture.
'Within the Jewish community, there is growing disagreement about circumcision. Some feel that circumcision contradicts other aspects of the Jewish religion. The Torah forbids the torture or causing of pain to any living creature, especially physically assaulting or harming another person (Exodus 21:18-27). Jewish law specifically forbids body modification, including the cutting or marking of the human body (Lev. 19:28). Jews are also required to help those who are helpless, such as newborn infants, and are exempt from performing religious duties that would cause harm to others.' - Ryan McAllister, Ph.D.
http://www.notjustskin.org/node/7
Dr Leonard Glick, MA, MD, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Hampshire College.
'A number of years ago I learned that infants undergoing circumcision cry in fact, scream in an entirely distinctive manner. That ought to have rung an alarm bell in my mind; instead it just left me feeling vaguely uneasy. Yet if anyone should have understood what I now call the circumcision dilemma, it was me. Im a cultural anthropologist with a medical background, and I taught European Jewish history to college students. In an earlier book, Abrahams Heirs: Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe, I mentioned circumcision incidentally a few times...it removes the most sensitive tissue in the male genitals. Mothers dont have to be told that a normal newborn infant, male or female, is a perfectly formed little person, with nothing useless, nothing designed by nature for removal! If there can be no good reason for removal of a body part from any normal, non-consenting person, circumcision raises a serious ethical issue.
I think thats unjust, and I wrote this book to try to explain why. Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America was published by Oxford University Press in June 2005. I hope it will help to show why routine circumcision should have no place in American society.'
- Dr Leonard Glick, MA, MD, PhD,. Compleat Mother Magazine, No. 79, Fall 2005, p. 25
Dr Leonard Glick, MA, MD, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Hampshire College.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
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