Sam Harris

More than 55% of newborn male infants are being circumcised in our hospitals. No other country in the developed world has a rate anywhere near this. For example, the rates in Europe, Latin America, and nearly all Asian countries is well below 5%, and most of those involve Muslims or Jews. Despite endless claims for benefits dating back to the nineteenth century, and repeatedly refuted, circumcision is medically unnecessary. It removes highly sensitive genital tissue, the most sensitive in the male body. Loss of the foreskin means permanent loss of capacity for complete sexual sensation in adulthood. Partners of circumcised men also pay a high price, since the foreskin plays an essential physiological role in intercourse. Infants experience severe pain during and after the surgery, and research has shown problems with breast feeding, sleep patterns, and cortisol levels (a stress indicator). Recent research is accumulating to suggest that any kind of damage to the newborn body results in permanent neurological adjustment in the central nervous system, particularly to record potential uselessness.
Parents have the right to raise their children in accord with their own social and cultural standards. But they do not own their children's bodies. No one owns a person's body other than the individual. We need to recognize that infants are persons with full rights to bodily integrity. If a mature, well informed person chooses to alter his or her body, so be it. But no infant or child should be subjected to irreversible damage to his or her genitals. We recognize the serious problem of female genital mutilation, and quite rightly. The problem of what is happening to our own male infants has been a taboo topic for too long.
For more information visit the cirp.org website.

[quote author=“Len Glick”]More than 55% of newborn male infants are being circumcised in our hospitals. No other country in the developed world has a rate anywhere near this. For example, the rates in Europe, Latin America, and nearly all Asian countries is well below 5%, and most of those involve Muslims or Jews. Despite endless claims for benefits dating back to the nineteenth century, and repeatedly refuted, circumcision is medically unnecessary. It removes highly sensitive genital tissue, the most sensitive in the male body. Loss of the foreskin means permanent loss of capacity for complete sexual sensation in adulthood. Partners of circumcised men also pay a high price, since the foreskin plays an essential physiological role in intercourse. Infants experience severe pain during and after the surgery, and research has shown problems with breast feeding, sleep patterns, and cortisol levels (a stress indicator). Recent research is accumulating to suggest that any kind of damage to the newborn body results in permanent neurological adjustment in the central nervous system, particularly to record potential uselessness.
Parents have the right to raise their children in accord with their own social and cultural standards. But they do not own their children’s bodies. No one owns a person’s body other than the individual. We need to recognize that infants are persons with full rights to bodily integrity. If a mature, well informed person chooses to alter his or her body, so be it. But no infant or child should be subjected to irreversible damage to his or her genitals. We recognize the serious problem of female genital mutilation, and quite rightly. The problem of what is happening to our own male infants has been a taboo topic for too long.
For more information visit the cirp.org website.

***
I had a link/jpg of an image from 2200BC Ancient Egypt regarding pictures of circumcision.

While I know many are against it, one question is always lacking.

Ask a bunch of women as they look at a picture of a circumcised penis and one that is uncircumcised, which they find more “attractive”.  That’s the kicker question for me if I had to decide whether to circumcise a son.

JL

JL,

I like big hooters on my woman - can we implant those in newborn girls also, because they are clearly more attractive. Who cares about the human rights of the babies, so long as adults find it attractive?

I hope you never have a child, you mindless fool.

[quote author=“Uncut”]JL,

I like big hooters on my woman - can we implant those in newborn girls also, because they are clearly more attractive. Who cares about the human rights of the babies, so long as adults find it attractive?

I hope you never have a child, you mindless fool.

***
I’ve already received the gold-snip award (vasectomy and never reproduced).  Also, I’m not a mindless fool.

OK.  So, you don’t circumcise your son and he finds that very few women want to have sex with him because his penis looks “alien”.  Do you think he’s still glad to have his foreskin?

JL

Personally, I fail to see what the big deal about circumcision is…

[quote author=“Uncut”]JL,

I like big hooters on my woman - can we implant those in newborn girls also, because they are clearly more attractive. Who cares about the human rights of the babies, so long as adults find it attractive?

I hope you never have a child, you mindless fool.

That’s silly.  “Mindless fool”???  Jeez!  Look, maybe you had a bad experience with the ol’ snip-snip.  That’s you.  Most people get them, it’s become a social norm, and personally, it seems to me that the non-snip is like wearing a condom all the time.

If your son finds that women don’t like his foreskin, and it really matters to him to impress such shallow women, then he should be free to decide to chop off a piece of his body when he is old enough to do so. It is not your decision. And to do it for such simplistic reasons is criminal.

Incidentally, it is only in the US that it is a social norm and that women don’t like foreskins. It is not a universal truth. But Americans are too insular to understand that.

Basically, most americans can’t admity that it is a barbarous practice, because they have had their own skin cut and they can’t handle the idea that they might be missing something. And, boy, are you missing something.

Personally, I find an uncircumcized penis fascinating = )

..

Lawrence, I bet you’d secretly love to find out how much smoother it is on entry into your fat ass.

[quote author=“Uncut”]Lawrence, I bet you’d secretly love to find out how much smoother it is on entry into your fat ass.

Please can’t we all just get along???

Quite frankly I’m more than a little surprised that the current number of “cuts” is around 55%.  I wonder where that figure comes from?

Someone else on this site (female) made the observation that she had contracted more vaginal infections from non-circumcised than circumcised men.  This is a medical fact, because smegma, if not frequently cleaned out of the foreskin, can harbor bacteria which are then passed to the woman during coitus.  In light of that fact, I must say I’m pleased that my protestant parents decided to impart to me this Hebrew tradition shortly after my birth (the doctor said “This one is going to cost you $55 extra”).  As for the loss of sensation that “cut” men are supposed to suffer from… All I can say is that I’m pretty damned sensitive, and let’s leave it at that! 

Is it unnecessary surgery?  Probably.  Will I have my son snipped? You betcha.  Not because of any need to conform, but because I like the way I am, and think he’d do fine that way as well.  There are some decisions only a parent can make, this is one. 

As for final thoughts, I’m reminded of when my sister visited Germany while she was dating a German exchange student in college.  She recalls vividly seeing a public bathing area where scores of men were cleaning their foreskins.  god bless America

Is an unborn baby the only one who owns his/her body?

Some family experience has taught me that IF you ever are going to need this done, get it done early.  Circumcision as an adult is painful, slow healing, and prone to complications.

Just like wisdom teeth - for most people, better to have it done while young.

So TimR,

Do you think it is less painful for a child? If I chop my son’s finger off, is that less painful too? By what medical process do small children have inbuild anasthetics?

The only reason it seems less painful for 4 day old boys is that they have not yet developed the capability to scream ‘get that f.ucking knife away from my penis, you sick f.uck’. This is what any sensible adult would say.

The ignorance surrounding this issue is overwhelming. Tim, if you consdser yourself a intelligent person, please sit down for 5 minutes and try to rationalise why you would want to mutilate a child. Then post the reasons, and we’ll go from there.

Amazing…

yeah cd sucks for the girl who did guys with that. thats why your suppose to wash your dick out…takes like 10 seconds

[quote author=“Anonymous”]yeah cd sucks for the girl who did guys with that. thats why your suppose to wash your dick out…takes like 10 seconds

And my snipped foreskin is clean, all the time.  Thanks for making my point.

Maybe we should all avoid orthodontists, because our teeth work fine no matter how crooked or gapped?  Having to wear braces is certainly a painful ordeal, but I don’t see anyone defending the right to have bad teeth.  Circumcision: not analogous to female genital mutilation (the intent of which is to prevent women from enjoying sex), and not a big deal.  Let those parents who want it have it done, the rest of you get away from my son’s genitals.