Circumcision: An Introduction (Pt. 1 of 2)

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For some reason, it was in my naïve brain to think that it was “the only way to go,” that “the uncut” looked “weird,” and that they were gross. It is only now, some fifteen years after learning the difference between cut and uncut, that I find circumcision to be the one of the most horrible acts- derived from a tribal ritual that we continue to perform on our children- and it remains the most common pediatric surgery performed to this day. A few points before total commitment to an idea:

* Circumcision’s roots are in non-medicinal ritual: We were doing it far before we had “good” reason to do it.

* There is yet to be compelling evidence, as far as I have studied, that this is a surgical procedure that prevents disease or affects hygiene so dramatically as to be equivalent to vaccination.

* To avoid being hoisted by my own petard, the foreskin is not like the appendix, that useless organ that we develop in the womb. The foreskin is, in fact incredibly useful, and there is no data that shows the foreskin being nearly as trivial or potentially dangerous as the appendix.

How do we re-think circumcision given the widely available evidence on circumcision? We must educate ourselves on exactly what a foreskin is, why men developed foreskins over tens of millions of years of selection, why sexual coupling thrived without circumcision for eons, and why we still engage, secularly, in male genital mutilation rituals. Circumcision evolved as a ritual of superstitious sacrifice and physical differentiation: We trace circumcision to the Middle East, where the Jews performed it on their children to both differentiate themselves from “gentiles” and, more importantly, to attack the genitalia, as religion is so fond of doing. Circumcision was an offering of the genitals to the Jewish God, flesh for god’s benevolent dominion, and, finally, to suppress our sexuality, decrease pleasure, and demean our very nature as sexual beings.

 

 

What, exactly, is the procedure of circumcision? I want to invite the reader to look at some photographs of a male circumcision. And, below, is an embedded video of a male circumcision. A cautionary note: these images are not for the faint of heart. But nonetheless, I think it is urgent that we begin to understand just how medieval, disgusting, and brutal this procedure is. (To say nothing of the fact that only decades ago rabbis were taking the penis into their mouths in order to remove the foreskin). When and if you watch, pay close attention to the infant writhing in pain beneath the cloth- this infant, like in most circumcisions, was probably given a local anesthesia, but it makes little difference, as you can see from his reaction. Is this meant to shock? Perhaps. But shouldn’t we accept the reality of what a circumcision is before we order our children to undergo it?

I ask that you consider these images: My next post will be the continued debate on circumcision today.

 

 

 

More on circumcision:

Circumcision Pt. 1

Circumcision Pt. 2

Circumcision Debate (With Tony, Josh, Alex)

Circumcision and the Psychosexual Nerve

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Filed under Circumcision, Debate, Introduction, Ritual