The Truth About Circumcision
CIRCUMCISION -- ANCIENT HORROR/MODERN DAY CONSEQUENCES
Few people are aware of the fact that circumcision was introduced to our culture in an attempt to eliminate masturbation.
A Slice of History
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/history.htm
The Origin of Non-Religious Circumcision
by Mary G. Ray ©1997, All Rights Reserved
Circumcision itself began as a religious ritual or puberty rite as long as 6000 years ago.
"It started as an ancient Egyptian custom and there are wall carvings to prove it. It seems to have its origin in snake worship. The Egyptians believed that when the snake shed its skin, and emerged shiny and new again, it was undergoing rebirth. They reasoned that if, by shedding skin, the snake could become apparently immortal, then humans should follow suit. They made the simple equation: snakeskin = foreskin, and the operation began. From there it spread to many Semetic peoples, both Arabs and Jews adopting it and converting it into an act of religious faith. As the centuries passed, it became popular in other regions of the world for moral, medical, or hygenic reasons. " From the book, Babywatching by Desmond Morris.
Non-religious circumcision began in England in the late 1800s and it became extremely popular in English-speaking countries between 1920 and 1950. England introduced the practice to the U.S. At the time, it was believed that masturbation caused a host of different illnesses. Masturbation was considered extremely immoral and many children, both male and female, have been circumcised throught the years because parents discovered them "in the act." To this day, who doesn't remember the threat associated with masturbation that "you'll go blind?" SNIP SNIP -- PULL UP LINK TO READ THE REST
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From Rayelan --
Several days ago Rush Limbaugh was talking about a man who had formed an anti-circumcision group in San Francisco. Rush asked, "How many men told themselves, when they were little boys, that they wanted to grow up to head an anti-circumcision group?" Rush was making fun of people who are trying to bring the barbaric act of circumcision to the attention of mothers and fathers around the world.
Later that day, I was sitting in my chiropractor's office and as I flipped through a magazine, I saw an article by a man named Rio Cruz. When his son was circumcised he was present. He described the horror and torture that his son went through. His son finally went into shock and passed out.
Mr. Cruz now works to awaken people that the unbelievable horror and torture arising from circumcision forced on infants without their consent, may be the reason for many of the societal problems that face the western world. Autism, rage, ADD, sexual disfuction ranging from impotence to sexual preditors have been linked back to circumcision.
There has never been a thorough study of the effects of circumcision on the physical or mental health of the child. With something as barbaric as circumcision, it is time that more people begin to question its place in society.
I have enclosed an article from a webpage that was sent to me today. Whenever I get hit three times with something, I feel that "Someone" wants me to share the information, that is why I am sending this information to you.
The webpage link that was sent to me is:
http://www.universalway.org
Here is the article from that webpage. After the article I have included some links to pages you should view if you may have a son, grandson or great grandson that might be subjected to a circumcision.
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The Truth About Circumcision
http://www.universalway.org/circtruth.html
All that is needed to understand the nature of circumcision, is to watch a circumcision being performed and to listen to the baby in question cry its little eyes out and scream in pain and suffering, perhaps qualifying such babies as being "anti-circumcision" by nature in the eyes of some people.
Some people are claiming that in a civilization which declares itself in support of truth, liberty, and justice, people who forcibly impose an operation that painfully removes a majority of the most sensitive part of a newborn baby's external sexual organs, are "right." Some of these people claim that all people have the right to do whatever they choose to do with their own person and property, as long as they do not harm the person or property of any other person; while at the same time some of those same people declare that people who alter the sexual organs of newborn babies are "right" in the eyes of that same society.
Every human being deserves to be treated in a fair and equitable manner, afforded all the possibilities available to them in life, and protected from harmful acts that deny them those possibilities. When harmful acts are performed, be it arbitrarily or intentionally, a remedy must be pursued. Furthermore, harmful acts need be researched and identified for their true nature.
Tolerance of all human beings includes all people to the degree that they do not perform harmful acts upon other people. Babies are the most innocent and beautiful of all creatures in the world, and harmful acts performed upon babies are some of the most terrible that can be contemplated. Thus, it is important that babies be protected from cultural and traditional acts which may have become rote, but which are really harmful acts.
In early March of 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced that they had concluded that there is no weight of medical evidence in favor of routine neonatal male infant circumcision and that babies being circumcised actually DO feel the pain. Because of this, the AAP claimed, they would no longer recommend circumcision as a routine neonatal operation, and have now stated that circumcision should be an "ethical" choice.
Female genital mutilation is now a felony crime in the United States. After over 20 years of embarrassed debate, lawmakers in California and Washington D.C. have recently passed laws making the genital mutilation of female humans under the age of 18 a felony. However, boys are apparently not considered "people" by the courts and are therefore not entitled to equal protection, and they apparently do not possess the same worth and dignity as do little girls. Boys and men apparently do not qualify as "people" according to the American Medical Association either, and therefore their members are apparently free to ignore the ethical standards that the AMA uses for girls.
In the United States during the decade of the 90's, 1 million infant boys annually had circumcision unwillingly perform upon them - more than 3,000 babies each day - one child approximately every 30 seconds. This surgery used more than $250 million health care dollars annually as well as untold personnel hours. Globally, 15-20% of male children was subjected to some form of non-medically indicated genital mutilation.
Circumcision is extremely painful and traumatic for a baby. In the male version, 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 the glans and slit lengthwise so that the circumcision instrument can be inserted. Then his foreskin is cut off, usually without anesthetic.
While this may appear to be an odd thing to do to a baby boy, the ancient orthodox religious ritual is more bizarre. According to "The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia"; "The circumcision rite consists of the following: . . .3. metzitzah, the sucking of the wound, to staunch the blood, by means of the mouth, as practiced in earlier times, or by means of a suction cylinder or other modern methods in more recent times."
Believe it or not, the female version of circumcision in some societies is even more bizarre, removing most or all of the girl's clitoris, and is often performed with a sharp but dirty instrument only vaguely resembling a knife; the claim by these people is that a girl who is not mutilated in this manner is "unclean" in the eyes of society and their future husband. In some other cases, the mutilation is performed by a newly-betrothed husband of a young girl bride who is sometimes brutally raped after the bloody mutilation.
The often repeated claim that babies can not feel pain is not true. Babies are as sensitive to pain as anyone else. Most babies scream frantically when their foreskin or clitoris is cut off. Some defecate, and some lapse into a coma. The reason why 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 anesthesia, and anesthetics injected into the external sexual organs don't always work. Being stuck with a needle in the penis or vagina is itself painful for a baby, just as if would be for anyone else. Often, no pain medication is given after the surgery or during the week to ten days it takes the wound to heal; can you imagine the incredible pain and suffering that is inflicted upon victims of infant circumcision as part of the first few weeks of their lives in this world?
Do the research yourself, and begin to learn about circumcision ---
The Truth About Circumcision Autism and Circumcision?
http://www.universalway.org/circtruth.html#AutismCircumcision
Circumcision Methods Beware -- this page may be more than you can bear.
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/plastibell.htm
Observe a Circumcision Before You Decide
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/video.htm
"I was circumcised, but we chose to leave our son intact. A big part of my decision was education. We knew that circumcision was not for us after watching a video of an actual circumcision. I could never allow that to happen to my son, especially in the first days of entering the world. I believe that any parent that is considering circumcision should be required to watch one first. If, after doing that, they choose to have him circumcised, then the parent should be with him at the time." Scott Pierson, U.S. Marine Corps
Mothers Against Circumcision
http://www.mothersagainstcirc.org/index.html
HealthCentral.com - Dr. Dean Edell - Circumcision: A Closer Look - (3/1/1999)
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/Deanfulltexttopics.cfm?id=9985
