I tried to think of something funny to say but the seriousness of this topic allows little space for comedy. Check this article out entitled "Man Faces Child Abuse Charges After Home Circumcision": http://www.wxii12.com/news/15251643/detail.html
There should be no debate as to whether this man's alleged actions are child abuse but we as civilized humans need to further understand this: ALL circumcision is child abuse. No child for any reason should have harm inflicted upon his penis or her clitoris. Science has found no medically positive reason for cutting or removing a male's foreskin. Don't give me any bullshit about it being cleaner: teach your child to wash his penis and you can give up millenniums of archaic, torturous practices. Lives are only harmed by this practice. It teaches that physical suffering is better to experience than sexuality. America and the world will not be able to healthily and justly deal with issues like sexual abuse as long as genital mutilation is thought of as safe and normal.
If your traditional religious dogma has required circumcisions of infants or children I challenge you to take a stand against the thousands of years of physical and psychological torture that those before you have accepted. You are in a position to be a positive force of change and to unbind some of your religion's primitive chains.
If you are a parent who has had your child circumcised it is never to late to apologize to them, especially if you were unaware that what you were doing was harmful. My physical scarring may never pass but one of the first steps towards my psychological healing was educating and forgiving my parents for doing what society had taught them was normal. Tell your kid that you are sorry and that you will never do it to anyone else. I have to believe that if we work together as a people that we can permanently end the practice of circumcision altogether by the 22nd century.
****Originally posted February 8, 2008****
No comments:
Post a Comment