Should Child Circumcision Be Allowed?

You are certainly right about that Meshell. The world could definitely use more gentlemen. I wish those other lunatics had been raised like your sons. They could've benefitted quite well from having a Mother like you. I do apologize for the language in my post (although only to you..not to those idiots). I am normally not so quick to use profanity but I've never been so appalled by the amount of bullying and ganging up that those posters were exhibiting. You did a great job of holding your own btw...kudos for that. And just so you know, I have three children, 2 of which are boys. I had them both circumcised as well and there were NO complications with them either. They were not in shock and the only cried very briefly. They cried more when receiving shots. My husband and I considered our decision very seriously and we made the best choice for us and our little boys. I do not and never have felt the least bit guilty. As Mothers, this world is FULL of people just so ready to tell us how we do everything wrong. The guilt that Mothers can end up with because of these people is out of this world. And they always attack us where it hurts the most...our hearts. The love we have for our children is always held over us and challenged whenever people don't agree with our decisions. No one loves a child like a Mother. No one cares for their child like a Mother. And no Mother deserves to be treated or talked to in the manner they did. Thank you for your kind words. I can only hope to raise my little boys as well as you raised yours. You are an inspiration to women everywhere...and especially to those who are themselves Mothers. =)

You have obviously not read the Jewish Sage and Philosopher Moses Maimonides (Rambam); he outlined many harms. What makes it worse is that these harms are "by design" or "INTENTIONAL"--both for men and women!

"Similarly with regard to
circumcision , one of the reasons for
it is, in my opinion, the wish to
bring about a decrease in sexual
intercourse and a weakening of the
organ in question, so that this
activity be diminished and the
organ be in as quiet a state as
possible. It has been thought that
circumcision perfects what is
defective congenitally. This gave the
possibility to everyone to raise an
objection and to say: How can
natural things be defective so that
they need to be perfected from
outside, all the more because we
know how useful the foreskin is for
that member? In fact this
commandment has not been
prescribed with a view to
perfecting what is defective
congenitally, but to perfecting what
is defective morally. The bodily
pain caused to that member is the
real purpose of circumcision. None
of the activities necessary for the
preservation of the individual is
harmed thereby, nor is procreation
rendered impossible, but violent
concupiscence and lust that goes
beyond what is needed are
diminished. The fact that
circumcision weakens the faculty of
sexual excitement and sometimes
perhaps diminishes the pleasure is
indubitable. For if at birth this
member has been made to bleed
and has had its covering taken
away from it, it must indubitably be
weakened. The Sages, may their
memory be blessed , have explicitly
stated: It is hard for a woman with
whom an uncircumcised man has
had sexual intercourse to separate
from him. In my opinion this is the
strongest of the reasons for
circumcision."

Male circumcision should be legal, however, not for religious reasons. I agree that a parent's religious freedom does not outweigh a child's right to non-injury. That said, male circumcision is much more than a religious procedure. It is also important for health. Here are some pros, health-wise, for being circumcised:

- "There is compelling evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexually acquired HIV infection in men by approximately 60%." http://www.who.int/hiv/topics...
- "According to a multinational study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the odds that circumcised men had penile HPV infection were about 60% lower than the odds that uncircumcised men had this diagnosis.1 Among monogamous women who had a partner reporting six or more lifetime sexual partners, the odds of having cervical cancer were reduced by about 60% if the partner had been circumcised." http://www.guttmacher.org/pub...
- "Circumcised heterosexual men are 35% less likely to contract human papillomavirus (HPV) and 25% less likely to catch herpes than their uncircumcised counterparts, according to the study, published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine." http://online.wsj.com/article...

Plus, male circumcision reduces the risk of spreading HPV (and possibly HIV and herpes as well, but I can't remember), and can reduce the risk of infection caused by build-up under the foreskin (though, tbh, the latter may not be a good reason to have your male child circumcised...).