The Guardian
Iceland is poised to become the first European country to outlaw male circumcision amid signs that the ritual common to both Judaism and Islam may be a new battleground over religious freedom.
A bill currently before the Icelandic parliament proposes a penalty of up to six years in prison for anyone carrying out a circumcision other than for medical reasons. Critics say the move, which has sparked alarm among religious leaders across Europe, would make life for Jews and Muslims in Iceland unsustainable.
One in three men globally is thought to be circumcised, the vast majority for religious or cultural reasons. Many Jews and Muslims fear the issue of circumcision could become a proxy for antisemitism and Islamophobia, pointing to similar tensions over religious dress and the ritual slaughter of animals for meat.
Muslim and Jewish leaders attacked the proposal, while Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the Catholic Church in the European Union, said the bill was a “dangerous attack” on religious freedom. “The criminalisation of circumcision is a very grave measure that raises deep concern.”
Circumcision, of both males and females, should be abolished. It's barbaric. I remember my circumcision, as an infant, as being deeply painful. It was a poor welcome to human life, losing such a sensitive part of one's body. As I look back on my 73-years of life, it was the most physically painful thing that I have experienced. It was worse even than being stabbed in a knife fight as a teenager and beaten up in fights at the military schools that I attended.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza:
The Guardian
Iceland is poised to become the first European country to outlaw male circumcision amid signs that the ritual common to both Judaism and Islam may be a new battleground over religious freedom.
I have been writing and speaking out against circumcision since the rise of men's groups a quarter of a century ago. Following is a link to my chapter in the book "Boyhood, Growing Up Male," edited by Franklin Abbott, with versions published in l993 and 1998. We need to find non-violent means to welcome boys into the human community, rather than wound them in a most vulnerable place. We need better initiations than cutting off part of an infant's body.
A first section groups stories of emerging boyhood: Gordon Murray links childhood bullying to the macho bluster of the Gulf War, while Shepherd Bliss, the son of a career soldier, laments his circumcision and his family's warrior culture. In a second section, on family life, Oka Martin recalls the masculine dominance of ...
02-27-2018, 12:46 PM
occihoff
Re: Male Circumcision OUTLAWED In Iceland
Is there any evidence in regard to the effect of male circumcision on sexual functioning in copulation? One would think that the foreskin evolved for some reason.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
Circumcision, of both males and females, should be abolished. It's barbaric. I remember my circumcision, as an infant, as being deeply painful. It was a poor welcome to human life, losing such a sensitive part of one's body. As I look back on my 73-years of life, it was the most physically painful thing that I have experienced. It was worse even than being stabbed in a knife fight as a teenager and beaten up in fights at the military schools that I attended.
02-27-2018, 12:58 PM
occihoff
Re: Male Circumcision OUTLAWED In Iceland
Wow Shepherd, I would never have imagined that a sweet and peaceful person like you had been stabbed in a knife fight, or involved in other fights in the military schools that you attended! I can't help wondering to what extent, if any, you were aggressively involved in such fights...
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
... It was worse even than being stabbed in a knife fight as a teenager and beaten up in fights at the military schools that I attended.
02-27-2018, 02:05 PM
Shepherd
Re: Male Circumcision OUTLAWED In Iceland
Hi Richard,
As you wonder in your last paragraph, the answer of this "military brat" would be affirmative. I was taught to play chess as a young boy, thus to learn military strategy, and winning over older children and soon even adults.
Let me tell a story of how military boys are expected to fight, learning as we do from our infantile circumcisions. The military moves families about every 3 years, partly so our loyalty is to the country, more than to individuals. Soon after boys arrive at a new fort, a chant goes up--"Fight, Fight, Fight" and boys and girls circle up for some fun.
Once at a new base in Texas, a circle formed around this new kid and out comes a boy on a cane to challenge me with the words "Wanna fight?" Since I was taught not to fight girls, or disabled people, I declined. He decked me. So I started throwing a few punches. He eventually won.
The only appropriate response for me was to start throwing punches. Winning was not as important. When I did start punching, people started clapping. He won and came over to shake my hand. It was almost like a dance. He was strong and apparently the top of the peak order, having significant upper body strength from dealing with his polio. People congratulated me for my willingness to fight back and accepted me into the group.
Last year a former SSU colleague invited me to speak in his Diversity class on a subject of my choice. Of the 50 students there only one raised her hand when asked who was raised in the military. All the rest were raised to be civilians--big difference. My colleague has invited to talk on this same subject this semester.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by occihoff:
Wow Shepherd, I would never have imagined that a sweet and peaceful person like you had been stabbed in a knife fight, or involved in other fights in the military schools that you attended! I can't help wondering to what extent, if any, you were aggressively involved in such fights...
02-28-2018, 11:07 PM
rossmen
Re: Male Circumcision OUTLAWED In Iceland
As another military brat I can attest to the experience of growing up and moving to bases around the world. My most militant memory was from Korea and playing war in the neighborhood. I still am proud of facing bigger boys down with many pointed sticks, just had to seem crazy enough to lose an eye.
I also think both male and female genital mutilation are abhorrent. As a mutilated male, I have wondered about reconstructive stretching (reputed to be painful), and taken solace in a female friends comment that both cut and uncut seem to enjoy;).
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Shepherd:
Hi Richard,
As you wonder in your last paragraph, the answer of this "military brat" would be affirmative...
03-01-2018, 12:29 AM
Glia
Re: Male Circumcision OUTLAWED In Iceland
If reconstructive stretching (better known as "restoring" to create a "faux skin") is painful, then you're doing it wrong! It should not be painful or unpleasant; however, it does take a long time. Men who have restored and their intimate partners, both male and female, say it is well worth the effort.
... As a mutilated male I have wondered about reconstructive stretching (reputed to be painful), and taken solice in a female friends comment that both cut and uncut seem to enjoy;).
03-01-2018, 03:04 PM
occihoff
Re: Male Circumcision OUTLAWED In Iceland
But why do they say it is well worth the effort, Glia? What is the benefit that they experience? This goes to my original question in regard to what effect circumcision has on sexual functioning.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Glia:
If reconstructive stretching (better known as "restoring" to create a "faux skin") is painful, then you're doing it wrong! It should not be painful or unpleasant; however, it does take a long time. Men who have restored and their intimate partners, both male and female, say it is well worth the effort.
