Health

June 30, 2011

Anti-circumcision:  Is this equal to anti-Semitism?

By Norman Lavin, M.D, PhD., UCLA Medical School

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Believe it or not, an American city, San Francisco, is voting to proscribe one of the central rituals of an entire religious community, the Jewish people, who have been circumcising male infants since the time of Abraham.  Many Muslims, of course, also practice circumcision for religious reasons, while millions of other American parents have eagerly supported this procedure for their infants for hygienic or health reasons.  To add fuel to the fire, a Mohel may be fined $1000 or be committed to a year in jail if this vote is affirmative.  Mark Stern, a lawyer for the American Jewish Committee, said, “This is the most direct assault on Jewish religious practice in the United States.  It is unprecedented in Jewish life.”  The proponents of the bill insist that circumcision is “mutilation and barbaric.”

IS THE JEW BARBARIC?

Are Jews who recommend or undergo circumcisions barbaric people?  Russell Crowe said, “Circumcision is barbaric and stupid.  Who are You to correct nature?”  Is the “You” the Jew?  Do anti-Semites think that Jews are barbaric?  How about Voltaire in 1694?  “The Jews are nothing but an ignorant and barbaric people.”  What about Martin Luther in 1483?  The Jews are “bloodthirsty, revengeful, barbaric, and murderous.”  And Benjamin Franklin, “There is a great danger for the United States of America.  This great danger is the barbaric Jew.” But do not be concerned,” Russell Crowe continues.  “I have many Jewish friends.  I love my Jewish friends.  I love the apples and the honey and the funny little hats, but stop cutting your babies,” he declared.  Who gave these narcissistic people a moral authority that they alone can determine what is best for Jews, Muslims, and others who prefer the benefits of circumcision for their male children? 

FEMALE GENITAL MUTATION

The anti-circumcision activists argue that female genital mutilation is illegal in this country, and therefore argue that boys should get equal protection under the law no matter the religious beliefs of their parents.  Female genital mutilation is illegal because it is a cruel practice, medically harmful, and performed for the explicit purpose of preventing female sexual satisfaction.  In contrast, there is little or no credible medical evidence that male circumcision is harmful or that it prevents sexual satisfaction.  Its purpose is for health reasons and for religious belief. 

SEXUAL SENSITIVITY

Anti-circumcision activists have been speaking out against circumcision for decades, but in the last several years the San Diego-based advocacy group has prepared anti-circumcision legislation for 46 states.  The head of the group says that “his circumcision as an infant resulted in diminished sexual sensitivity as an adult.”  Is this double-speak?  How would he know the difference?  Does he know for a fact that his limitations or an inability to have sexual gratification is a result of his circumcision?  Does he conclude that for thousands of years, no Jews or Muslims or billions of other people have had no or limited sexual satisfaction?  There are some data to suggest the opposite – that removal of the foreskin allows greater gratification.  Can he argue this? 

THE RIGHT TO CIRCUMCISE

Many of the proponents of the ban on circumcision argue that an infant is obviously not in the position to make the decision for himself, and the decision for circumcision should not occur until after age 18 years.  But every parent knows that thousands of decisions are made about their children’s health prior to the age of 18, which include many surgical procedures, often for cosmetic reasons.

CIRCUMCISION AND HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) INFECTION

An article was published on January 6, 2011, written by Maria Wawer, et al. from Johns Hopkins University and Rakai, Uganda, printed in Lancet.  Male circumcision has been linked to a reduction of HPV infection in men and a reduced risk for cervical neoplasia in women with circumcised partners.  In this study, HPV-negative men were randomly assigned to undergo circumcision immediately or after a delay of 24 months.  The results showed a significant reduction of 28% in the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection in female partners of circumcised male.  Male circumcision also reduced the incidence of high-risk HPV in women.  The authors suggest the reduced penile HPV carriage may explain the way in which circumcision helps prevent HPV infection in women.  The authors conclude that their findings indicate that male circumcision should now be accepted as an efficacious intervention for reducing the prevalence and incidence of HPV infections in female partners.

THE FORESKIN

The foreskin is composed of an outer layer that is keratinized and an inner lining that is a mucosal surface.  The inner layer of the foreskin becomes a repository for shed cells, secretions, and urinary residue that tends to accumulate.  The warm, moist mucosal environment under the foreskin favors growth of microorganisms.  Parents are told not to retract the foreskin of male infants, which makes cleaning difficult.  Even if optimal cleansing is performed, there is no evidence that it confers protection.  Rather, the foreskin tends to trap and transmit microorganisms both to the man himself and his sexual partners.

PARAPHIMOSIS

Paraphimosis is a condition in which the skin that normally folds over the penis, the foreskin, tightens and retracts and cannot return to its normal position over the head of the penis.  If not corrected, the penis will swell and the blood flow to the head may be cut off, damaging the tissue.  It is usually caused by inflammation or infection of the foreskin and may be associated with poor personal hygiene.  Paraphimosis can only occur in uncircumcised men.  Treatment includes circumcision on an emergency basis. 

PHIMOSIS

Phimosis occurs when the distal foreskin cannot be retracted over the glans penis.  In the infant, the foreskin normally cannot be retracted over the glans and should not be forced.  With normal growth and stretching of the foreskin, it will become retractable in 90% of children by the age of 6 years.  However, local irritation or infection (balanoposthitis) can cause an abnormal constriction of the foreskin, preventing it from retracting normally.  Often there is pain and swelling, which is often associated with infection of the glans.  The urinary stream may, in some cases, be diverted or there may be blood in the urine.  Occasionally, a urinary tract infection is associated.  A circumcision is indicated particularly when there is balanitis, balanoposthitis, urinary tract infection, or obstruction.

BALANITIS/BALANOPOSTHITIS

Balanitis and balanoposthitis are infections of the glans and foreskin.  It is most commonly found in uncircumcised males and frequently presents during the preschool years.  Balanitis may be caused by entrapment of organisms under a poorly retractable foreskin—gram-negative or gram-positive bacterial organisms may be causative, and recently, group A beta hemolytic strep has been implicated.  Monilia infections (yeast) are also associated with balanoposthitis in infants. 

In the adolescent, syphilis as a cause must also be considered.  Chronic balanitis and/or phimosis may result in balanitis xerotica obliterans, a sclerotic disease of the foreskin. 

Signs and symptoms include swelling, erythema, penile discharge, pain on urination, bleeding, and occasionally ulceration of the glans.  Additionally, a careful examination of the base of the penis should be performed to look for a strand of hair, which may cause strangulation and edema. 

MANAGEMENT OF BALANITIS/BALANOPOSTHITIS

Initially, topical soaks, topical antibiotic ointments, and oral antibiotics are used, but circumcision is indicated if there is no resolution.

FOURNIER’S GANGRENE

This entity of infectious origin, which results in necrotizing fasciitis, may present initially as cellulitis, balanitis, balanoposthitis, or as scrotal pain and swelling.  Prompt surgical consultation and operative incision and drainage of the infected tissue with excision of the necrotic tissue is paramount.  This, of course, includes emergency circumcision in the uncircumcised male. 

BENEFITS OF CIRCUMCISION

The benefits of circumcision include (1) decrease in many types of infection involving a tight foreskin; (2) decrease in “strangulation” of the penis; (3) lower incidence of inflammation of the head of the penis, (4) reduced urinary tract infections, (5) fewer problems with erections, (6) a decrease in certain sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV, HPV, genital herpes, syphilis, and other microorganisms in men and their partners, (7) almost complete elimination of invasive penile cancer,  (8) a decrease in urological problems generally, and (9) prevention of the foreskin getting “stuck in the zipper.”

Problems involving the penis are not rare in pediatric practice.  A retrospective study of boys age 4 months to 12 years found that if they were not circumcised, they exhibited significantly greater frequency of penile problems, 14% versus 6% (with P

<0.001) compared with those who are circumcised. A study by Wiswell (1980-1985) looked at 136,000 boys born in U.S. Army hospitals, where 100,000 were circumcised, and there was less than 0.01% complications, which were mostly minor with no deaths. But of the 36,000 who were not circumcised, the problems were more than ten times higher and there were two deaths (Wiswell and Hachey, 1993).

FORESKIN TRAUMA

Various types of injuries and trauma can involve the foreskin.  One extremely painful example is when the foreskin “gets caught” in the zipper of the boy’s pants, resulting in an extremely painful emergency situation requiring emergency circumcision. 

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

The WHO and several Centers for Disease Control support circumcision as a preventative measure against HIV transmission.

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Many years ago, when I was chief resident at a county hospital, our team investigated the efficacy of circumcision.  We catalogued all the disorders of the penis from patients who had     come through our emergency room and compared the circumcised versus the uncircumcised males.  Over a three year period, there were 300 young boys with phimosis, paraphimosis, balanitis, balanoposthitis, urinary tract infections, staph infections, Monilia infections, and 12 episodes of sepsis emanating from a penile infection.  All of these children were not circumcised.  In the circumcised group, there was obviously no incidence of phimosis or paraphimosis.  There were six boys with local infection, but none were severe and none evolved into systemic illness or sepsis. 

SOCIETAL AND POLITICAL PRESSURE

There are recent alarming reports of harassment by medical professionals of new mothers (especially Jews) in an attempt to stop them from having this procedure carried out.  There has been a trend by pediatric organizations to skirt the truth in favor of what could be viewed as “New Age political correctness,” spurious “human rights” rhetoric, or perhaps fear of litigation stemming from a very, very unlikely surgical mishap. 

DEJA VU

The story of pre-war Germany, of the erosion of rights of Jews and other minority groups, of book burnings, of Kristallnacht, of the Holocaust, of the Reichstag trial, of the Night of the Long Knives, of the Nuremberg rally, and of the unfolding disaster throughout the world is old news.  I am not an alarmist nor a conspiratorial theorist, but is it possible, slightly possible, or even remotely possible that we are beginning to experience the events of the 1920s and 1930s in Germany – where governmental rules were “codified and classified and recorded to ensure the proper conduct of current and future generations.”  Did you hear that Delta Airlines is banning Jews from traveling on their airplanes to Saudi Arabia? 

The printed word is powerful.  Words by political figures, actors, commentators, and others describing circumcision as barbaric suggests to some (or many) that Jews, therefore, are barbaric.  Consider the virtual direct line from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to spasms of nihilistic violence to anti-Semitism to the Holocaust.”  (According to colleagues in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, this book is their only source of knowledge about Jews.)

We need to rediscover the reverence, gratitude, and amazement that were available in Homeric times.  We should cultivate these qualities to provide a bulwark against the nihilism that threatens our world in the 21st century.  We need to have a rush of feeling about something, not against something.  We need a resurgence of democracy and of victory once and for all against prejudice and racism.  We need a rebirth of the American Dream – of the human dream.

Edward Wilson of Harvard University said, “We have Stone Age emotions, Medieval institutions, and God-like technology.”  Perhaps, that is the source of our problems. 

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Jewish and Israeli Intactivists
http://www.britmila.org.il/
http://jewishcircumcision.org/
http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org/
http://www.kahal.org/
http://www.cutthefilm.com

Comment by A Jew Against Circumcision on 6/30/11 at 11:31 am

“I believe circumcision is a major mistake… 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, 2007, Rabbi of Shabbos Shul, Marin County, California, U.S.A.
Ordination: 1977 Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Yeshiva B’nai Or Philadelphia, Pa.
&
http://www.forward.com/articles/137577/
http://lisabravermoss.com/uploads/Challenging_the_Circumcision_Myth.pdf
http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/rothenberg.html

Comment by A Jew Against Circumcision on 6/30/11 at 11:38 am

There are so many problems with this article, it’s hard to know where to begin. But since you spent so much time dealing with so-called ‘foreskin problems’, I’d like to direct your readers to information about the structure, anatomy and proper care of the foreskin, as well as conservative (non-circ) treatments for the problems you listed.
http://coloradonocirc.org/anatomy.php

Comment by Craig Garrett on 6/30/11 at 1:07 pm

Your paragraph “The Foreskin” is a fear-based argument which has been debunked again and again. Allow me to re-phrase that paragraph to put it in context:

The Vulva
The inner layer[s] of the [vulva] become a repository for shed cells, secretions, and urinary residue that tends to accumulate.  The warm, moist mucosal environment [in the vulva] favors growth of microorganisms.  Parents are told not to [clean inside the vagina] of [female] infants, which makes cleaning difficult.  Even if optimal cleansing is performed, there is no evidence that it confers protection.  Rather, the [vulva] tends to trap and transmit microorganisms both to the [woman herself] and [her] sexual partners.

Comment by Craig Garrett on 6/30/11 at 1:23 pm

The doctor would benefit from reading the two articles below, which discuss the anatomy and functions of the foreskin.  Sadly, most doctors learn nothing about this in medical school. 

http://www.cirp.org/pages/parents/lostlist/

http://mensightmagazine.com/Articles/Northrup/lovecirc.htm

Any female or male body part can cause a problem at some point in a person’s life, but that doesn’t justify amputating healthy body parts from others.  If doctors amputated every body part that might cause a problem later in life, there would be nothing left of any of us!  That is not good medicine, nor good ethics!

Comment by Petrina on 6/30/11 at 2:09 pm

Dr. Lavin apparently is suffering from an acute case of paranoia. He also does not understand the value of circumcision to anti-Semites.

The real anti-Semites of Nazi Germany may have hated Jews but they loved circumcision because it served as a badge of identification. A circumcision was good for a ticket to Auschwitz and extermination.

By contrast, this law targets circumcision, not any group.

The law would protect the human rights of all male children, not just boys born into Jewish homes.

Comment by Roland on 6/30/11 at 2:15 pm

I don’t have the time or the energy to deal with the 100+ lies about the foreskin and circumcision included in this article. So I will only address this from the beginning of your article:

A female who has been circumcised also “wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.” Take off your cultural blinders. Genital cutting is genital cutting is genital cutting. Its purpose is to reduce sexual pleasure and to conform to a cultural norm—whether done on a boy or a girl.

Any adult who wants to mutilate his own genitals is free to do so.

~Barefoot Intactivist
A Jewish Man AGAINST Genital Cutting Of Children

Comment by Barefoot Intactivist on 6/30/11 at 2:56 pm

The human foreskin is a normal and natural part of the male anatomy. It has many beneficial physiological protective, immunological, sensory, mechanical, and sexual functions.

Dr. Lavin has demonstrated that he has the most appalling ignorance of this normal body part. One has to wonder if he is qualified to fulfill his function as a medical doctor.

There is an excellent discussion of a normal body part here:

http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/DOC/statement02.html

Dr. Lavin should refrain from the distribution of misinformation.

Comment by Roland on 6/30/11 at 3:08 pm

Views of Jewish & Israeli Intactivists

http://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/kimmel1/
http://www.noharmm.org/pollack.htm
http://www.rabbinathan.com/writings/circum.shtml
http://intactnews.org/node/26
http://www.officiant.org/brit-shalom

Comment by A Jew Against Circumcision on 6/30/11 at 3:38 pm

Under the present administration, this is just another “out of the closet” policy to intimidate the Jewish community and see how far they can go.  Hire a petitioner, organize on the ground, thug the American people.  Remember this is America - not Iran, not Saudi Arabia, not Egypt, or are these ground organizers to support policies of intimidation.  What next a special race who only is approved by certain individuals?  Beware - this is history repeating evil again.  Stay focused, stay true to your Jewish roots and vote them out in 2012.

Comment by Sharon USA on 6/30/11 at 4:23 pm

Circumcision is a controversial issue. This newspaper has a professional and ethical obligation to comply with journalism principles and publish an article with an opposing opinion, a critique of circumcision. One-sided opinions do not meet professional standards!! Please present other views to your readers!!

Comment by minorityview on 6/30/11 at 4:56 pm

Nobody is stopping adult men from choosing circumcision when they are legally able to choose. The same arguments were made in defense of FGM. Health benefits, prevents disease. These claims are baseless, and even if they were true, there is no reason to force a child to endure the surgery before he or she is old enough to choose for him/herself.

Most foreskin problems arise because of a lack of knowledge of how to care for an intact penis. All the stories of “you have to pull back the foreskin and clean it” are the reason that there are infections and problems. The infant’s foreskin is not made to be retracted, and forced retraction causes wounds that then get infected.

Comment by najiwench on 6/30/11 at 6:04 pm

The issue is doing it to a child.  I got circumcised as an adult and you DO lose a lot of sensitivity when circumcised—only a person that had sex before and after (like me) can quantify this loss. Secondly, if you allow male circumcision you HAVE to allow female circumcision—otherwise you’re anti-Muslim. Lastly, many people are only culturally Jewish—they don’t actually believe in the religion despite following many of the traditions.  Cultures can and SHOULD change.  American culture has changed on slavery, women’s rights, gay marriage, etc.  A culture is not enough reason to do questionable things. Anyway, circumcision should be an adult decision.

Comment by Julian on 6/30/11 at 7:21 pm

A DOCTOR wrote this nonsense?  No wonder it’s so hard to secure basic human rights for infants with people this mis-informed posing as experts.

Comment by Ron Low on 6/30/11 at 9:13 pm

‘... anatomy and proper care of the foreskin’; for some reason that expression makes me retch. Proper care for a foreskin is maybe to give it a proper burial. Personally I thing foreskins are like toenails; they’re OK till they get in the way; of a zipper, of hygienic cleanliness, of a relationship with God, whatever.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 6/30/11 at 11:49 pm

How can opposing infant circumcision be anti-Semitic when Jew are also questioniing it and not circumcising their boys? You can’t have it both ways. Twice in history Jewish leadership has considered abandoning the practice. During the Jewish Revolt and later during the Jewish Reform. An interesting book on the topic is “Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America, by Leonard Glick, a Jewish physician and anthropologist.

Comment by Dan Bollinger on 7/01/11 at 5:24 am

Just about everyone would consider it wrong if the parents were to have their 18 year old son (who wasn’t circumcised) forcibly held down and circumcised against his will.  Everyone would say that as an adult it’s his decision.

But when you circumcise a baby, you’re also taking that choice away from the adult he will become.  For every day of my adult life, I have been, and will continue to be, denied the right to choose for myself as a result of what was done to me as an infant.

Of course what happened to me can’t be undone, but as a society we CAN decide that this won’t happen to anyone else.  That it’s not acceptable to take away someone’s right to choose about THEIR OWN genitals

Comment by Ben on 7/01/11 at 12:19 pm

PS - I’m from a Jewish family.  MY genitals aren’t property of my parents or their religion.

Comment by Ben on 7/01/11 at 12:19 pm

A young Jewish man shares his personal story:

“An Open Letter to Mohel Michael Henesch”

http://blog.shealevy.com/2011/05/17/an-open-letter-to-mohel-michael-henesch

Comment by Ben on 7/01/11 at 12:21 pm

An excellent presentation on the topic for anyone who’s unsure.  “Child Circumcision: an Elephant in the Hospital” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSM-SkwGEf0

It’s about half an hour, but engaging and well worth the time…At least for anyone who’s able to think critically and step outside cultural conditioning!

Comment by Ben on 7/01/11 at 12:21 pm

“Proper care for a foreskin is maybe to give it a proper burial. Personally I thing foreskins are like toenails; they’re OK till they get in the way; of a zipper, of hygienic cleanliness, of a relationship with God, whatever. “

so it’s ok to surgically remove an infant’s toenails at birth, so they never get in the way?

Comment by najiwench on 7/01/11 at 12:28 pm

To dismiss the opposing of circumcision as simply anti-Jewish, is to simplify your argument into nothing but name calling. If you look at all the circumcisions performed in America, only a tiny fraction are Jewish. No one I’ve read has been trying to pass a law singling out the Jewish tradition alone, but rather look at the entire issue as a whole. A person can disagree with a practice of a faith, even believe that practice is barbaric, and yet not have issue with the faith at large. Would you paint Rabbi Natan Segal and other Jewish folks who have come out against the practice as anti-Jewish? This is a sad cop-out, and the debate is worthy of better arguments.

Comment by Sarah on 7/01/11 at 1:00 pm

It is absurd to link anti-circumcision and anti Semitism. Jews and non Jews, Semites and anti-Semites may or may not believe anything at all about circumcision. The topic deserves rational consideration by those who are interested in it. As for Ben, who claims the right to control his own genitalia from birth, he is right that society can pass laws about the matter. But for the foreseeable present, infants do NOT have the right to decide whether they will be conceived or born, nor do they have the legal right to choose what they want done to their foreskins when they are 8 days old.

Comment by mendel on 7/01/11 at 3:26 pm

Supporters of the ban on infant circumcision are simply people who want to see all boys protected from the forced cutting of their genitals. If circumcision had no harmful consequences, if it didn’t rob a boy of his god-given sexual enjoyment, if it removed half the skin of a penis and magically still allowed a boy to masturbate naturally and more pleasurably, then there would be no debate. There would be no controversy. There would be no fury, no hell to pay, no moral and ethical revulsion experienced by many God-loving, religiously tolerant secular Americans. But every circumcision causes the same harm. Every circumcision results in the same sexual loss and crippling.

Comment by Hazel on 7/01/11 at 9:14 pm

Therefore, to me, the accusation that intactivists are anti-Semitic is a Jewish fantasy. Certainly, Jews are grossly in error to believe that ALL anti-circumcision supporters are anti-Semitic.  Painting intactivists as anti-Semitic is a knee-jerk reaction on the part of Jews to what secular society has found themselves in the possession of, with regard to this god-awful practice of male infant penis cutting – the truth. Circumcision IS harmful, and it’s wrong.

If only the vast sea of anti-circumcision supporters out there REALLY WERE anti-Semitic! If only circumcision really were completely harmless!

This article should be re-titled, “Jews: Are We in Denial?”

Comment by Hazel on 7/01/11 at 9:15 pm

‘Did you hear that Delta Airlines is banning Jews from traveling on their airplanes to Saudi Arabia?’  There are no Delta flights to Saudia Arabia.  Delta does not fly to Saudi Arabia.  Delta does not code-share to Saudi Arabia, nor does the airline have any plans to.  If you’re going to complain about falsehoods in the media, you should not tell lies yourself.

Comment by RNB on 7/02/11 at 7:22 am

Yes, it’s really hurt us.  That’s why we are the leaders in just about every field we have chosen to enter and have made advances in science and medicine, entertainment and the arts.  It hasn’t hurt us and it isn’t going to.  In terms of female mutilitation, that has proven to be dangerous.  Male circumcision is not, so stop telling us how to raise our childen because we apparently know better than you.

Comment by Tzipporah on 7/02/11 at 8:58 am

Also, Jews who are against this are anti-Semitic and self-hating Jews.

Comment by Tzipporah on 7/02/11 at 9:00 am

For all of these children listed below (names included where publicized), circumcision was dangerous because it either took their lives or made them suffer from botched circumcisions.  These circumcisions were done for both religious and non-religious reasons.  Circumcision hurts children, both Jewish and non-Jewish children. Circumcision violates the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.

http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/
May 28, 2011
“Circumcision: dirty little secrets exposed”

Comment by Petrina on 7/02/11 at 9:08 am

Prepuce has protective functions and stimulative functions.Prepuce contains sensitive nerve endings, stretching muscular filaments which all play a role in sex play.See the color and texture of the glans penis in a circumcised individual to that of an uncircumcised.The rolled out prepuce forms a cushion over the coronal sulcus and produce an extra pleasure for the female partner of the uncircumcised individuals.The rolling out movement of the foreskin provides both the partners an add on pleasure.Circumcision is indicated only in medical indication.We (parents, teachers, doctors)have to do, is teach the child to care for their genital hygiene,that is retract the prepuce daily and clean well.

Comment by Dr Murugan on 7/04/11 at 6:49 pm

Wow, so many syllables! But not to worry, old boy. God not only has more scientific knowledge about the the prepuce than you do, but He has a better vocabulary as well. God has decided that on balance, His personal people are better off without a prepuce, and until the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control catch up, we will enjoy the benefits of a prepuce-less life. In fact, one of the things I enjoy about being a circumcised heterosexual male is my lack of contact with a prepuce (*gag*).

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/06/11 at 8:11 pm

Ben Plonie, perhaps you should take a closer look at the Covenant. The Covenant is a contract, or agreement, in which God would give 3 things to the Hebrews: 1) the land of Canaan, 2) many children, and 3) God would make Kings of those children (David, etc.). In return, the Hebrews would have to give up something of value: their foreskins. From a religious standpoint, circumcision is clearly NOT physically beneficial; circumcision is a sacrifice. But when you force someone else to endure a sacrifice (a newborn boy, in this case), it’s not a sacrifice at all; it’s a lie.

Comment by Craig Garrett on 7/06/11 at 9:01 pm

Great! You are teaching us how to be better Jews! God doesn’t want our foreskins, fool, he wants our hearts and minds and commitment to be a model society. The circumcision is not a sacrifice but a mark of that commitment, and it has the additional benefit of helping us to maintain that model society, assuming that we have the commitment in the first place.

Furthermore the covenant is with Abraham and all of his descendants, not just himself. And considering the nature of the Jewish people, as God’s firstborn Son whom He sent because He so loved the world, we do it so you don’t have to; so enjoy your thrilling nerve endings on us.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/06/11 at 9:18 pm

“God doesn’t want our foreskins, he wants our hearts and minds and commitment to be a model society.”

I completely agree! Now let’s abandon this harmful practice, and treat children with love and respect.

Comment by Craig Garrett on 7/06/11 at 9:26 pm

Mr Ben,If God want you to live with a prepuceless life then He would have created you without the foreskin.Don’t be adament, go with the nature.Don’t influence your children who hasnot able to resist you with you old belief.

Comment by Dr S,Murugan on 7/06/11 at 11:11 pm

God: How’s the Adam project coming along?
Angel: I have just one last bit to evolve, he’s got a prepuce.
G: Lose it!
A: It’s complicated, Chief, but with maybe five thousand years…
G: No more time. We’ll go with what we have, and when I choose my people I’ll just tell them to cut it off. The other people can do whatever they want.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 7/07/11 at 8:45 pm

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