Posted on 04/05/2006 5:19:29 PM PDT by Giant Conservative
My cousin used to do them. When I asked him why he said "A hundred skins a week and a chance to get ahead."
And yes, it is a sanctity of life issue: its the right for innocent human life to prosper without an archaic blood ritual being perpetuated on them.
So you're against the IRS then?
So pork and shrimp are out for you then?
Why shouldn't it be the boy's choice to make for himself when he is an adult?
Unless the parents are Jewish, there is no compelling reason why a baby boy needs to be circumcised. According to every professional medical organization that has an official policy on circumcision there is no medical indication for infant circumcision. No professional medical organization in the world recommends that boys should be circumcised.
I feel the same way about any body piercings or tatoos or plastic surgery. They all have risks involved, but if people want to do these things, they should be allowed to do it.
Do you feel that parents should be allowed to pierce their child's body or tattoo their child's body?
In our society body piercings and tattoos are decisions that adults make for their own body, not decisions that parents make for their child's body. Since there is no valid medical indication for infant circumcision, it is just another form of permanent body modification like genital piercing, tattoos, scarification, female genital cutting, etc. In my opinion the only person who can ethically make the decision to permanently modify someone's body is the person himself or herself once he or she is an adult.
Lots of girls get their ears pierced when they are babies.
Parents make those choices too.
Also, many parents make choices about plastic surgery on their kids. Kids ears stick out, and the parents get the surgery done to fix the ears.
My daughter has a scar on her forehead. We've been adviced to get surgery on it. Many parents would do the surgery. We've opted to let her decide when she's an adult. Either decision is okay.
I'm on your ping list and am anti-circumcision. I disagree.
I think we should set up a Freep Poll on the question of Circuminspection!
I would bet that the majority of American males are NOT being circumcized at this time??
Oh I don't know, used to hang out on a thread once, there was a poster whose screen name was foresking grower.
Regards to you and yours.
The only two forms of permanent body modification that American parents are allowed to make to their child's body are piercing their daughter's ears and cutting off their son's foreskin. Ear piercing is a relatively minor form of permanent body modification compared with male circumcision. If a girl does not wear earrings, the holes usually close up on their own. However, once a boy's foreskin is cut off, he can never get it back again.
Parents are not allowed to tattoo or scarify their child's body or to pierce their child's genitals. Piercing a boy's penis is a less severe form of permanent body modification than male circumcision.
Also, many parents make choices about plastic surgery on their kids. Kids ears stick out, and the parents get the surgery done to fix the ears.
Cosmetic surgery to correct a congenital abnormality, like pinning ears that stick out too far or removing a birthmark, is not the same as cutting off a normal, healthy part of a child's genitals without a valid medical indication.
My daughter has a scar on her forehead. We've been adviced to get surgery on it. Many parents would do the surgery. We've opted to let her decide when she's an adult. Either decision is okay.
It's great that you will let your daughter decide about the surgery. However, cosmetic surgery to remove a scar is not the same as cutting off a normal, healthy part of a child's genitals without a valid medical indication.
Because there is no medical indication for infant circumcision and because a foreskin is not a birth defect, male circumcision is more similar to other forms of permanent body modification (tattoos, body piercing, scarification, etc.) than it is to cosmetic surgery to correct a congenital abnormality or to correct an injury.
I know plenty of girls (under 18) that had breast enlargements, nose jobs, etc and other plastic surgery.
Here's a link of the regulations of tattoos and body piercings:
http://www.aaatattoodirectory.com/tattoo_regulations.htm
Some states don't allow minors to have them, while others require parental consent.
Also, pierced ears only grow closed if earings are not worn during the first few months. After that, they will remain open. I had mine pierced when I was a child, and mine will not grow closed if I don't wear earings.
"Doth protest too much?" LOL! How many posts have you had on this subject (I put the over/under at 30), and when does it become "too much"?
I'm glad you are happy with your parents' decision. Please don't lose any more sleep over the decisions others have made, because its not the earth-shattering issue you apparently believe it to be.
Why don't you fix her scar now while she is young and her skin will heal better instead of making her go through life with a big scar on her head. You are the parent, you make the decision, you don't wait until she's an adult. By the time she's an adult it could be too late. Don't make her face her difficult teen years with this problem. You know why many parents would do the surgery, it's because it's the right thing to do.
As a woman, I think circumcision looks nicer. Maybe it's cultural bias, but I won't be changing my mind any time soon.
I agree with you a 100%. And there is less risk of cervical cancer, STDs, and HIV.
Bingo. Makes my point.
However, its a common idea with Christians today (probably from the popular book in the '70s None of These Diseases) that the food regulations were all about physical health...and that puts the cart before the horse. Of course it was heathier not to eat nasty parisite-ridden wild bore in the ancient near-East.
However, the FIRST reason not to do so was a spiritual one--as pigs were an essential part of the neighboring pagan religions. If you grow up never eating pork--you won't share a ham sandwich with your evil pagan neighbors--so you won't get to be good friends...your kids won't marry them....and your posterity won't be swallowed up in a foreign pagan people. This is one reason the Jews still exist today (when did you last meet a Celt, an Amorite or a Babylonian?) as a seperate people--they don't eat like the rest of the world--hence they survive as a people. Has Kosher law ALSO aided in health? Why yes, of course--as God is a good God.
Still the first reason for it--in Old Covenant times was to keep the chosen people of God pure and separated from other evil pagan nations.
Of course we are no longer in Old Covenant times--and Christians have a Holy Spirit in them to help keep them pure--even when they share the ham sandwiches (or uncircumcision)of pagan peoples.
Though the spiritual situation has changed, do the side health benefits still remain? Of course.
I'd like to see the stats of male urinary problems and feminine cevical cancer rates in other (non-circumcising) Western countries compared to the USA. I bet we (and Israel) are amoung the best in the world for those problems.
To that, I can only say that no female should be surgically altered to please the aesthetic preferences of men; correspondingly, no male should be surgically altered to please the aesthetic preferences of women.
Those are two different body parts. One hanging down and one tucked up where you can't see it unless you're looking. To circumcise a woman would injure her for the rest of her life. A man heals and has a nice looking, shapely "tally wacker" for the rest of his life.
Just my humble opinion.
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