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Monday, July 24, 2006

Circumcision is Evil!

There, I said it. Let me say it again: Circumcision is evil. Period. Don't give me your "religious covenant" or "hygiene" crap. No decent god would be interested in you attacking a baby boy's most sensitive body part with a knife and hacking it off. And only in rare circumstances - such as an unusual illness or if you reside in extremely unsanitary conditions - would "hygiene" have anything to do with it. To say that we must slice off - and sometimes tear - a defenseless baby boy's foreskin "in order to prevent infections" is as nonsensical as saying that we should excise little girls' nipples "in order to prevent breast cancer."

The fact is that, other than the rare case where infection does occur, which may or may not require surgery, circumcision is a totally unnecessary barbaric rite with no basis for existing in the civilized world. If you've been circumcised, I'm sorry. I'm certain that it hurt very badly and that it has had long-lasting, traumatic effects. If you've had your children circumcised, again, I'm sorry. I wish you had read this rant before you did so.

"Circumcision is the most commonly performed surgical procedure in the United States today."

Over the past decade or so, I have met and communicated with two world-renowned "anti-circ" scientists, including pediatrician Dr. Paul Fleiss, who told me he had performed "thousands" of circumcisions before he saw the light, and neuropsychologist Dr. James Prescott, who has evidently proved that circumcision causes irreversible brain damage. The foreskin is, after all, not a "useless piece of skin" but a highly complex organ. What does circumcision do, exactly? Dr. Fleiss describes this "denuding of the penis":
Depending on the amount of skin cut off, circumcision robs a male of as much as 80 percent or more of his penile skin. Depending on the foreskin's length, cutting it off makes the penis as much as 25 percent or more shorter. Careful anatomical investigations have shown that circumcision cuts off more than 3 feet of veins, arteries, and capillaries, 240 feet of nerves, and more than 20,000 nerve endings.31 The foreskin's muscles, glands, mucous membrane, and epithelial tissue are destroyed, as well.
As one can see, it is not a matter of snipping off a little skin, and it is logical to suggest that removing this material would have an effect on the brain as well. Regarding his efforts in demonstrating that circumcision causes brain damage, Dr. Prescott writes:
"The NICHD, NIH refuse to conduct the studies that I have requested over the years using fMRI and MRI technologies to document the proposed brain damage. Be assured the damage will be found when the studies are conducted - on both males and females."
Dr. Prescott's proposal is entitled, "Consequences of Perinatal Trauma - Genital Mutilation/ Circumcision - and Somatosensory Affectional Nurturance Upon the Adult Brain: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Positon Emission Tomography (PET) Scan Evaluations of Brain Structure and Function." The abstract is: "Draft Research Proposal that describes the rationale and specific brain structures for scanning the genital sensory projection fields of cerebral neocortex and cerebellar cortex and related brain structures to determine structural and functional (fMRI) deficits consequent to genital mutilation."

Drs. Fleiss and Prescott are quite passionate in their crusade to end useless, ritual circumcision. Unfortunately for them, they cannot be as forthright as I can in stating loudly and clearly that CIRCUMCISION IS EVIL. (In my own limited crusade, I fervently hope someone makes a song by that title.)

Think about it. You're a baby boy who has just come into the world. Now, it's hard enough on you, because you've been growing inside this cozy, dark womb with this loud but comforting wooshing sound. All of a sudden - bam! - you're popped out into this horribly bright room with some awfully frightening noise. Then you are separated from your mother and stuck all alone in an incubator. A few days later, someone attacks your penis with a knife - almost always done without anesthetic, but the anesthetic itself would require a needle stuck in your penis. The pain is so excruciating that you may pass out. Infants often go into shock from the pain, but the ridiculous human mind in denial has claimed they are "sleeping!"

Now, mothers of boys who are being circumcised will at times fight this barbaric mutilation and often feel like they've been stabbed in their hearts when they lose the battle. It is quite likely that the babies themselves - most certainly traumatized - are acutely aware that their mothers have "abandoned" them and failed to protect them against a vicious and despicable attack. It seems logical to conclude that this trauma may have a lifelong affect on a male's attitude towards his mother and women in general - could circumcision be contributing to the widepread misogyny of the world? In reality, it is quite likely that in some cultures - warrior cultures - circumcision was designed in large part to destroy this mother-son bond in the first place. Which means that this male genital mutilation has nothing to do with a "good god" in the first place and everything to do with barbarism. Frankly, when I think about the suffering this horrid behavior causes to defenseless babies, I feel overwhelmed by nausea, and my heart becomes sore. In order "not to offend anyone," I have pushed this subject into the back of my highly empathetic mind for years. If I'm offending you now, too bad. There are adorable little boys the world over who are about to be attacked, and I am not one to stand by while babies are being assaulted. In fact, I am offended - nay, outraged - that I have to live in a world where this appallingly sick behavior goes on all the time, with people either defending it or not giving a rat's ass about it. You can call it whatever you wish - you can in your petulance call me whatever you wish - but the fact will remain that genital mutilation is a brutal, physical assault against a baby or a youngster by adults who should know better.

In case you're still unconvinced, here is a description of infant male genital mutilation, euphemistically called "circumcision," from NOCIRC.org:
How is circumcision done?

Most parents don’t know what is actually done to a baby when he is circumcised. The baby is placed spread-eagle on his back on a board and his arms and legs are strapped down so that he can’t move. His genitals are scrubbed and covered with antiseptic. His foreskin is torn from his glans and slit lengthwise so that the circumcision instrument can be inserted. Then his foreskin is cut off....

Circumcision is extremely painful – and traumatic – for a baby. Just being strapped down is frightening for a baby. The often repeated statement that babies can't feel pain is not true. Babies are as sensitive to pain as anyone else. Most babies scream frantically when their foreskins are cut off. Some defecate. Some lapse into a coma. The reason some babies don't cry when they are circumcised is that they can't cry because they are in a state of shock. Most babies are circumcised without an anesthetic. Anesthetics injected into the penis don’t always work. Being stuck with a needle in the penis is itself painful for a baby, just as it would be for anyone else. Babies are rarely given pain medication right after they are circumcised or during the week to ten days it takes for the wound to heal. Pain medication is not always effective and is never 100% effective....

Most parents who see what is done to a baby when he is circumcised and how he reacts decide against circumcision and let their baby keep his foreskin intact.
I am hesitant about providing a photo of a helpless baby enduring such torture. Suffice it to say it is horrendous. Instead of posting this image of a baby boy strapped to a circumcision board and screaming in terror, I am hotlinking it. View it at your own peril.

As we know, there are all kinds of claims concerning the supposed "health benefits" of circumcision, such as the prevention of infections, HIV transmission and cancer, but I do not think that any of them are worth subjecting an infant to such torture as depicted in that image - one of millions - "just in case." Circumcision is evidently a panacea that "cures what ails ye," based on numerous "scientic studies" of the past. In this regard, Dr. Paul Fleiss states:
Circumcision started in America during the masturbation hysteria of the Victorian Era, when a few American doctors circumcised boys to punish them for masturbating. Victorian doctors knew very well that circumcision denudes, desensitizes, and disables the penis. Nevertheless, they were soon claiming that circumcision cured epilepsy, convulsions, paralysis, elephantiasis, tuberculosis, eczema, bed-wetting, hip-joint disease, fecal incontinence, rectal prolapse, wet dreams, hernia, headaches, nervousness, hysteria, poor eyesight, idiocy, mental retardation, and insanity. In fact, no procedure in the history of medicine has been claimed to cure and prevent more diseases than circumcision....

Today the reasons given for circumcision have been updated to play on contemporary fears and anxieties; but one day they, too, will be considered irrational. Now that such current excuses as the claim that this procedure prevents cancer and sexually transmitted diseases have been thoroughly discredited, circumcisers will undoubtedly invent new ones. But if circumcisers were really motivated by purely medical considerations, the procedure would have died out long ago, along with leeching, skull-drilling, and castration. The fact that it has not suggests that the compulsion to circumcise came first, the "reasons," later.
Unseemly as it may sound, the fact is that, rather than having appropriate medical reasons for removing a baby's foreskin, the medical industry is making big money from selling foreskins, which is a major reason it is unwilling to condemn circumcision. Circumcision is in fact a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry.

"The doctors aren't going to put an end to circumcision: They make huge sums of money to mutilate the babies."

As I say, if you or your loved ones were needlessly circumcised, I'm sorry. There appears to be little that can be done, although some people have undergone for reconstructive surgery to restore their foreskins. There are people attempting non-surgical methods as well. There are also support groups for men who feel circumcision has seriously damaged them, which I believe in many cases it has.

If you have an infant son or are about to have one, please do not circumcise him! Let us please allow our defenseless children to live their lives in happiness and comfort, unharassed by such a heinous thing as having the most sensitive parts of their bodies hacked at with a knife. How very upsetting and repulsive it is to consider that this barbarous act goes on day in and day out, around the world! If we are to ever see a healthy human society, genital mutilation - of both males and females - simply must stop.

118 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Acharya. I chose not to have my now 18 mth old son circumcised even though I had been and my father before me. I blame circumcision on my almost complete lack of sensitivity on the glans and the last 25 years of sexual difficulties. The (occasional) understanding partner and modern chemistry has proven that everything else functions as normal, but when you can't feel what you are supposed to feel because a protective layer of skin has been removed, you have to wonder how much of the modern epidemic of male sexual dysfunction is the symptom of this fad. Sorry if i've been too graphic for you and everyone else, i'm not usually so outspoken on personal issues, but you're right... this barbaric practice has to stop.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if you would know the legal position should a mother object to a father's decision to have his son circumcised? Can she use the courts to prevent this? Have there been any cases? If it is child abuse (and it is) then there ought to be recourse to the law.

I liken circumcision to having your eyelids removed to prevent any potential eye infection - totally stupid! The foreskin exists to protect and lubricate the sensitive part. It's so obvious.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr. Acharya:
Am I loosing anythng of a sexual nature by being circumcised? That will really get my dander up! I will end up protesting at the nearest hospital in a penis suit carrying a sign expressing my own and others offending removal of the foreskin. What do you think my sign should say? Down with kinky foreskin thieves? Sack a circumser today?!

Being a little tounge-in-cheek!

Guess who! Well off to see a dog about a bone.

With bone envy regards
anonymouse

Anonymous said...

Now you're getting real radical! Well I think you have me convinced. Dr. Leonard Shlain has gone on his best-selling status as promoting circumcision enabling men to last longer, for the pleasure of females.

In fact my investigation of the anthropological studies demonstrated lots of evidence that FEMALE circumcision was also so that there would be a "tighter fit" for the man. The women, predominantly, understood this purpose of female circumcision and did not have a problem with it.

This information of course is totally against the "progressive" movement against female circumcision.

But I'm in agreement with Camille Paglia and her "sexual personae" masterpiece. Western civilization is based on THE SEPARATAION OF THE MIND FROM THE BODY -- by cutting out the heart. More precisely the end result of the logical inference of seeking the source of the I-thought (vichara by the Brahmins) is the creation of an UNDEAD zombe priest who can then promote right-hand, left-brain technological imperialism.

The logical axioms of civilization are based on reverse the asymmetrical resonance of body energy so that the left-brain is cut off from the right-brain electrochemical transcendence of form.

When this reversal took place it started out of the Heart-Mind and this is why God separates the Tree of Knowledge (mind) from the Tree of Life (sex energy) by cutting off the right-brain kundalini.

The dynamic that is ensued is increased sexual emphasis (longer lasting and tight fit) and increase technological pleasure.

So we are taught that the sex organs have few neurons while the tongue has the most.

But, as you state, if men were not circumcised then there would be more neurons for sex.

It's most likely that incest is a big factor in this promotion of circumcision. The male has to leave the family just after puberty or else there is too much sexual tension for inbreeding. This "voluntary transference process" is controlled by the adrenal hormones kicking in a strong sense of territoriality. Before that age mammals have no sense of fear - even young dogs are the same and will stray into enemy territory before puberty kicks in.

So with increased population pressure there is less a chance for transference outside the family territory. And so the transference occurs within -- on the sex organ itself.

Circumcision rituals are ancient but I do not think that the Koi-San, the oldest modern culture, practices circumcision.

I'll check into that. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't have said it any better. I have three boys and I never in my wildest thoughts would even think about circumcision for them, just the fact that they will be going through pain gets me upset.People really need to stop this useless act/rituals or whatever they want to call it now a days.

Anonymous said...

OK -- I checked out the history of the oldest modern human culture and it's fascinating. One source stated "circumcision is no longer practiced" by the San !Kung and another stated that "circumcision is not an ancient practice" for the Koisan cultures -- which implies it was introduced! The third source stated that Koisan cultures DO NOT PRACTICE circumcision.

But these sources also stated that the Koisan cultures traditionally marry their cousins, by standard practice, and some of the Koisan cultures marry girls at the age of 7 to 9 years with the boys being 14 years old!!

So that gives further credence to my belief about the impact of population pressures and reduction of sexual stimulation regarding incest and inbreeding.

Everyone in the Koisan culture becomes a spiritual healer as well as becoming sexually active at a very early age. But each time the man goes hunting there is NO CONTACT with any females for 3 days and nights straight and then once a week there is an all night trance dance healing ceremony around a fire. But then that traditional culture has been wiped out for the most part.

drew hempel, MA

Van Lewis said...

Well said! Although I prefer "Circumcising is Evil!" because it points to the evil action involved, which is the problem. The actors are not the problem. They can learn and change for the better, as Fleiss and many others have. It is the action itself which hurts and damages permanently and which must be ended. (There is also NONsurgical foreskin restoration, by the way, which helps. http://www.NORM.org)

Please go to http://MontaguNoCircPetition.org and join the Ashley Montagu Campaign Against the Torture and Mutilation of Children by signing there, with Francis Crick, Ashley Montagu, James Prescott, Jonas Salk, and many others, the Ashley Montagu Resolution to End the Genital Mutilation of Children Worldwide.

Van Lewis said...

Yes, both mothers and fathers have gone to court to defend their children from the other parent's intent to circumcise, sometimes with success, sometimes not. Please support the effort in the US Congress to pass gender neutral genital protection at http://MGMbill.org. Equal protection of the federal female genital mutilation act for ALL children regardless of sex, religion of the parents, or any other extraneous factor. The human right of every human being to bodily integrity including genital integrity is paramount.

Anonymous said...

I agree! Circumcision harms everyone it touches. Read blOUCH!, our weblog of forced genital cutting stories including circumcision written by survivors.

www.genitalintegrity.net

Dan Bollinger

Todd the Toad said...

I have read about the female genital mutilation in Africa, but never gave circumcision much thought. As I only have daughters, I was never asked about this dumb procedure, but someone whacked me, and now I'm really pissed. It's really more of a religious ritual than a hygiene issue, and it's something that needs to go away. Sheesh, it's really sick when you think about it. It just shows how religion is so programmed into our culture. Thanks, Acharya, for another great post. I can hardly wait for your Internet radio show.

Anonymous said...

Well, Acharya, one might say that you really cut to the quick with this one! Circumcision is nothing more than religious ritual abuse, and should be regarded by civilized people as child abuse.

Keep up the good work!

Dr. Harrell Rhome, writer and researcher in history and religion.

Anonymous said...

I am another man who has not been circumcised. For that I thank my grandparents. Again we have religion to thank for this barbaric practice. Isn't it great that the Jews (now called Israelies) are responsible for so much human suffering.

Anonymous said...

Dear Acharya S.,

Thank you for having the courage for speaking out about circumcision. This barbaric act needs to stop because it indeed does cause a lot of psychological damage to boys as they become men. I know because it
happened to me right after I popped out of the womb. Now that
I am an adult, I wish that I could confront the doctor that performed
this operation on me and and ask this individual why they believed they had a right to do this to me without my written permission as a
helpless child. I would want to strike back but cannot now. I have done enough research on this subject to know that not only is circumcision not necessary, but that a man experiences even more sexual pleasure during sex when all of the foreskin is left intact, the way our creator or creators intended. You are right, it is evil!

I work as a supply chain tech in a hospital in Colorado and today was stocking supply bins in the baby nursery. I looked into a little baby surgery room and saw a newborn baby boy strapped down to a little tiny plastic device and I know right away what the doctor was going to do to this kid. There was a bright light shining on the infant and the baby's face was covered up with a sheet. The nurse gives the baby a little sweet substance to suck on and they the doctor cuts off some foreskin. Then the baby screams because it hurts and is traumatic! It was awful and I could not say anything because I do not want to get fired, but it made me feel awful all the rest of the day.

You are right about damage done for the rest of the person's life. I
know for me it has always been a problem that I cannot fix and I have
never confronted my parents about it even though I hate the fact that
they let it happen most likely due to ignorance on their part. This
procedure seems to stem from twisted religious upbringing. and it is a
shame and in my view a criminal act on the part of the doctors who do
this. I wish I could help to stop it this happening to one more boy.

Van Lewis said...

Anybody can help stop it. Start by signing the Montagu Resolution at http://MontaguNoCircPetition.org. Leave your comments there. Then learn more at http://NoCirc.org and join the worldwide effort to help educate others. If you want to protest, help build the annual Washington DC protest at the end of March and beginning of April every year. http://StopInfantCircumcision.org. Protest in your home town outside a hospital. There are millions of things to do. It's a target-rich environment we live in.

Acharya S said...

I am delighted to say that at least one little boy will evidently be spared this torment because of my efforts! Hoorah!

What started me (again) on this subject - most forcefully condemning it this time - was a question I saw on the Yahoo questions and answers section. I posed an answer and apparently was able to convince someone not to mutilate a little boy! Score one!

Here is the link to that exchange. As you may discern, I am "Voice of Reason."

One intact penis at a time...

Anonymous said...

Circumcision causes brain damage:

GENITAL PAIN VS. GENITAL PLEASURE:
WHY THE ONE AND NOT THE OTHER?
James W. Prescott, Ph.D.
Institute of Humanistic Science San Diego, CA
Published in The Truth Seeker, July/August 1989, pp. 14-21.

http://www.violence.de/prescott/truthseeker/genpl.html

Anonymous said...

ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THIS: NO OTHER ANIMAL IS CIRCUMSIZED !

BTW , I HAVE BREAKE THROUGH INFORMATION, WOULD YOU LIKE A PARTNERSHIP?
I AM TRYING TO FIND SOMEONE THAT RESONATES SOME OF MY IDEEAS , I FEEL LIKE THE TWO OF US WILL MAKE A GOOD TEAM.
THIS INFO INCLUDES " THE RITUAL OF CIRCUMCISION " , GARDEN OF EDEN, ADAM AND EVE, EGYPT AND THE PYRAMIDS, INFORMATION NEVER EXPOSED AT LEAST FOR THE PAST 1500 YEARS OR MORE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE THE IDEEA OF HEARING SOMETHING THAT YOU NEVER HEARD BEFORE, LETS GET TO THE REAL COOL STUFF. I CAN PROVE SOME, SOME ARE JUST ETYMOLOGICAL CONCLUSSIONS WITH SOME BASES...
EITHER WAY ...LET ME KNOW
I AM ROMANIAN , DESCENDENT OF THE DACIANS , THE MOST UNEXPLORED PLACE , EVEN THOUGH THE EVIDENCE OF CIVILIZATION BEATS THE SUMMERIAN!
THE VEDAS WERE WRITEN THERE, THE MYTHS STARTED THERE, LOTS AND LOTS OF ANCIENT RITUALS SURVIVING TO THIS DAY.
SO , LET ME KNOW...
paulancka@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Historically, circumcision was the sign of slavery and submission.
A ritual of blood-letting and sacrifice to the violence that mono-theistic religions represent.
It is a violation upon a man's body binding him to this jealous god's demands: total surrender.

The control that state and religious institutions demand by having control over one's body, and particularly the genital region is tantamount in understanding the necessity of preempting man's human nature. A healthy orgasm is essential to a proper spiritual, mental. and physical existence. To exercise control over the body in consideration of the importance that the genital region was understood to play, in the creative and productive drives within man, necessitated the radicalization of the state and religion in mutilating the body in service to the religious state and its interests.

To even attempt to quantify circumcision as an issue on health, is to demonstrate the control the state and religion wishes to have upon the body-corpus of man. Note the inordinate interest state and religious institutions have on the issue of reproduction, sexuality, intimate relations between people and the guilt and shame associated with bodily functions.

The penis and the clitoris are the symbols of power that demand to be clipped. Note the genital amulets and shrines erected to such symbolic constructs historically. Only when men and women will appreciate the beauty of what God hath wroth, will we possibly free ourselves of the tyranny of oppression and mind-control.

Acharya S said...

I see, I have too much time on my hands worrying about babies being mutilated, but you apparently do not have too much time on your hands worrying about my worrying about babies being mutilated. No one is imposing anything on anyone - it is you who came here to accost me, but you are evidently unconcerned with infants who have no choice in whether or not they are subjected to torture. Apparently, I am the problem, not the people who are profiting from hacking at a baby's genitals.

I actually live in the real world, where things like this matter. I know and love many people who happen to have penises. According to you, I shouldn't worry about them. Evidently, you don't see the people with the penises, as you seem to think this matter is only about penises.

Anonymous said...

I am, quite frankly, surprised at some of the negative reactions when I sent it out to my email buletin list. Here is my response to one particularly annoying comment:

I am disappointed by your Judeo-centric attitude. Our Indo-European ancestors never practiced the barbaric rite before the Judaic Old Testament, and later New Testament, came along to pervert the pure religions of our ancestors. The so-called jehovah is nothing more than a minor Midianite god, recreated as a Judaic deity. He/it has nothing at all to do with the FATHER-GOD of the so-called New Testament that Jesus/Yashua proclaimed. Moreover, Judaists also practiced ritual murder as evidenced by the evil, perverted and so-called "Old Testament". Our ancient ancestral home is in the Indo-Aryan subcontinent. It is unfortunate that Judaic Christianity was imposed, by violence, upon us.
Circumcision is a Judaic ritual abomination. Removal of birth defect extra digits has absolutely NOTHING to do with the ritual abuse known as circumcision. The Jews have imposed this on Aryan civilization, and as Acharya S says, it is more than past time to end this child abuse.
I am not circumcised, as are several males I know, and we are all very glad of this. While some might disagree, I have personally never met one. While I am not sure, you may simply resent the article because a female author writes it.
And, you criticize her and say she should oppose war. Well, if you want to stop a war, then oppose what the Turko-Khazar Bolshevik thugs are doing in Lebanon today.

Hail the final victory of truth and light over ignorance and darkness.

Acharya S said...

It is amazing, isn't it, the lengths people will go to justify what is essentially bad behavior? I see it all the time. Instead of condemning heinous behavior, its defenders will attack the messenger, e.g., me. They will come up with all sorts of bogus excuses rather than just saying, "Hey, you know, that does sound pretty bad!"

I see it all the time in my work with religion and Christianity in particular. I will throw up what I believe is fascinating and pertinent information - info that the other person does not know - but because of his conditioning, he cannot say, "Wow! I didn't know that - that's really fascinating!"

It's truly a shame that human beings are so messed up that they just can't enjoy being alive, without all the weird, harmful, painful and wacky rites and rituals. There is so much to life, but conditioning continually blinds us to it.

Acharya S said...

Oh, I would also add that I certainly do oppose warfare. I'm known for it, so that argument is moot. What are the roots of man's warlike nature? Could it be child abuse, e.g., the brutal removal of a large part of a boy's penis?

Todd the Toad said...

Sorry to be posting so much, but I wanted to add one more thought and then I'll shut up.

While circumcision is a horrible and damaging ritual, I think young people are harmed even more from the mental and spirtual abuse they are subjected to during childhood. In a conservative Christian church, young people are "controlled" by the fear of hell and the fear of being "left behind" during the rapture.

I was "saved" at age eight after Evangelist Moody Adams scared the living crap out of me with his "left behind" sermon. The point being is that if you did not get "saved" you would have to go through the horrors of the tribulation without mommy and daddy.

As a child and young teen, I "resaved" myself several times just to make sure I wasn't going to be "left behind." I can remember several times when I couldn't find family members, it was quiet outside, and I thought that Christ had come and gone without me.

If there are already books available about the religious mental abuse to children, I would be grateful for recommendations.

Whacking the foreskin off the penis is cruel enough. Making children fearful, scared, and paranoid over a bunch of religious myths (packaged as facts) is downright evil.

Acharya S said...

You know I agree, Goose! There is no question in mind that Christian brainwashing (and that of many other religions) constitutes child abuse.

Please feel free to post anytime and as much as you like, Goose. Your opinions and experiences are most welcome here.

Thanks!

Acharya S said...

Great points and info, Balu. You always provide a valuable
perspective to this forum. That point about the ayurvedic
practitioners not coming up with it for hygiene reasons is VERY
interesting and germane. That fact should be brought to the table in
this debate. It is obvious to me that the "health benefits" of
circumcisioin are entirely dependent on the most profitable disease du
jour
. When cessation of masturbation was all the rage in this country, circumcision was the answer. Now we have an allegedly
sexually transmitted disease - AIDS, which is worth BILLIONS per year
- and circumcision is alleged to prevent that. The marketplace - not
science - decides what is a "cure," obviously, and what it "cures."

Therein - profit - lies the key as to why circumcision has been
advocated by certain "religious" parties - what did the priesthood of
the past gain from it? Mutilated followers who were more easily
controlled? What part of the brain does it specifically affect?

Lucid Glow said...

Any unnatural procedure should be abandoned, and circumcision is one of the worst.

They tell us nature is bad and that the «improvements» they do to us are good, but that's just yet another of countless base lies.

Amos Keppler said...

It's just yet another attack on passion, in my opinion.

Passion is evidently very, very dangerous to some people.

Anonymous said...

Bravo Acharya! I have two sons and neither are circumcised. I have 3 brothers and the 2nd had a botched one where they only cut off about half of his foreskin. My mom told me about this and she did not have my 3rd brother circumcised as a result. I thought I would have to argue with my husband about the procedure, but his immediate reaction was, "I'm not letting my son go through that pain."
The sad thing is, all of my siblings who have had boys so far, have had their sons circumcised. Their excuse is that they don't want them to be ridiculed for being different. Sorry, the cost isn't worth it to me. Not to mention I also have read the book about the boy (one of twins) who lost his penis due to circumcision, so they decided to surgically make him a "girl." The book is called As Nature Made Him: the Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl. Good book to read for anyone considering circumcision for a son.
Thank you for this post. I am planning on printing it to save for my sons to read if they ever think we were wrong not to circumcise them.

Jenn

Acharya S said...

Good on ya, Jenn! Yes, I'd heard about that book, as well as other horror stories. I heard from someone who was slightly disfigured because the doctor messed up and left some skin on her son, which she later just ripped off. Ouch! It apparently happens more often than anyone wants to admit.

As concerns being "embarassed," oh, hell, what is worse: Being teased or having your penile foreskin amputated against your will? Give me a break. And in this day and age, fewer boys are being circumcised, so there are increasing numbers who aren't. Moreover, do you not have a strong enough relationship with your children to inculcate self-confidence and self-esteem such that they can endure teasing? Must they even be subjected to such teasing? Whose business is it for anyone to be looking at their penises?

So, instead of dealing with those issues in and of themselves, we should assault our baby boys with a knife and remove an important organ. What a world.

Anonymous said...

You are right, what a world. Seems to be another factor of violence is o.k., sex is not.
With my family, amazingly enough, it was my sister and my sister-in-law who wanted their sons circumcised. What would they know about male ridicule of each other anyway? But, that was their excuse. Such as it is.
My husband's comment on the ridicule factor was, if someone made a comment to him in the locker room he would ask, "What are you doing looking at my penis?" Thought you'd appreciate that one. Sounds exactly like what you said!

Jenn

Anonymous said...

The first Jews who settled in Rome were expelled by virtue of a law which proscribed the propagation of the cult of "Jupiter Sabazius," according to Valerius Maximus (i. 3, 2). It is conjectured that the Romans identified the Jewish Yahveh Sabaoth ("of the Hosts") as Sabazius:
"Cnaeus Cornelius Hispalus, praetor peregrinus in the year of the consulate of Marcus Popilius Laenas and Lucius Calpurnius, ordered the astrologers by an edict to leave Rome and Italy within ten days, since by a fallacious interpretation of the stars they perturbed fickle and silly minds, thereby making profit out of their lies. The same praetor compelled the Jews, who attempted to infect the Roman custom with the cult of Jupiter Sabazius, to return to their homes."
:— Valerius Maximus, Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings i.3, 2
The date corresponds to 139 BCE. This mistaken connection of Sabazios and Sabaoth has often been repeated. In a similar vein, Plutarch (Symposium. iv. 6) naively maintained that the Jews worshipped Dionysus, and that the day of Sabbath was a festival of Sabazius. No modern reader would confuse Yahweh with Dionysus or Sabazius. Plutarch also discusses the identification of the Jewish god with the "Egyptian" (actually archaic Greek) Typhon, an identification which he later rejects, however.

BTW ...circumcision reenacts the killing of the snake, for the primordial religion it was, still is, the religion of the snake.
See St George and the dragon. Jesus itself is the Snake , In ancient times the skin was Crucified. The roman with the spear, does exactly what St George is doing with his spear. To skin a snake you have to circumcise it first.
What a stupid thing to do, or what good symbol for remembering the world oldest belief.
Keep doing it, so future generations will have one clue to point in that forgotten direction.
Same thing with piercing and tatooing.

Acharya S said...

It's an interesting but odd commentary. I disagree, however, that "no modern reader would confuse Yahweh with Dionysus." In the end, Yahweh is an aspect of the God Sun, as is Dionysus. It would appear that Plutarch was privy to some mystery school information and not at all "naive."

Anonymous said...

I was circumcised as a child and I have lived with the discomfort and the trauma of it all my life. The more I read about the horrors of circumcision, the more I realize that my discomfort is not my fault or my imagination. This practice must stop, it is the height of insanity.

Anonymous said...

You are evil not circumcsion! God sanctioned it as necessary. If you read the bible carefully it says circumcision is fine.

Acharya S said...

I appreciate your remarks very much. If you want to see how deeply this dementia affects society, read on...

Anonymous said...

I was circumcised as a child and its fine. I am happy that I have honored God's law. It is God's will that people follow God's laws. The body is God's temple and therefore God's laws must be honored.

Acharya S said...

That's nice, but the fact is that many people who have been mutilated are not "fine." The other fact is that what constitutes "God's law" is completely arbitrary and culturally dependent. I do not believe at all that mutilating a baby's genitals with a sharp object is the "law" of any good god. Let me repeat that: Circumcision is NOT "God's law." Any book - i.e., the Bible - that claims otherwise merely contains evil. Let me repeat that as well, as I am certain that those of this mentality are quite dense and unable to comprehend reality in a meaningful manner: Any book - the Bible - that states that mutilating a baby's genitals is "God's law" contains EVIL. The contention that circumcision is something godly because it is recommended in the Bible provides one more reason why the Bible must be shown to be the culturally bigoted MANMADE load of rubbish that it is. Those individuals who believe otherwise, i.e., that the Bible is "God's Word," are simply brainwashed. Period.

Acharya S said...

I should add that if the body is "God's temple," why would you attack it with a knife? Unless, of course, your "god" is a violent sadist and psychopath, which would make "him" also a demon, and which I contend indeed that he is.

Anonymous said...

Of course it's evil - it's mutilation! I've been saying this (and bitter about it) for years. My two worst circumcision experiences (other than the act itself) was having to transcribe a video of a Jewish ritual circumcision, with a baby screeching in agony while a sanctimonious old lady talked about how beautiful it was(!), and another time when I worked with a dim young woman who was training to be a teacher and who worked in a hospital in the ward where babies were circumcised. I said I thought the practice was barbaric, and she responded, "But it has to be done." SHE HAD NO IDEA PENISES COULD EXIST UNALTERED! While this told me more than I needed to know about her sexual history, it also scared me to death. Oh, and besides being uninformed about the basics of human anatomy, she also couldn't locate China, Africa, or New York City (where she lived) on a map. Future teacher of America!

Anonymous said...

Thank you you said it, circumcision is evil. Perfect word to describe the action of permanently altering the sexual perception and function of an infant... for life. Our culture is numb and dumb and so sick with political correctness that many are unable to see the obvious. If we were to permanently alter a child's eyesight or hearing by removing or damaging part of the organs responsible for these senses no one would have any trouble whatsoever seeing the inherent evil in that.

American society is sick with prudery, so much so that glimpsing a celebrity nipple is a huge scandal. When the likes of Barbara Walters and newscaster Ken Schram proclaim their upset upon seeing a woman breast-feeding in public, this is a huge indication of how sexually ill this society is.

This brilliant article has generated a lot of conversation on other websites and blogs. Good. To all of you who need to find justification for the mutilation you handed your baby over for, you won't. This should bother you deeply. Do you know why? Because you were duped. To all the young men who think you are better off because you are circumcised, think again. Look down at that brown scar around your penis, yes it is a scar, left by a Gomco clamp administered by someone who viewed the most sensitive part of your private parts as disposable. They said OK you'll be better off without this for the rest of your life. That person thought they knew better than God or Nature. Instead of feeling smug or deluded about this how about feeling outraged. How about phoning the hospital or quack "doctor" who did that to you and tell them they were WRONG!

Circumcision has untold casualties, countless numbers rendered genital cripples with accidents covered up by the very people who do them. Mohels who pass herpes on to innocent infants when sucking the wound. Doctors who circumcise children are quacks and yes circumcision is evil. Well said, keep saying it!

Acharya S said...

Bless your heart and soul, James. I'm delighted to hear that this article has stirred debate, as it is an important issue that cuts (sad pun intended) to the root of human pathology.

Unfortunately for the human species, American society is actually at the forefront sexually! Just look at other cultures worldwide - shudder. In many places, barbarians kill girls and women who "dishonor" their families by being raped. Unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

So I am to trust a person who says that "circumcision causes irreversible brain damage"!

Hahah. Lol. Any person who thinks that their brain power partly comes from their penis is a quack and deserves to be exposed as one. This is disinfo and a blatant waste of time. Instead of starting wars with the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - why don't you sexual intercourse get a hint and focus on the zionists instead? I have been watching this site closely for quite a few months now and noticed how much anti-religion stuff goes on here. True, people acting in the name of religion have a lot to answer for, but do some research before condemning a practice that has been proven safe and a part of most peoples' lives.

What you should be exposing is FEMALE CIRCUMCISION. Now that is barbaric because an actual organ is removed which affects the female's sexual pleasure. That is considered mutilation. Removing a man's foreskin is an act of hygiene and does not reduce his pleasure one iota.

Oh, and I'm circumcised myself (i prefer not to have bits of pre-cum lodged under my penis).

Acharya S said...

Am I to trust the word of someone so blatantly hostile and irrational that circumcision does not cause irreversible brain damage? I have provided information concerning research by Dr. James Prescott. I believe it is quite logical to state that the removal of an organ will stop dendritic growth in the brain.

If you feel there is a problem in the world, please do something about it yourself. I have taken on enough, thank you very much. "Do some research?" You haven't been watching this site very closely at all, obviously. I have been researching religions for decades, as should have been evident. If you had really been paying attention as much as you are pretending, such that you feel the need to criticize me, you would have also noted that I do criticize female genital mutilation (FBM), quite harshly, in fact. That does not mean that MALE genital mutilation should not also be criticized. Do you seriously suppose that it is just dandy to slice off a major organ of an infant or little boy, against his will, without anesthetic?

People who know how to bathe themselves properly have no problem with their intact, unmutilated penises. By the way, it's called "smegma," and it's present under the skin of the clitoris as well - should that be sliced off as well, as they do in FGM, so that the woman doesn't need to worry about cleaning herself properly?

Moreover, "smegma" comes from the Greek meaning "unguent, soap, cleansing medicine." Far from being "dirty," smegma has antibacterial properties, especially in infants. But, please don't trust me, do your own research and look it up.

Acharya S said...

Thanks for sharing, Barnabas. As you can tell, I surely do agree with you. Not only are they "idiots" but they display the brain damage in their hostile and irrational responses.

Anonymous said...

So strange that I have nowhere read about the alternative to circumcision. My mother did not impose any religion upon me, born at the last year of the second world war. Look what happened to the Jews, said she, maybe next time the Christians are the victims. When you are old enoughtto choose what you want to believe, do it then. So I was not mutilated by the knife. But I played with my penis a lot. And I pulled the foreskin down often to enjoy the feeling. Growing up I kept masterbating to my great pleasure and the foreskin has never been cut, although the glans is sticking out half, even when limp.
O yea, when I had to strip flying into Israel, the custom officers looked at my penis and said that I was one of them!
How foolish were they in my eyes!
Let your little boy play with himself as much as he wants and pull back that foreskin a million times, it will stretch naturally and make space enough for the penis to develop as it should.

CaptainZen said...

By playing with my penis from an early age I stretched the foreskin so much that the glans is half exposed. Why use a knife if a pleasant movement with hands is enough to get the same result?

Anonymous said...

GREAT RANT! Circumcision is sick

Anonymous said...

This online book gives an excellent proof of the current state of Jewish Ritual Murder:

http://globheu.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

This is a very informative site. Thanks Acharya.
I have formed a theory about the true cause/origin of this incomprehensibly barbaric practise. I think it is related to the male animal practise of eating the young. the male polar bear, for one mammal example, has been observed to do this. ostensible motives are competition for food and mating rivalry instinct.
In humans canabilism is normally not acceptable and so has long been muted to manifest in a viscious physical assault on the penis and clitoris/labia body parts. Any removal or brutality to bodies and body parts, medically or otherwise by the fathers/elders or authorities/dominators, can be viewed as having this same instinctive, animal motivation.
This is sado-masochism. Also man's super-ego state essential to god worship cannot be overlooked as this has relevance to understanding of all religious practises. Relationship to authority is crucial in an determining an individual's aquiesance to wrong traditional practises.
The profit motive in selling and obtaining genital material for sale is completely sickening.This is obviously the true motive nowadays as most in the west are not religious and the modern state is secular.
my site: http://april27-i8-com.livejournal.com/
selena trent

Acharya S said...

Such a perspective would make sense, in that in some cultures a king would barbarically cannibalize the penis of a vanquished competitor, as is recorded in the Bible of the "chosen people."

Anonymous said...

Hello, I completely agree with you in every manor that circumcision is a horrible thing. I am a circumcised 14 year old male that is currently trying to non-surgically get what I lost back. It's a shame that I'll never let myself forgive this society and possibly my parents for once being so appreciative of this. It truly ruined a part of my life, I just wish I had discovered that earlier, and to the thought that I had no choice weather or not to be mutilated makes me feel like I have 1000 pounds of extra weight on my shoulders. I am truly greatful for all the men around the world who are trying to stop this, and who have successfully recovered or are in the process of recovering. Everyone else is ignorant and must except that this is meant to kill pleasure, and nothing more.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, okay, with all that ranting and swearing, you don't sound like you're exactly BALANCED.

And anyone who thinks it's okay to hold a baby down and chop off his foreskin DEFINITELY has mental problems.

Here, check out this picture - you think that's a good thing? If so, yep, you've got serious mental problems.

Maybe instead of getting mad at people who are trying to stop this child abuse, you should be pissed that someone did it to you when you were a helpless baby, against your will. Now THAT would reflect mental health.

Anonymous said...

You clearly can’t remember or show appreciation to what you can’t remember ever having. Of course, you think you are ok. You don’t know any different. Your male ego will never allow you to admit to accept that you are “damaged goods”, and that you will never fully experience natural sex. It is easier for a man to believe the lie that circumcision is harmless or even helpful than to deal with the feelings and emotions that would come after accepting that a part of his manhood was mutilated and forcefully taken from him. This is not clearer even if it was its not worth the sexual dysfunction and lose of sensitivity. More people get infections from the circumcision operation than those who stayed intact. And studies have already proven that this does not prevent infections All a man would have to do is pull the foreskin back and rinse. No need to cut off anything and the female organ is much more difficult to clean and you don’t women needing to cut anything. Hormones control your sex drive even if someone would cut off your entire penis as long as your nuts are still there you will still have the same sex drive even though you will never be able to have sex at all. Go to www.mgmbill.org and do a little more research.

Anonymous said...

When you go to www.mgmbill.org you will get your proof. In the FAQ page or under Resources. No one is trying to upset you. But it seem you are upset by the truth and would rather not hear or believe it.

Jamie said...

Here. Here. And it also seems like this person did not need a whole lot of proving to convince him that circumcision is harmless and "good".What real proof does he have that this does anything? All he has is old wives tales and junk science that are easier to believe over the real and hard truth.

Face it man. What was done to you was harm and disfigurement to help fill the doctor’s pocket book at your expense. If you were really in touch with the pain and harm this caused you. You would not be defending it.

“With no accurate means of comparison, the typical circumcised man does not know what he is missing. A man, colorblind from birth and thinking his sight is normal, might also never question his condition.”

"Often the oppressor goes along unaware of the evil involved in his oppression so long as the oppressed accepts it."

"To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor."

Anonymous said...

Good one Jamie.

"Without being circumcised, you have to pull the skin over and it's overall much more of a pain in the ass."

Its far from being a pain in the ass. If you can wipe your ass then you can clean the foreskin. The foreskin is much easier to clean than many body parts such as your ears. Should we cut off our ears to make cleaning easier? Should we cut off our fingers to prevent nail infections? And how would you know anyway? You never had a foreskin. Go talk to a man who has one to see if this be so. We have not lost this battle not by a mile. If anything we are clearly winning this battle slowly but surely. There is still some die hard pro-circumcision fleas out there we need to deal with. We have not lost this battle and we WONT. You have lost your brain.And its clear your circumcision has damaged your brain either physically or the philosophy your develop that’s the reason why you don’t see things right.

Anonymous said...

THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN STOP THIS GOOD PROCEDURE.

Acharya S said...

Actually, yes, for those who are not sociopathic cowards and sadists interested in mutilating a baby boy's penis and causing him severe pain and injury, there are MANY ways to stop this EVIL PROCEDURE.

For one thing, you can just say NO! to the doctors - wow, that was hard!

Perhaps you need to take a long hard look at the images of baby boys being strapped to boards and having their most sensitive parts hideously hacked at by knives, while they scream in agony.

Anyone who would call this a "good procedure" is simply sick. I rest my case about circumcision and mental illness.

Anonymous said...

Not just say not. Just say NEVER!!!!

Anonymous said...

Not just say No. Just say NEVER!!! I mean.

Anonymous said...

Confession time: I usually pride myself on being an independent thinker and doing my own research. But when it came time to decide whether to circumcise our son, I have to admit I didn't look into or question things enough. I was initially ambivalent, and I suppose that my partner's adamant view that he should be circumcised swayed me. I didn't really think it was necessary, seemed pretty harsh, etc...but he assured me that our son would thank us later. Because he's so pleased to have a circumcised penis or something.(neither of us are at all religious) Every guy but one that I've been intimate with has been circumcised, and I've never heard a complaint or found any indication that there was significant loss of sensation. And yeah, I did read a study on uncircumcised males having higher rates of HIV infection.

But, knowing instinctively that it could be traumatic, we didn't have it done right after birth, and took him in for the procedure 10 days later. We also agreed that we should both be there, so it wasn't like he was being abandoned and abducted by some stranger to undergo this. I don't know that it made much of a difference, though.

I couldn't bear to watch what was going on down there(but I saw enough), I just held his little hand and tried to reassure him while he screamed hysterically. I don't know, maybe it helped a little bit that mom was there for him(BTW, I think if parents make this decision, they should be willing to be there to face the reality of it. That might change some perspectives, because it's no longer abstract, and besides, isn't that the sort of situation in which your child needs your comfort the most? Not that it needs to happen at all...)

After the ordeal, he was exhausted, but "seemed" fine. But, during the recovery process, his testicles became swollen and turned black and blue! I knew there were rare complications, and this was a minor one which had us and our doc a little concerned. It was "probably fine", but we were referred to a urologist for some follow-up visits. Fortunately, he healed, but I was barely suppressing my panic in the meantime!

Anyways, I think you make a good point, and if I had to do it again, I wouldn't put him through such an unnecessary, painful surgical intervention. I'm thinking my boy will turn out okay, but it's likely he would have been better off avoiding this altogether!(and...I had no idea so many men regretted being circumcised! Guess it's something we don't talk about enough. Now I want to congratulate my two sisters for leaving their boys intact!)

Acharya S said...

I'm sorry that you and your little guy had to endure such an ordeal.

Fortunately, as an empath, I could never consider doing. But I was also an older person, with the wherewithal to resist any kind of pressure. In fact, I recall saying, "Over my dead body!"

Nor has my son been stuck with a bunch of needles. Imagine all the pain these poor little people are being subjected to, between circ and vaccinations?

Anonymous said...

What about misinformed parents who have already had their son(s) circumcised?

Many doctors continue to misinform parents by telling them that circumcision is harmless or even beneficial, so oftentimes parents are not to blame. We suggest that parents take the time to sit down with their son and explain that they never would have agreed to the circumcision procedure had they known it was going to hurt him. Explaining that damage from circumcision can be reversed through non-surgical foreskin restoration is also good advice.

http://www.norm.org/whyrestore.html

http://www.circumstitions.com/Restore.html

http://www.tlctugger.com/

http://www.norm-sa.co.za/

Anonymous said...

Where did you get that info about restoring?

Anonymous said...

http://www.mgmbill.org/

A Bill to End Male Genital Mutilation in the U.S.

CHECK IT OUT!The FAQ page is the best place to start. They have plenty of Resources in the Resource page. I run the Oregon State Office for MGMBill.org. How about joining? See the Take Action page too.

Anonymous said...

My husband and I have been talking about having kids & he kept saying he wanted them to get circumcised to avoid being teased. I made him read this article nad watch a video of the procedure. I'm happy to say that he no longer wants to circumcise our child. He is, however, angry with his parents for doing it to him now.

Anonymous said...

Where did you get all of this information?

Acharya S said...

Anonymous said...

Where did you get all of this information?


As I state in the blog, some of it comes from Dr. Paul Fleiss, some from Dr. James Prescott, and some from Nocirc.org.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Acharya,

WHEN IS IT OKAY FOR DOCS TO PROMOTE TREATMENTS THEY KNOW HURT PEOPLE AND DO NO GOOD? A: When there are a few bucks to be made.

http://men.webmd.com/guide/circumcision-decision-weighing-risks-benefits

I never imagined this kind of promotional material still exists, and I was offended because it mocks the distress of the victims.

How can we get this kind of garbage away from influential sites like Web MD?

It promotes circumcision by saying “it’s not really harm.”

Then it unethically states so-called benefits: it potentially reduces the risk of HPV (The logic is so weak. HPV is a virus in women, that’s benign and they linked it to cancer. But they have a vaccine for that) AIDS and UTI.

Reading this, parents will strip their kids sexual pleasure by half, to get protection from a 1-in-240,000 risk.

It’s the inverse of a lottery. Give away a $100,000 item for a chance to avoid taking antibiotics in the 1-in-240,000 event you contract a uti.

Greedy US Doctors can commission studies to say anything, including cutting OFF sensory tissue doesn’t reduce sensation.

THE ETHICS OF CERTAIN PHYSICIANS IS AS MUCH IN THE GUTTER AS EVER. Sheldon Marks, MD, “My dad cut off my shlong, and I’m okay, so it’s okay for me to cut off my kid’s schlong, and I want to cut off your kid’s too.”

Anonymous said...

Why does the Christian Church do nothing about this blasphemy and child mutilation?

Cardi said...

I was circumcised in 1947, and am now suffering the consequences-dry insensitive glans, no slack skin when erect, and some ED. When my son was born in 1984, I ordered the hospital staff NOT to cut his foreskin off. I am now restoring, but it is a long slow process.

CIRCUMCISION IS EVIL!

Anonymous said...

Acharya . Your article seems to contradict the benefits circumcision has. It depends on what medical journals you read. How is this any different from cutting the umbilical cord? Of course this is not necessary, but is it sin? Do you know why circumcision was introduced by God to the Jews in the first place? You are confused about circumcision.

Acharya S said...

Of course it contradicts the so-called "benefits" of circumcision, because there are none. No, I'm not confused - you haven't studied the issue from anything but a "pro" perspective, obviously. We are bombarded with the "pro" perspective, so everyone already knows it.

Please read the writings of Dr. Paul Fleiss if you would like to know the truth about the purported "benefits" of circumcision.

The fact that you could ask what the difference with the natural falling off of the umbilical cord shows that it is you who are sorely ignorant and confused on this subject. The foreskin is an organ with multiple functions. Study the work of Dr. James Prescott for more information.

While now and again there may be a need to do surgery on it for real medical reasons - which generally do not occur in children - the amputation of this organ based on religion is deranged, pure and simple. No good god has any interest in hacking at baby's penises.

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. Word. I cannot even begin to tell you how sick reading these things makes me. Do you really...REALLY think that American health providers would approve of a proceedure that was in any way harmful or disruptive? And...duh, it is about being hygenic. Also, did you not know that during intercourse the "uncircumsized" forsikin can tare and cause massive bleeding and scarring to the male? Not to mention pain. We live in a nation of overcaution and researched developments. I won't even begin to cover the psycological effects such a thing could have on a male. Some women won't touch an uncircumcised male. Open your eyes and put your overractive brains to some kind of use.

Acharya S said...

Actually, no, duh, the hygiene baloney has already been addressed and refuted. There is no need to mutilate a baby's genitals for "hygiene" purposes.

The global trade in foreskins is massive - in the BILLIONS - and the medical industry worldwide, not just in the U.S., engages in all manner of questionable if not unethical procedures. Anyone who suggests otherwise is naive and ignorant of the subject.

Hundreds of millions of males have lived perfectly fine without having their genital ORGAN mutilated, and women have no problem with them. You obviously have zero experience in this regard and are therefore not qualified to speak. The foreskin does not "tare," and there is no need for any extraordinary care.

Instead of going around insulting others who do not want to see such a disgusting and unnecessary act done to babies, you should actually study the subject. There are many resources here that you could have utilized before you revealed your ignorance on the subject and decided to insult others not interested in engaging in extremely painful and unnecessary surgical procedures on babies.

I suspect another agenda here, which is that you are a member of one of the Abrahamic faiths that engage in this barbarism in the name of God.

Anonymous said...

I been told children can die from circumcision. So? Children die from immunization shots too. Should we ban immunizations too? There are risks with every procedure.

Acharya S said...

I'm not a big fan of vaccinations either.

There's no need for circumcision, so why take the chance?

It's a barbaric, useless practice that removes an organ in a very painful way from an infant.

Anonymous said...

If what the circumcision opponents say is true. Cut men don’t seem to notice or mind any ill effects whatsoever. Most men don’t even give their circumcision a thought.

Anonymous said...

Does this cause discoloration and dryness in altered men. How can this be viewed as a human rights violation?

Acharya S said...

There are comments right here on this blog from circumcised men who most definitely have problems. There is a definite loss of sensitivity in many cases - not to mention the TRAUMA endured by babies when they are mutilated with a sharp object without any anesthesia.

If you actually read anything on this page, before you make comments indicating how little about the subject you know, you would also know about the apparent damage to centers of the brain, per the research of Dr. James Prescott. Of course, that makes sense, since circumcision removes an ORGAN.

It's really disgusting to consider how many people mindlessly defend this unnecessary and foul practice of mutilating babies. Wow. What a species.

Anonymous said...

Why do people call us cut men "color blind from birth"? What does that mean?

Anonymous said...

Circumcision is often compared to color blindness because many men who were circumcised as adults (and thus were able to experience sex both with and without a foreskin) describe sex after circumcision as "like watching a movie in black and white instead of color". In other words, although they can still achieve orgasm after circumcision, much of the sensation and pleasure has been lost.

"Color blind from birth" refers to men who were circumcised at birth. That is, they have never had a full sexual experience (sex in "color") because they've never had sex with a foreskin. Does that make sense?

Anonymous said...

Doesn’t circumcision prevent cervical cancer and AIDS/HIV? Have proof that it does not?

Acharya S said...

Your question is answered both in the blog itself and in the comments. In a word: No, that "science" is skewed in order to provide justification for this absolutely unnecessary procedure. In past eras, circumcision was touted as the cure for a number of societal ills of the day, including masturbation. And so it goes. There are a few, but only a very few, medical indications for removing this significant organ.

Anonymous said...

Does not the Christian bible say that it does not matter or make any difference if one is circumcised or uncircumcised?

Anonymous said...

Acharya S. is a Goddess of pure and rational thought! All the assholes trying to put her down have something to gain from the
circumcision of defenseless children.

Circumcision is an abomination, and
any government that allows it, or any religion that endorses it, is
obviously EVIL!

Anonymous said...

Female circumcision has no medical indication and its cultural practice is used primarily to subjugate women. Although there is no consensus about it, there is evidence that circumcision can be medically advantageous. I not believe that female and male circumcision are comparable from a cultural or medical standpoint. I favor public education so that parents may make a more informed decision about how circumcision may affect their sons.

Anonymous said...

"Female circumcision has no medical indication and its cultural practice is used primarily to subjugate women."

Female circumcision also has potential medical benefits, and physicians introduced male circumcision in America to suppress (subjugate) masturbation. While I respects each person's right to alter his or her own genitals, I believe that laws must be enacted to protect children all from forced circumcision.

Trisha Darner said...

"Although there is no consensus about it, there is evidence that circumcision can be medically advantageous."

In other words, there is no proof that this does any good. I find it strange how it's still o.k. to forcefully strap perfectly healthy kids to tables, dismember, dramatically alter their genitals, circumcise, or even kill them so brutally and needlessly until its proven wrong when it yet has to be proven right by anyone or anything. The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared circumcision unjustifiable (any possible benefits are clearly outweighed by the moral and medical problems inherent in it).

"I do not believe that female and male circumcision are comparable from a cultural or medical standpoint."

The notion that female circumcision is more damaging than male circumcision may be more the product of cultural blindness than any actual difference in severity. The justifications given for altering the genitalia of both sexes are strikingly similar, and several legal scholars find the practices equally problematic . The dramatic changes in anatomy, the horrific complications (including death) that can arise , and the prolonged psychological sequelae leave little doubt as to the damaging effects of male circumcision. While the most drastic forms of female circumcision arguably entail greater harm than male circumcision, some forms of female circumcision involve less drastic procedures that are comparable in severity to male circumcision.

Any genital alteration that is not medically necessary infringes the basic human right to bodily integrity. Statutes that safeguard females against any alteration of their genitals while ignoring male genital alteration are illogical in their discrimination against males. Such laws highlight the artificiality of our culturally based treatment of male circumcision.

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution guarantee equal protection under the laws and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex without an `exceedingly persuasive justification' , i.e. proof by the state that affording lesser protection to one sex closely serves an important state interest . It is therefore unlikely that American gender-specific laws against female genital alteration could survive constitutional scrutiny . Circumcision serves no interest of the state, let alone an important one. Case law and constitutional law in the USA demonstrate that courts have the power and duty under equal protection principles to extend the protection of female circumcision statutes to boy.

Equal protection principles embedded in international law and binding on all nations under treaty and/or customary law similarly prohibit invidious discrimination on the basis of gender, such as is inherent in the statutes that prohibit only female genital mutilation but permit the continuation of the male procedure.

Trisha Darner said...

"I favor of public education so that parents may make a more informed decision about how circumcision may affect their sons."

Grave doubt exists whether parental consent to a routine circumcision has ever been truly informed. Medical doctors rarely provide full information of all complications which may follow circumcision, and some explicitly advocate non-therapeutic circumcision. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that information conveyed to parents include: the provision of information, with explanations in understandable language, concerning the nature of the condition, the nature of the proposed "treatment", the possibility of success, the nature of the risks, and the potential benefits and risks of alternative treatment, including no treatment at all;
The assessment of parents' understanding of the information;
The assessment of parents' capacity to make the appropriate decision; and
The assessment that there is freedom of choice, without coercion or manipulation.

Doctors have a duty of care to inform parents fully of all risks and potential harmful effects. Failing to tell parents about the erogenous function of the foreskin is a serious act of omission. The minimum that doctors must tell parents is listed in the document entitled Informed Consent for Medically Necessary Circumcision. This document, drafted by Illinois medical practitioner Eileen Wayne, MD, not only outlines the erogenous function of the foreskin, but also draws attention to the extremely rare reasons for medically necessary circumcision (never applicable during infancy).
Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Art 12, any child capable of forming his or her own views has the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting him or her, and for those views to be given due weight in accordance with age and maturity. Newborn babies cannot express a view on whether they should be circumcised. Circumcising children removes their choice for all time. Notably, the Human Tissue Act 1983 (NSW) explicitly recognised the child's right to withhold consent for any proposed removal and transplantation of a child's tissue(s).
Unless a medical procedure is necessary to preserve life or health, it should be postponed until the child is sufficiently mature to make a decision for himself or herself. Wherever proposed treatment is not unequivocally beneficial to the child, parental assent is insufficient.
The Bioethics Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasized that the power to consent to a procedure rests solely with patients:
"Only patients who have appropriate decisional capacity and legal empowerment can give their informed consent to medical care. In all other situations, parents or other surrogates provide informed permission for diagnosis and treatment of children with the assent of the child whenever appropriate.
Given the foregoing, one might wonder how parental permission for routine circumcision could ever be effective, even if physicians comply with the requirements of informed permission. Like all surgical procedures, circumcision should not be subject to authorization by a surrogate for an incompetent person unless it is medically necessary. Accordingly, the Queensland Law Reform Commission in Australia recently stated that "consent by parents to [neonatal circumcision] being performed may be invalid in the light of the common law's restrictions on the ability of parents to consent to the non-therapeutic circumcision of children."
Many parents choose circumcision for their sons not because they mistakenly believe it is medically beneficial, but rather for non-medical reasons. Most common is a concern that their son may have social difficulties if his genitals do not look exactly like those of his father and those of the majority of his peers. This claimed social benefit for the child is both unsupported and insufficient to justify a non-consensual surgical intervention.

Anonymous said...

"Does not the Christian bible say that it does not matter or make any difference if one is circumcised or uncircumcised?"

The bible says circumcision is needless, useless, and a mutilation. Anyone or anything that attempts to suggest otherwise outside of real medical necessity is wrong. This would explain despite the over 100 years of circumcising in this country nothing has proved that this needless cutting does any good. And they never will because the bible is right and stood the test of time. This is nothing more than a needless mutilation of the body.
Being circumcised has no spiritual value and being uncircumcised has no spiritual value. It’s says that because Christians were trying to make uncircumcised the sign of the New Testament. No one after what Jesus did on the cross is called to be circumcised, so let them not be circumcised needlessly.

Anonymous said...

Well, Trisha. Men still don’t seem to notice any difference. So, I just dont believe it.

Trisha Darner said...

This is not correct. You are reasoning by superficial observation and not realistic fact or evidence.

There is something really demented about people who ignore the truth and persist in their own opinion about this matter anyway. Calling your opinions fact is ignorance and a sign of fear that you could be wrong.

Anonymous said...

My son says he keeps getting infections. He wants to be circumcised. What do I say to him? He is making a big mistake.

Acharya S said...

My son says he keeps getting infections. He wants to be circumcised. What do I say to him? He is making a big mistake.

It's great you are concerned. Obviously, I'm not a urologist, but it would be wise to inquire whether or not the "infections" are caused by the presence of a foreskin. He probably should seek out a foreskin-friendly doc. There must be forums online for such things.

If it's urethritis or inflammation of the urethra, causing him pain upon urination, and he's ruled out STDs and so forth, he might try alkalizing using apple cider vinegar (1-3 teaspoons in a glass of water, with a little honey), lemon juice (add water and a little honey) or umeboshi plum paste (a little in hot water, as a tea).

These things used on a regular basis (every day) have been known to stop pain upon urination from acidic urine.

I know of one individual who also supposedly suffered infections many years ago and had his foreskin removed, but that has to be a very rare situation where it is actually merited.

Anonymous said...

This does have physical benefits just no Spiritual.

Anonymous said...

No where in the bible does it say it may have physical benefits. There are many Christian writings on the subject. I will find them for you and it would be good for you to read them.

Anonymous said...

I just happened upon here and just wanted to say a few things. I'm not here to argue or anything. Just give my experience.

I'm circumcised, have been since I was little. I don't have any psychological issues, I love my mom and dad, I have a very fulfilling marriage (relationally, intellectually, and sexually). We just had our second boy and had him circumcised just like our first. Ayden, our first, loves his mom very much (almost to the point of not liking me, j/k). And I'm sure Kolton will as well.

I could say a lot about most of the things that people have said about Christianity, child abuse, and brainwashing. Most of which would just lead to us all arguing about one thing or another. But I only wanted to share my experience, so I will hold my tongue (or fingers as it were).

Acharya S said...

I'm very glad none of you has suffered immediate or acute detrimental affects from your genital mutilations.

However, circumcision remains a completely unnecessary and barbaric rite that evidently causes intense pain to babies, likely prevents the growth of a part of the brain, and should never be done to innocent, unsuspecting and defenseless children.

Only under very rare circumstances does the foreskin need to be amputated. Otherwise, leave it alone. There is simply no need for it, and it is causing tremendous harm. Circumcision is also a multibillion-dollar industry, which is why it is so fervently touted.

Anonymous said...

"But I only wanted to share my experience, so I will hold my tongue (or fingers as it were)."

Here are some testimonies of men who have actually experienced sex with a foreskin and then lost it is perhaps the most damning of all arguments against circumcision.

"The greatest disadvantage of circumcision… is the awful loss of sensitivity and function... I was deprived of my foreskin when I was 26; I had ample experience in the sexual area, and I was quite happy (delirious, in fact) with what pleasure I could experience… After my circumcision, that pleasure was utterly gone. Let me put it this way: On a scale of 10, the uncircumcised penis experiences pleasure that is at least 11 or 12; the circumcised penis is lucky to get to 3 ... If American men who were circumcised at birth could know the deprivation of pleasure they would experience, they would storm the hospitals and not permit their sons to undergo this unnecessary loss. But how can they know? You have to be circumcised as an adult, as I was, to realize what a terrible loss of pleasure results from this cruel operation."

“Now an orgasm is an achievement, and if I am not turned on experiencing it is sheer work. Because so much feeling has left I seek intensified stimulation . . .”

Circumcision Sunshine Coast said...

Circumcision is a choice that is usually made by parents. I respect the practice of circumcision as I have had both of my sons circumcised and if you ask either of them aged 18 and 16 both would say they are glad I chose to circumcise them. Circumcision is the right choice for some and not the right choice for others, however, either decision should be respected.

Acharya S said...

Obviously, your message is an advertisement for male genital mutilation.

No, I'm sorry, but I do not respect the decision to mutilate an infant without its permission. (Unless in that incredibly rare life-threatening situation.)

David said...

I did research on this subject when I was 13, because I always thought it was just doctors slitting part of the skin, and you didn't feel any pain at all. Doing the research, I had pretty much lost hope in all religions, and going to a mind-numbing Catholic school, I started arguing with the teachers over religion. The turning point when I completely rejected any God was when I stood up and started arguing with a priest, asking him about if EVERY religion has a chance to go to heaven. He told me, "No, only ones who follow the Catholic tradition may go to heaven" I look at him, and just told him that he is worshiping a selfish God who must punish those who disagree with him.

Sure, I got detention for stating my religious views, which drove me even farther away from the faith. My parents are probably the most understanding people in the world, because when I came home, they were pretty mad about me getting detention all week. The principal had said that I had yelled at a priest and claimed him to be proclaiming blasphemy. But I explained to my parents in detail exactly what happened, and from then on, they respected my decision.

Well, ANYWAYS, since I got extremely off topic there, I would like to agree with you. Circumcision is the exact same thing as lets say, poking a baby's eye out because it was a deep red, therefore making it the devil baby. This religious stuff causes pain and suffering! Nothing else. If people can follow their religion, that is fine with me. But when they force it upon their kids and put them in a brainwashing Catholic school, which pretty much will make you a crazy Catholic or a very devout Athiest, it is evil.

Sorry If I ranted and my story went on and on, but I am sick of religions doing stuff like this. I want to ask someone who circumcised their child if they would want to woken up, strapped to a table with a blinding light, then have a cloth placed over their eyes. Having something sweet to suck on may make the little child happy, which will only be unsuspecting. Then, he will experience the worst pain a male can possibly go through. All you guys out there know what it is like when you get hit in your balls, so imagine someone stabbing you there.

David said...

I did research on this subject when I was 13, because I always thought it was just doctors slitting part of the skin, and you didn't feel any pain at all. Doing the research, I had pretty much lost hope in all religions, and going to a mind-numbing Catholic school, I started arguing with the teachers over religion. The turning point when I completely rejected any God was when I stood up and started arguing with a priest, asking him about if EVERY religion has a chance to go to heaven. He told me, "No, only ones who follow the Catholic tradition may go to heaven" I look at him, and just told him that he is worshiping a selfish God who must punish those who disagree with him.

Sure, I got detention for stating my religious views, which drove me even farther away from the faith. My parents are probably the most understanding people in the world, because when I came home, they were pretty mad about me getting detention all week. The principal had said that I had yelled at a priest and claimed him to be proclaiming blasphemy. But I explained to my parents in detail exactly what happened, and from then on, they respected my decision.

Well, ANYWAYS, since I got extremely off topic there, I would like to agree with you. Circumcision is the exact same thing as lets say, poking a baby's eye out because it was a deep red, therefore making it the devil baby. This religious stuff causes pain and suffering! Nothing else. If people can follow their religion, that is fine with me. But when they force it upon their kids and put them in a brainwashing Catholic school, which pretty much will make you a crazy Catholic or a very devout Athiest, it is evil.

Sorry If I ranted and my story went on and on, but I am sick of religions doing stuff like this. I want to ask someone who circumcised their child if they would want to woken up, strapped to a table with a blinding light, then have a cloth placed over their eyes. Having something sweet to suck on may make the little child happy, which will only be unsuspecting. Then, he will experience the worst pain a male can possibly go through. All you guys out there know what it is like when you get hit in your balls, so imagine someone stabbing you there.

Anonymous said...

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www.foregen.org is raising money to start a clinical trial in foreskin regeneration using stem cell technology! PLEASE CHECK THEM OUT AND DONATE =D

Unknown said...

I think the physical and psychological affects of circumcision have been know through out history even if they did not have the medical expertise to understand it. I think it was done with a definite purpose. I think many knowingly did it to subjugate men and women. Humans rarely do anything with out a reason especially when it is an important issue. Whether as punishment for masturbation or to humiliate a slave, I think the reasoning was similar. I do not buy the Hygene or Tradition arguments. People had been living for thousands of years taking care of their hygiene needs with a little rinsing. All traditions have origins. I think these practices started for a reason and people want to perpetuate them for a reason. Given what we know medically about circumcision I would say that not only the act is evil but the people who want to perpetuate circumcision themselves are evil.

Unknown said...

I think the physical and psychological affects of circumcision have been know through out history even if they did not have the medical expertise to understand it. I think it was done with a definite purpose. I think many knowingly did it to subjugate men and women. Humans rarely do anything with out a reason especially when it is an important issue. Whether as punishment for masturbation or to humiliate a slave, I think the reasoning was similar. I do not buy the Hygene or Tradition arguments. People had been living for thousands of years taking care of their hygiene needs with a little rinsing. All traditions have origins. I think these practices started for a reason and people want to perpetuate them for a reason. Given what we know medically about circumcision I would say that not only the act is evil but the people who want to perpetuate circumcision themselves are evil.

Mare said...

I always felt in my heart that cutting the genitals of baby boys was "Evil"..... and the reason it is so evil is the widespread acceptance of such a barbaric act. Only true evil could become so widespread and having otherwise loving parents consenting to this unnecessary, painful, unnatural and unethical procedure to be inflicted on their precious newborn. THe other clue that it is a true evil, is that it gets otherwise "good" people defending the practice, calling it okay and stating that it is a religious "demandment".... as if they were not blessed with a thinking brain that could look logically at circumcision and understand how evil and wrong it is. What a dilemma and in the meantime, so many baby boys continue to be innocent victims put under the knife. Incredibly heart breaking!

Acharya S said...

I agree, Mare. I knew an Orthodox Jewish woman who was utterly distraught after her baby boy was yanked out of her arms and subjected to genital mutilation - she was held back by men to prevent her from interfering. She said she could feel the trusting bond between her and the baby being destroyed, as if she had "permitted" him to be "attacked" without protecting him. She felt there was always a gap between them because of this trauma.

In discussions of the reason for circumcision, it has come up that the destruction of this mother-son bond serves to allow the boy to be turned into an angry, hateful warrior who can kill people.

So, yes, the evil of male circumcision goes well beyond the actual mutilation, which is bad enough.

James A.K. said...

I stumbled upon your website this morning after awakening from another horrible dream, ironically centering around my lifelong trauma over this barbaric botched circumcision I have suffered as an infant. The central premise was false hope, as I have been in contact with several Doctors, Dr. Svoboda and Dr. Atala, regarding not just the premise of sewing some unspecialized Franken-skin over my hideous scars, but actually rebuilding a delicately engineered replacement for what will never be right.

That frustration manifest in the dream as a tantalizing intact image of self, strong and proud and confident and full, and almost able to feel for a moment what that would be like, before I am faced again to live with the cold reality. Humans are still primitive enough to do this, and there is yet nothing the minority of decent worthwhile intelligent beings suffering in the dungeons of these disgusting ape creatures can do to help me.

Only recently I was considering starting a blog, not specifically on this subject but in general, and had written in my introduction that while I know my ideas would likely be lifted for derivative works, that it is virtually impossible to protect intellectual property on the internet, that the truths I know must be known, for posterity, for the healing of society, and that the sacrifice would ultimately be worth it. Interesting your own site appears to echo these same sentiments.

To any who would say without evidence men are not affected by this, you are simply wrong. I am a man. This was done to me. Not only was I traumatized by an over zealous circumcision, viciously tearing away the skin of over 2/3 of my penis, leaving disgusting scar tissue, tightness, and pain constantly my entire life, but there are a series of deep, vicious cuts. One on either side just under the head, each about ¾ of an inch long and so deep the shaft actually bends around where the scar tissue has knitted back together, and another on the top, about an inch down from the head, so deep I suffered primary nerve damage.

It is difficult for me to see how such deep disfiguring scars could possibly have been done by accident. Not so many, and not so precisely placed. The scares on either side look to have intentionally severed the major branching arteries leading to the most sensitive head of my penis, the remnants of which have curled into scared knots of dead tissue and diminished blood and nutrient flow. The vicious cuts on the surface, where it looks like someone took a potato peeler repeatedly to my infant body, they cut so deep they largely severed the main nerves!

Every time I have an erection, I suffer pain. The skin is tight and feels unnatural, almost like my head was cut off and surgically reattached. I cannot experience sexual pleasure at all.

I have been with several woman in my life, but only once in love. For five difficult but wonderful years, we struggled to make it work. But is was, in the end, simply impossible to experience a fulfilling, healthy, spiritual sensuality. We eventually drifted apart, primarily due to the emotional strife and frustration over such a cruelty with no solutions. The futility of it, the barbarism, that humanity after ten thousand years are such ignorant unthinking animals. Violent, heartless, unreasoning, overcompensating ANIMALS.

James A.K. said...

I can attest as a rare male empath this is absolutely contributing to the crisis of overcompensating male violence perpetuated in our culture, and the psychology of DENIAL, which the church of POWER only benefits from. Creating trauma we can then tell you how to cure to strengthen our imaginary religious authority. You should feel shame! “The lord DELIGHTS in the spirit that has been beaten down, and no longer attempts to lift themselves up.” Yet I should be ashamed for being born? Of my natural form? Disgusting beyond words, these people, these religions. SLAVES all, killing each other, killing the better part of themselves.

I am by nature kind, highly intelligent, successful (I work as a programmer and technology consultant), attractive, an artistic and spiritual person, but now in my early thirties, I feel my life is over. I can attest first hand this is THE primary reason for my own learned helpless disorder, from my disassociation with humanity, for my loss of faith in our future, and for every sorrow that I feel, because it is SYMBOLIC of why I suffer. It is a CONSTANT reminder. It is, in the end, keeping me from pursuing my true Work.

What am I even doing this for? I will never know the simple, deep spiritual comfort and joy of a lover’s tender embrace, of that natural bond that makes all the insane disgusting ugliness we must endure in this primitive mortal world of loss and futility just a little more bearable. To not have to suffer this alone. I can’t imagine I will ever have children. How could I in good conscience bring another into such a world? It seems, in all, to be a planet for the ignorant, the primitive, who know no better, and for animals.

There isn’t much room or option or time away from forced labor and the SLAVERY we WORSHIP for conscious evolution or real progressive technological advance among the ways we clamor to profit off that reality, and the few of us who would pursue greater ambitions, are such a disorganized minority as seems selfish and unconscionable to assume it will ever change in time for that life I would introduce to this to have any future here either.

How can any species with nuclear and biological weapons hope to survive when they still are supporting such disgusting evil religious blood sacrifice in modern medical institutions? Where they are more emotionally vocal about people arguing to do away with this insane practice or ritual abuse than they are about being left DEFENSELESS against biotechnology after being saddled with TRILLIONS in debt? This after theis own CIA briefed congress and Obama it is the greatest threat we face, or have EVER faced. Completely disconnected from reality!

Bred like animals to be working slaves and argue for how it is correct our lives should be discarded. We deny stem cells and preventative care so we can prescribe symptom suppressants by the trillions, and ritually engage in the CREATION of pain. It is almost inconceivable we made it this far.

I believe this is precisely why this was done to me. Angry, jealous, sexually repressed small man syndrome, viciously attacking what they hate others for having suffered themselves, paying forward EVIL instead of helping make it better, or simply angry that in-tact I would have that much more going for me, and their primitive chest pounding male competition needed to mutilate my joy and comfort and beauty to feel better about their own disgusting life, though I have never done or said anything to bring pain or harm to ANYONE.

Violence! Competition. War without end. It is the planet of the apes, and I won’t be terribly sad to leave it. If only there were some alternative, other than praying to fairy tales or ceasing to exist at all. But none of my enlightened brothers have invited me to move to Mars yet!

Acharya S said...

Thank you for sharing, James. I am appalled and horrified by your experience, although not entirely surprised.

I hope others will read your pained words and benefit from them.

PARENTS, DO NOT CIRCUMCISE YOUR BOYS!

The only reason to do so would involve a serious medical ailment. Routine circumcision without medical reason is harmful all around. DON'T DO IT.

Keith Morange said...

Im brought to tears reading your post. I watched a video of this horrific and barbaric practice.
Im angry. I feel victimized. I want to go to my mother and ask, how can you let them do this to me? How can you have let them take your baby, me, strap me down and mutilate me?

Between what you have written and the video of the circumcision mutilation I found on youtube, it really puts it into perspective. I have not thought of it that much in my life because its what Ive known, its how I am. But to think I was for a brief moment physically different then I am...awakens me to the trauma I have experienced. I feel that Im missing a part of me. That may sound silly but its not. I am angered. Traumatized that this happened to me. This brutal violent mindless sick violation of my physical body. It makes me wonder the sub-conscience conditioning that has carried over from infancy into my adult life from this experience of infant circumcision. Its not something that is easily discussed or brought up in conversation either. At this point Im just feeling a lot of things mostly anger and sadness for what was allowed to happen to me. I feel slightly betrayed by my parents whom I love and I know love me. I'm 32 now. I mean this is life altering act that will affect a persons entire life. I mean this is no different from when I first heard of female genital mutilation in foreign countries. I thought how sick! What injustice! I tried to imagine what it must have been like to suffer this violence when all the while I was living with it my whole life...

Keith Morange said...

Im brought to tears reading your post. I watched a video of this horrific and barbaric practice.
Im angry. I feel victimized. I want to go to my mother and ask, how can you let them do this to me? How can you have let them take your baby, me, strap me down and mutilate me?

Between what you have written and the video of the circumcision mutilation I found on youtube, it really puts it into perspective. I have not thought of it that much in my life because its what Ive known, its how I am. But to think I was for a brief moment physically different then I am...awakens me to the trauma I have experienced. I feel that Im missing a part of me. That may sound silly but its not. I am angered. Traumatized that this happened to me. This brutal violent mindless sick violation of my physical body. It makes me wonder the sub-conscience conditioning that has carried over from infancy into my adult life from this experience of infant circumcision. Its not something that is easily discussed or brought up in conversation either. At this point Im just feeling a lot of things mostly anger and sadness for what was allowed to happen to me. I feel slightly betrayed by my parents whome I love and I know love me. I'm 32 now. This is an act that will affect someone their entire life. I mean this is no different from when I first heard of female genital mutilation in foreign countries. I thought how sick! What injustice! I tried to imagine what it must have been like to suffer this violence when all the while I was living with it my whole life...

Acharya S said...

Hi Keith -

Thanks for your thoughtful and impassioned message. I'm sorry this realization has been traumatic, but I can relate to your anger!

It's a good thing to be righteously indignant. Such anger is a major motivator in provoking people to act against injustice - and mutilating a baby's genitals is in my mind a great injustice indeed.

I haven't seen that video you discuss, and I don't think I can watch such a thing. Imagine actually performing such acts!

Please feel free to take your well-deserved anger and speak out against this asinine practice. You can find more information about it at links already included here and at such sites as the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers:

http://www.nocirc.org/

I'm sure there are forums around where you freely express your anger and frustration at this experience. I see there's a No Circ Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NOCIRC/8830538132

One insight might be helpful - don't hold it against your mother too much. She was likely "bullied" into it by family and society - and your father would also be responsible, but it is understandable that mother is viewed as the main nurturer and protector.

It appears that one of the main reasons for circumcision traditionally, in fact, is to destroy the mother-child bond so that the child will be more easily hardened for battle. That's why warrior cults like Judaism and Islam are so obsessed with penile mutilation.

One of my best friends was an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman (now deceased) who was destroyed by having her baby boy mutilated. When the men came to take the baby away from her, she was distraught and fought them tooth and nail. They had to physically restrain her. The same has happened all too many times throughout history.

I have my own potential circumcision horror story, when my son was abducted out of my arms. The first thing the abductors wanted to do, apparently, was hack at his genitals. I made it clear that such an evil would be committed over my dead body. I was lucky to have the law behind me. Otherwise?

And that's another reason I love America!

Good luck to you.

Keith Morange said...

Hi Achraya,

Very considerate of you to take the time and energy to respond to my comment. It does make me angry. I agree with you, anger can provoke people in the right direction. IT can be used to point the direction but as long as it is not acted out in violence. Theres a whole tangent Im not going to get into ...

The video or videos can be found on-line as they are from different sources. Of the two I viewed I couldnt finish either one. But all with similar elements. Parents and adults standing around smiling basking in the proceedure about to occur while the infant is strapped down. Tears came to my eyes at the realization, "thats me strapped down", ( as well as many other men who were victim to this mindless "tradition"). I think its important to point out that Im not jewish or raised with any religious background but yet here this proceedure was performed on me. Because of the same reasons were told to both my parents, that parents now 32 years later are still being told to parents. What ever the reason, religous or non-religeous (most of which did stem from religion based belief) this practice/tradition/proceedure whatever label anyone wants to put on it, is Archaic! And any thinking person devoid of any religeous pre condition of thought, can see that. This is an act of violence! IT should be recognised as such.

That said Achraya, the reason I didnt mention going to my father is because he is dead from cancer, from smoking, another one of socioties gems. I didnt go to my mother and burden her with this guilt. No good would come from it. She has been through enough in her life she doesnt need this too. A few years ago I did ask her about why I was circumcised and she said the doctor suggested it is healthier Hygenic ect. Same bullshit. But I wont hold it against her too much, she didnt know any better. And thats whats different. Today we do know better! So as far as one of the traditional, rediculous intensions go, of destroying the mother child bond, didnt work. I love my mother very much. What it did do is harden me to battle bullshit like this and its kind, as I am a writer and an artist myself.
And its up to people who do know to to bring a little light to all the sleepers out there.

The brief mention of your personal experience sounds trauma inducing in itself I'm glad it turned out ok for you and your son.

Again Achraya, thank you for all that you do. Love to you.

fast960 said...

what they call circumcision today is the 666 abomination ..... the evil[ / ] done in the middle[ + ] of the garden .....Fast960

fast960 said...

neither is the umbilical designed to be cut .... it falls away naturally on/about the 3rd day after the placenta has depleted and the baby's immune system is finished ......Fast960