Circumcision

This article I’ll be discussing just a bit… about the tip. When it comes to male circumcision there are three main areas of concern; Medical, Ethical, and Religious. Each of these issues have been greatly debated and studied for many years throughout the world, but there’s not really an obvious winner. Both sides of the argument have their share of supporters and backed research. When it comes to the Medical aspect of the issue, the comparison of risks and benefits are argued equally on both sides with neither being an obvious advantage. Considering this series is about Religion I will mostly be focusing on that.

Throughout the world and among many different cultures, the reasons and beliefs behind circumcision differ greatly. For the most part of Bible-believing religions, the practice was based on a few verses in the old testament. As a refresher, God created Adam perfectly in his own image - including all the vestigial organs and male nipples and also a bit of extra skin on the tip of his penis. Fast forward a couple chapters and many years when this God decides he really likes this guy called Abraham. God makes a deal with him and promises all kinds of blessing if only he cuts off that extra bit of skin that God accidently didn’t mean to design in the first place. Instead of a written agreement or a firm handshake God finalizes the contract with an irreversible surgical procedure. However, the covenant is only symbolic because if other people get circumcised without first checking with God, then it doesn’t count. Also, if Abraham doesn’t follow God’s commandments and breaks the covenant, then he’ll still be left with a permanent pecker alteration. Fast forward again to the New Testament and we see Christ’s Apostles having trouble convincing male converts to make the switch, so much like the Mormon church they decide to change the rules and not make it a requirement anymore. It’s such a laughable narrative that I have a difficult time understanding why religious circumcision ever became so popular. All religions considered, the issue is still very divided between banning it or requiring it. The last reason anyone should snip the tip is because of a fictional belief in an imaginary character with no supporting evidence.

As for the Ethical issue I think it’s very clear. Infants can not provide informed consent. Imagine you go to the dentist for a routine cavity filling and wake up recovering from an appendectomy. You don’t need your appendix so there’s no real harm, but they performed a permanent surgical procedure without you knowing and without your informed consent. It’s not the choice of your parent or the doctor. Your body, your decision. It’s immoral. Simple. I understand that there exists hypotheticals and very rare situations when a birth defect or some special condition calls for a strongly recommended infant circumcision, but for every other case - let them choose.