The ABC Homeopathy Forum
Ending Circumcision in the Jewish Community? By Moshe Rothenberg, CSW.............Brit B'lee Milah (Covenant Without Cutting)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *ENDING CIRCUMCISION IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY?
Moshe Rothenberg
http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html
Abstract:
Judaism is a tremendously rich, pro-survival religion that, because of continuous misinformation and mistreatment, is widely misunderstood. However, the mistakes it carries with it, such as the ritual of circumcision (brit milah), should be considered no differently from the way they are considered by society in general, no matter how centrally important they seem to Jewish culture.
Circumcision is child abuse. It is medically unnecessary. It is a poor way to introduce a newborn male into the world and into the Jewish community.
This presentation will focus on my experience as an active Jew living in an observant Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, who chose not to have his son circumcised. I will present the brit (literally 'covenant') b'lee milah (without circumcision) ceremony that my wife, a full participant in the decision, and I held on the eighth day of our son Sammy's life.
ENDING CIRCUMCISION IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY? By Moshe Rothenberg
http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html
Biographical Notes
Moshe Rothenberg, CSW, is a social worker for the New York City Board of Education. He received his MSW in Social Group Work at Yeshiva University - Wurzweiler School of Social Work (1973) and did post-graduate work in group and family therapy at Albert Einstein School of Medicine. Mr. Rothenberg initiated and coordinated two parent groups providing advocacy and counseling services for the Miskon-Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services in New York. He teaches Re-evaluation Counseling to adults on such issues as parenting, feminism, and racism, and lead parent support groups. He is an educator on the subject of Brit B'lee Milah both within and outside of the Jewish community in which he lives.
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NEW YORK MAGAZINE, Oct. 18, 2009
Jewish But Dont Want to Circumcise? Theres an option for you.
By Emma Rosenblum
Just as more American parents are choosing not to circumcise their children, so too are
more Jewish parents reconsidering the practice. Devised by ultraliberal rabbis, the Brit
Shalom is a relatively new and increasingly popular, if still rare, ceremony designed for
parents who want to participate in a key part of the Jewish tradition while foregoing
circumcision. Essentially a bris without the cutting, the ceremony involves a naming rite for the baby, prayers spoken by the rabbi, and an explanation of the name from the
parents, if they so choose. Its a way of welcoming the child into the Jewish people,
says Rabbi Peter Schweitzer of the City Congregation of Humanistic Judaism
on the Upper West Side. Although the vast majority of rabbis would vehemently
disagree, Schweitzer maintains that circumcision isnt a requirement of Judaism. If
youve committed to raising your child Jewish, thats really all that matters to us, he
says.
Gail Karp, a Reform Jewish writer living in Harlem, opted for a Brit Shalom when her
son was born in 2007. She allows that she sometimes wonders if he may one day feel
different from other Jews, but says she ultimately made the right decision: Im certain
that if he wants to be religious, being circumcised isnt a prerequisite.
http://www.citycongregation.org/images/NYMag_Non-Circumcisio....
Rabbi Peter Schweitzer writes...
'For a variety of reasons, for example, there are an increasing number of Jewish parents who choose not to circumcise their sons. Yet they want to introduce these infants into membership in the Jewish people with a ritual that formalizes this connection. Fortunately, there are rabbis like myself who do not regard circumcision as the sine qua non of Jewish male identity. We will gladly officiate at ceremonies that equally welcome boys and girls into the community.'
- Rabbi Peter Schweitzer,
Jewish Currents, MAY-JUNE, 2007
DR. MOMMA.ORG
'Interestingly, a large percentage of the active intactivists (those who believe that all human beings deserve their basic right to bodily integrity) are Jewish men and women. Jewish physician, Dr. Fleiss, and historian, Dr. Hodges, wrote the excellent book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Circumcision and Dr. Ronald Goldman (also a Jewish man) authored both Questioning Circumcision: A Jewish Perspective and Circumcision, The Hidden Trauma : How an American Cultural Practice Affects Infants and Ultimately Us All.'
* http://www.drmomma.org/2009/06/circumcision-jewish-fathers-m.... *
THE JERUSALEM REPORT APRIL 25, 2011
'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
THE JERUSALEM REPORT APRIL 25, 2011
'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. ( http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/maimonides/ )
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
'AS AN INCREASING NUMBER OF AMERICANS including a sizable number of American Jews question the act of male circumcision, a group of San Francisco activists are advocating to ban circumcision, or what they call male genital mutilation... Many of the leading activists against circumcision around the country are Jewish.'
- Jerusalem Post, Challenging the Circumcision Myth, (Israel) 04/10/2011
http://mgmbill.org/hearing.htm
'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
'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, (Israel) 3/11/10.
'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
You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves (Leviticus 19:28)
Rabbi Steven Blane: 'It is a violation of Torah law to physically assault or harm another person (Exodus 21:18-27). Jewish law recognizes a newborn infant as a person if the infant has been born after a full-term pregnancy.
With circumcision though, we generally overlook the humanity of the newborn infant and his awareness, perception, sensitivity, and meaningful responsiveness, though these abilities have been thoroughly documented by the latest research.'
- Rabbi Steven Blane
http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html
'Betty Katz-Sperlich is a Jewish woman living in New Mexico, USA. A registered nurse, she is co-founder of Nurses for the Rights of the Child ( http://www.nurses.cirp.org ). She refused to circumcise her son, now aged 13.
'I've been called anti-Semitic by non-Jewish people. But as a Jew, how could I not speak up against Jewish circumcision? I would be letting Jewish babies down.'
Jenny Goodman, from north London, also refused to circumcise her son. ( http://www.cirp.org/library/cultural/goodman1999/ ) She is a doctor and a psychotherapist as well as a Jewish feminist. 'I know at least a dozen non-circumcised boys whose parents are identified as Jews,' she says. She adamantly opposes circumcision, claiming that it is physically and psychologically damaging to the child and violates human rights: 'It also violates the most important of medical ethics, above all do no harm.' ( http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/fourth/goodman.html )
Opposition to male circumcision in the UK had its first big breakthrough 18 months ago with the controversial Channel 4 documentary It's a Boy!, by Jewish director Victor Schonfeld. It slammed the practice of Jewish circumcision as unnecessary and barbaric, with potentially horrific consequences. Mr. Schonfeld claims that public consensus against it in the UK is growing.'
Nursing Times, 2/19/1997, p. 12-13. (UK)
'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.'
Professor Michael S. Kimmel, TIKKUN, Volume 16, Number 3, May/June, 2001.
http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/kimmel1/
RELATED LINKS:
ISRAELI ANTI-CIRCUMCISION VIEWS (IN HEBREW)
> http://www.britmila.org.il <
> Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <
> Kahal / Uncircumcised Israeli Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew) <
RELATED LINKS:
JEWISH ANTI-CIRCUMCISION VIEWS (IN ENGLISH)
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <
> Jews Opposing Circumcision (USA) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
> By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community (UK, USA) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <
> *Brit B'lee Milah (Covenant Without Cutting): An Alternative Non-Circumcision Ritual (UK) <
>
http://www.citycongregation.org/images/NYMag_Non-Circumcisio.... <
> Jewish But Dont Want to Circumcise? Theres an option for you.
By Emma Rosenblum, New York Mag, 2009 <
> 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.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <
> Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments by Lisa Braver Moss <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK)
♥ Homeopathy International 1 on 2010-10-07
This is just a forum. Assume posts are not from medical professionals.
Alternative Medicine, Homeopathy and Holistic Treatment of the Body
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Jewish Doctors Opposing Circumcision Surgery
'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.
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org
___________________________________________________________________
Physicians have a duty to refuse to perform circumcision. They also must educate parents who, out of ignorance or misguidance, request this surgery for their sons. The healthcare professional's obligation is to protect the interests of the child. It is unethical in the extreme to force upon a child an amputation he almost certainly would never have chosen for himself.
- Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH. Assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is the author of numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.
___________________________________________________________________
'a barbarous and primitive act that must be banished foreverand quickly.'
'This phenomenon is getting public attention, perhaps for the first time, after the establishment of the Association Against Genital Mutilation ( http://www.britmila.org.il ). 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
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Jewish Doctors Opposing Circumcision Surgery
'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.
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org
___________________________________________________________________
Physicians have a duty to refuse to perform circumcision. They also must educate parents who, out of ignorance or misguidance, request this surgery for their sons. The healthcare professional's obligation is to protect the interests of the child. It is unethical in the extreme to force upon a child an amputation he almost certainly would never have chosen for himself.
- Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH. Assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is the author of numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.
___________________________________________________________________
'a barbarous and primitive act that must be banished foreverand quickly.'
'This phenomenon is getting public attention, perhaps for the first time, after the establishment of the Association Against Genital Mutilation ( http://www.britmila.org.il ). 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
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
How Does Circumcision Harm?
The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International and Worldwide)
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH, is assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is the author of numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.
Published in Mothering: The Magazine of Natural Family Living, Winter 1997, pp. 36--45.
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
Circumcision denudes: Depending on the amount of skin cut off, circumcision robs a male of as much as 80 percent or more of his penile skin. Depending on the foreskin's length, cutting it off makes the penis as much as 25 percent or more shorter. Careful anatomical investigations have shown that circumcision cuts off more than 3 feet of veins, arteries, and capillaries, 240 feet of nerves, and more than 20,000 nerve endings.31 The foreskin's muscles, glands, mucous membrane, and epithelial tissue are destroyed, as well.
Circumcision desensitizes: Circumcision desensitizes the penis radically. Foreskin amputation means severing the rich nerve network and all the nerve receptors in the foreskin itself. Circumcision almost always damages or destroys the frenulum. The loss of the protective foreskin desensitizes the glans. Because the membrane covering the permanently externalized glans is now subjected to constant abrasion and irritation, it keratinizes, becoming dry and tough. The nerve endings in the glans, which in the intact penis are just beneath the surface of the mucous membrane, are now buried by successive layers of keratinization. The denuded glans takes on a dull, grayish, sclerotic appearance.
Circumcision disables: The amputation of so much penile skin permanently immobilizes whatever skin remains, preventing it from gliding freely over the shaft and glans. This loss of mobility destroys the mechanism by which the glans is normally stimulated. When the circumcised penis becomes erect, the immobilized remaining skin is stretched, sometimes so tightly that not enough skin is left to cover the erect shaft. Hair-bearing skin from the groin and scrotum is often pulled onto the shaft, where hair is not normally found. The surgically externalized mucous membrane of the glans has no sebaceous glands. Without the protection and emollients of the foreskin, it dries out, making it susceptible to cracking and bleeding.
Circumcision disfigures: Circumcision alters the appearance of the penis drastically. It permanently externalizes the glans, normally an internal organ. Circumcision leaves a large circumferential surgical scar on the penile shaft. Because circumcision usually necessitates tearing the foreskin from the glans, pieces of the glans may be torn off, too, leaving it pitted and scarred. Shreds of foreskin may adhere to the raw glans, forming tags and bridges of dangling, displaced skin.32
- The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International) http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
Depending on the amount of skin cut off and how the scar forms, the circumcised penis may be permanently twisted, or curve or bow during erection.33 The contraction of the scar tissue may pull the shaft into the abdomen, in effect shortening the penis or burying it completely.34
Circumcision disrupts circulation: Circumcision interrupts the normal circulation of blood throughout the penile skin system and glans. The blood flowing into major penile arteries is obstructed by the line of scar tissue at the point of incision, creating backflow instead of feeding the branches and capillary networks beyond the scar. Deprived of blood, the meatus may contract and scarify, obstructing the flow of urine.35 This condition, known as meatal stenosis, often requires corrective surgery. Meatal stenosis is found almost exclusively among boys who have been circumcised.
Circumcision also severs the lymph vessels, interrupting the circulation of lymph and sometimes causing lymphedema, a painful, disfiguring condition in which the remaining skin of the penis swells with trapped lymph fluid.
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,36 adversely altering the brain's perception centers. Circumcised boys have a lower pain threshold than girls or intact boys.37 Developmental neuropsychologist Dr. James Prescott suggests that circumcision can cause deeper and more disturbing levels of neurological damage, as well. 38, 39
Circumcision is unhygienic and unhealthy: One of the most common myths about circumcision is that it makes the penis cleaner and easier to take care of. This is not true. Eyes without eyelids would not be cleaner; neither would a penis without its foreskin. The artificially externalized glans and meatus of the circumcised penis are constantly exposed to abrasion and dirt, making the circumcised penis, in fact, more unclean. The loss of the protective foreskin leaves the urinary tract vulnerable to invasion by bacterial and viral pathogens.
The circumcision wound is larger than most people imagine. It is not just the circular point of union between the outer and inner layers of the remaining skin. Before a baby is circumcised, his foreskin must be torn from his glans, literally skinning it alive. This creates a large open area of raw, bleeding flesh, covered at best with a layer of undeveloped proto-mucosa. Germs can easily enter the damaged tissue and bloodstream through the raw glans and, even more easily, through the incision itself.
Even after the wound has healed, the externalized glans and meatus are still forced into constant unnatural contact with urine, feces, chemically treated diapers, and other contaminants.
Female partners of circumcised men do not report a lower rate of cervical cancer,40 nor does circumcision prevent penile cancer.41 A recent study shows that the penile cancer rate is higher in the US than in Denmark, where circumcision, except among Middle-Eastern immigrant workers, is almost unheard of.42 Indeed, researchers should investigate the possibility that circumcision has actually increased the rate of these diseases.
Circumcision does not prevent acquisition or transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In fact, the US has both the highest percentage of sexually active circumcised males in the Western world and the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. Rigorously controlled prospective studies show that circumcised American men are at a greater risk for bacterial and viral STDs, especially gonorrhea,43 nongonoccal urethritis,44 human papilloma virus,45 herpes simplex virus type 2,46 and chlamydia.47
Circumcision is always risky: Circumcision always carries the risk of serious, even tragic, consequences. Its surgical complication rate is one in 500.48 These complications include uncontrollable bleeding and fatal infections.49 There are many published case reports of gangrene following circumcision.50 Pathogenic bacteria such as staphylococcus, Proteus, Pseudomonas, other coliforms, and even tuberculosis can cause infections leading to death.51, 52 These organisms enter the wound because it provides easy entry, not because the child is predisposed to infection.
Medical journals have published numerous accounts of babies who have had part or all of their glans cut off while they were being circumcised.53, 54, 55 Other fully conscious, unanesthetized babies have had their entire penis burned off with an electrocautery gun.56, 57, 58 The September 1989 Journal of Urology published an account of four such cases.59 The article described the sex-change operation as 'feminizing genitoplasty,' performed on these babies in an attempt to change them into girls. The March 1997 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine described one young person's horror on learning that 'she' had been born a normal male, but that a circumciser had burned his penis off when he was a baby.60 Many other similar cases have been documented.61, 62 Infant circumcision has a reported death rate of one in 500,000.63, 64
Circumcision harms mothers: Scientific studies have consistently shown that circumcision disrupts a child's behavioral development. Studies performed at the University of Colorado School of Medicine showed that circumcision is followed by prolonged, unrestful non-REM (rapid-eye-movement) sleep.65 In response to the lengthy bombardment of their neural pathways with unbearable pain, the circumcised babies withdrew into a kind of semicoma that lasted days or even weeks.
Numerous other studies have proven that circumcision disrupts the mother-infant bond during the crucial period after birth. Research has also shown that circumcision disrupts feeding patterns. In a study at the Washington University School of Medicine, most babies would not nurse right after they were circumcised, and those who did would not look into their mothers' eyes.66
Circumcision violates patients' and human rights: No one has the right to cut off any part of someone else's genitals without that person's competent, fully informed consent. Since it is the infant who must bear the consequences, circumcision violates his legal rights both to refuse treatment and to seek alternative treatment. In 1995, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics stated that only a competent patient can give patient consent or informed consent.67An infant is obviously too young to consent to anything. He must be protected from anyone who would take advantage of his defenselessness. The concept of informed parental permission allows for medical interventions in situations of clear and immediate medical necessity only, such as disease, trauma, or deformity. The human penis in its normal, uncircumcised state satisfies none of these requirements.
Physicians have a duty to refuse to perform circumcision. They also must educate parents who, out of ignorance or misguidance, request this surgery for their sons. The healthcare professional's obligation is to protect the interests of the child. It is unethical in the extreme to force upon a child an amputation he almost certainly would never have chosen for himself.
- The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International) http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International and Worldwide)
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
Paul M. Fleiss, MD, MPH, is assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California Medical Center. He is the author of numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.
Published in Mothering: The Magazine of Natural Family Living, Winter 1997, pp. 36--45.
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
Circumcision denudes: Depending on the amount of skin cut off, circumcision robs a male of as much as 80 percent or more of his penile skin. Depending on the foreskin's length, cutting it off makes the penis as much as 25 percent or more shorter. Careful anatomical investigations have shown that circumcision cuts off more than 3 feet of veins, arteries, and capillaries, 240 feet of nerves, and more than 20,000 nerve endings.31 The foreskin's muscles, glands, mucous membrane, and epithelial tissue are destroyed, as well.
Circumcision desensitizes: Circumcision desensitizes the penis radically. Foreskin amputation means severing the rich nerve network and all the nerve receptors in the foreskin itself. Circumcision almost always damages or destroys the frenulum. The loss of the protective foreskin desensitizes the glans. Because the membrane covering the permanently externalized glans is now subjected to constant abrasion and irritation, it keratinizes, becoming dry and tough. The nerve endings in the glans, which in the intact penis are just beneath the surface of the mucous membrane, are now buried by successive layers of keratinization. The denuded glans takes on a dull, grayish, sclerotic appearance.
Circumcision disables: The amputation of so much penile skin permanently immobilizes whatever skin remains, preventing it from gliding freely over the shaft and glans. This loss of mobility destroys the mechanism by which the glans is normally stimulated. When the circumcised penis becomes erect, the immobilized remaining skin is stretched, sometimes so tightly that not enough skin is left to cover the erect shaft. Hair-bearing skin from the groin and scrotum is often pulled onto the shaft, where hair is not normally found. The surgically externalized mucous membrane of the glans has no sebaceous glands. Without the protection and emollients of the foreskin, it dries out, making it susceptible to cracking and bleeding.
Circumcision disfigures: Circumcision alters the appearance of the penis drastically. It permanently externalizes the glans, normally an internal organ. Circumcision leaves a large circumferential surgical scar on the penile shaft. Because circumcision usually necessitates tearing the foreskin from the glans, pieces of the glans may be torn off, too, leaving it pitted and scarred. Shreds of foreskin may adhere to the raw glans, forming tags and bridges of dangling, displaced skin.32
- The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International) http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
Depending on the amount of skin cut off and how the scar forms, the circumcised penis may be permanently twisted, or curve or bow during erection.33 The contraction of the scar tissue may pull the shaft into the abdomen, in effect shortening the penis or burying it completely.34
Circumcision disrupts circulation: Circumcision interrupts the normal circulation of blood throughout the penile skin system and glans. The blood flowing into major penile arteries is obstructed by the line of scar tissue at the point of incision, creating backflow instead of feeding the branches and capillary networks beyond the scar. Deprived of blood, the meatus may contract and scarify, obstructing the flow of urine.35 This condition, known as meatal stenosis, often requires corrective surgery. Meatal stenosis is found almost exclusively among boys who have been circumcised.
Circumcision also severs the lymph vessels, interrupting the circulation of lymph and sometimes causing lymphedema, a painful, disfiguring condition in which the remaining skin of the penis swells with trapped lymph fluid.
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,36 adversely altering the brain's perception centers. Circumcised boys have a lower pain threshold than girls or intact boys.37 Developmental neuropsychologist Dr. James Prescott suggests that circumcision can cause deeper and more disturbing levels of neurological damage, as well. 38, 39
Circumcision is unhygienic and unhealthy: One of the most common myths about circumcision is that it makes the penis cleaner and easier to take care of. This is not true. Eyes without eyelids would not be cleaner; neither would a penis without its foreskin. The artificially externalized glans and meatus of the circumcised penis are constantly exposed to abrasion and dirt, making the circumcised penis, in fact, more unclean. The loss of the protective foreskin leaves the urinary tract vulnerable to invasion by bacterial and viral pathogens.
The circumcision wound is larger than most people imagine. It is not just the circular point of union between the outer and inner layers of the remaining skin. Before a baby is circumcised, his foreskin must be torn from his glans, literally skinning it alive. This creates a large open area of raw, bleeding flesh, covered at best with a layer of undeveloped proto-mucosa. Germs can easily enter the damaged tissue and bloodstream through the raw glans and, even more easily, through the incision itself.
Even after the wound has healed, the externalized glans and meatus are still forced into constant unnatural contact with urine, feces, chemically treated diapers, and other contaminants.
Female partners of circumcised men do not report a lower rate of cervical cancer,40 nor does circumcision prevent penile cancer.41 A recent study shows that the penile cancer rate is higher in the US than in Denmark, where circumcision, except among Middle-Eastern immigrant workers, is almost unheard of.42 Indeed, researchers should investigate the possibility that circumcision has actually increased the rate of these diseases.
Circumcision does not prevent acquisition or transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). In fact, the US has both the highest percentage of sexually active circumcised males in the Western world and the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. Rigorously controlled prospective studies show that circumcised American men are at a greater risk for bacterial and viral STDs, especially gonorrhea,43 nongonoccal urethritis,44 human papilloma virus,45 herpes simplex virus type 2,46 and chlamydia.47
Circumcision is always risky: Circumcision always carries the risk of serious, even tragic, consequences. Its surgical complication rate is one in 500.48 These complications include uncontrollable bleeding and fatal infections.49 There are many published case reports of gangrene following circumcision.50 Pathogenic bacteria such as staphylococcus, Proteus, Pseudomonas, other coliforms, and even tuberculosis can cause infections leading to death.51, 52 These organisms enter the wound because it provides easy entry, not because the child is predisposed to infection.
Medical journals have published numerous accounts of babies who have had part or all of their glans cut off while they were being circumcised.53, 54, 55 Other fully conscious, unanesthetized babies have had their entire penis burned off with an electrocautery gun.56, 57, 58 The September 1989 Journal of Urology published an account of four such cases.59 The article described the sex-change operation as 'feminizing genitoplasty,' performed on these babies in an attempt to change them into girls. The March 1997 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine described one young person's horror on learning that 'she' had been born a normal male, but that a circumciser had burned his penis off when he was a baby.60 Many other similar cases have been documented.61, 62 Infant circumcision has a reported death rate of one in 500,000.63, 64
Circumcision harms mothers: Scientific studies have consistently shown that circumcision disrupts a child's behavioral development. Studies performed at the University of Colorado School of Medicine showed that circumcision is followed by prolonged, unrestful non-REM (rapid-eye-movement) sleep.65 In response to the lengthy bombardment of their neural pathways with unbearable pain, the circumcised babies withdrew into a kind of semicoma that lasted days or even weeks.
Numerous other studies have proven that circumcision disrupts the mother-infant bond during the crucial period after birth. Research has also shown that circumcision disrupts feeding patterns. In a study at the Washington University School of Medicine, most babies would not nurse right after they were circumcised, and those who did would not look into their mothers' eyes.66
Circumcision violates patients' and human rights: No one has the right to cut off any part of someone else's genitals without that person's competent, fully informed consent. Since it is the infant who must bear the consequences, circumcision violates his legal rights both to refuse treatment and to seek alternative treatment. In 1995, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Bioethics stated that only a competent patient can give patient consent or informed consent.67An infant is obviously too young to consent to anything. He must be protected from anyone who would take advantage of his defenselessness. The concept of informed parental permission allows for medical interventions in situations of clear and immediate medical necessity only, such as disease, trauma, or deformity. The human penis in its normal, uncircumcised state satisfies none of these requirements.
Physicians have a duty to refuse to perform circumcision. They also must educate parents who, out of ignorance or misguidance, request this surgery for their sons. The healthcare professional's obligation is to protect the interests of the child. It is unethical in the extreme to force upon a child an amputation he almost certainly would never have chosen for himself.
- The Case Against Circumcision by Dr. Paul M. Fleiss, MD. (USA, UK, International) http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
RELATED LINKS: (IN ENGLISH)
> Jews Opposing Circumcision (Israel, Uk, USA) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <
> By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
> *Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom: Alternative Non-Circumcision Rituals (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <
> One Rabbi Speaks Out Against Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <
> Women's Perspectives: Dr. Ron Goldman's Website (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.jewishcircumcision.org/women.htm <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <
> Paul M. Fleiss, MD., The Case Against Circumcision (UK) <
> by Lisa Braver Moss, Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments (UK, USA)<
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <
> Dr. Ron Goldman's Site <
> http://www.circumcision.org/contactus.htm <
> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
RELATED LINKS: (IN HEBREW)
> Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.britmila.org.il <
> Gonen Al Hayeled / Protect the Child (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.gonen.us <
> Kahal / Intact Israelis' Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <
> Jews Opposing Circumcision (Israel, Uk, USA) <
> http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org <
> By Moshe Rothenberg, MSW. Ending Circumcision In The Jewish Community (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html <
> *Brit B'lee Milah & Bris Shalom: Alternative Non-Circumcision Rituals (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html <
> One Rabbi Speaks Out Against Circumcision, 2007 (Israel, UK, CA) <
> http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml <
> Women's Perspectives: Dr. Ron Goldman's Website (Israel, UK, USA) <
> http://www.jewishcircumcision.org/women.htm <
> http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/fleiss.html <
> Paul M. Fleiss, MD., The Case Against Circumcision (UK) <
> by Lisa Braver Moss, Jewish Roots of Anti-Circumcision Arguments (UK, USA)<
> http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/moss.html <
> Dr. Ron Goldman's Site <
> http://www.circumcision.org/contactus.htm <
> Jewish Women Speak Out: Miriam Pollack (UK) <
> http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm <
RELATED LINKS: (IN HEBREW)
> Israeli Association Against Genital Mutilation (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.britmila.org.il <
> Gonen Al Hayeled / Protect the Child (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.gonen.us <
> Kahal / Intact Israelis' Parents' Rights Group (Israel, in Hebrew) <
> http://www.kahal.org <
♡ Homeopathy International 1 last decade
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