Are you circumsized?

[Belsnickel]

(02-21-2018, 04:32 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote: No mention was made of the severity of the mutilations....

Still, they may be different enough to discuss separately, while also similar enough to address as one.

People like to pretend that the mutilation of the penis isn't a problem because it's been long accepted in the United States (when it is virtually nowhere else outside of third world countries), when really, the practice typically consists of taking an unwilling infant, inflicting pain and harm upon them, and leaving them with potential decreased sexual sensitivity.

All in the name of religious beliefs that the child does not hold.

Seems like something we should have retired long ago.

I read an ethnographic paper on the practice in groups in Kenya. In the details, both boys and girls went through the process during puberty. It was done without any pain killers and part of the ritual was that showing any pain could cause ostracizing. Groups of boys and girls would have this done to them at one place in an evening. It was very interesting.

Anyway, I have mixed opinions on it. When I look at it through the lens of cultural relativism I have a hard time saying we should ban it, but then the issue becomes a matter of where the line is drawn. Reform Jews, and maybe even some Conservative groups, would probably fight it but not too strongly. Orthodox Jews, however, would be very unhappy with the decision and would bring a case of a First Amendment violation were a law passed here banning the practice.

The health arguments are non-existent when you actually look at the data. This is purely a cultural issue.