http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19072761

Circumcision is down as low as 8.5% in the UK, and is declining in the US, where it used to be the norm. Setting aside possible religious reasons (Jews and Muslims need not post!), would you have your son circumcised?

I think it is better to be done as a baby.

I do not think it is an especially cruel operation for a baby.

I see nothing wrong with it being the parent's choice, whether religious motivations or not.

I see something big wrong with the state restricting it.

On the link, I am quite surprised at the high rate in the Philippines, a mostly Catholic country. The only reason I can guess is the history of being a former American colony.

When I was growing up in the US, most everyone my age was cut. Yes now it is more mixed.

I do believe being cut decreases the risk of HIV infection for heterosexual males and support the idea of voluntary adult circumcision in high risk nations.

I probably would as it seems to make catching STDs more difficult, but it may very well be cruel. I can't remember.

So far nobody has bristled at the idea of chopping off the skins.

I would and did have my son chopped. My dad had me done as a baby and I have suffered no lingering trauma as a result.

It's more aesthetic and don't get me started about the cheese!

It's more aesthetic and don't get me started about the cheese!

Oh, what the hell. I'll take the bait.

Jingthing could you PLEASE make a post about your opinion on dickcheese?

And could you PLEASE make it as graphic and explicit as possible?

Please don't. thanks

sub, dont' make me spank you for that!

We had a survey in the Saigon Hash a year or two ago.

The number of headless chickens was about 50% of the total male presence.

(The poll was called by some of the Harriettes - don't remember why)

Personally it was done to me as a baby and seems to have been no problem - but to be a Muslim boy and have it done at puberty, or as a convert even later, would certainly make me think more than twice.

I wash daily.

Edit: Three times a day if I'm lucky!

Wire brush and dettol

Please don't. thanks

sub, dont' make me spank you for that!

Sorry Mistress Whiplash, I just thought that Jingthing's opinion on the matter would be a topical subject of great interest to all members of Thaivisa....

The reason why the question was asked was one of these absurd PC things... nasty little boys might be even nastier to each other if a few were circumcised and most not.

Well, I was circumcised long before I knew anything about it. As a teenager I spent six years at a boarding school. After games (no, not that kind of games), we all washed in a communal bathroom where there might be upwards of 30 naked boys at a time. I cannot remember a single instance of anybody commenting, positively or adversely, on my headless chicken.

^^

Well Thais just don't do the snip snip thingy. I can see the logical arguments for it, though. Studies have shown that it is more difficult to transmit AIDS to circumsized schlongs....and the Cheese. But on the flip side, you do lose sensitivity. I just have no real strong opinion on it either way. I mean if it's a part of someone's religious beliefs (Jewish or Muslim) that goes back thousands of years...well really can't blame them for doing it. If it's just medical, I don't think that that is really great grounds for it. Proper cleaning will make up for it and besides you should be using condoms outside of a monogamous relationship anyways.

I really question the "right" in a religious sense to circumcise your child due to a belief you hold. Truth is its not your body to mutilate.

Fair enough if this is done at puberty or later but to small kids? No I don't believe that is right at all...only for medical reasons please.

Now I expect many will disagree but that is and has always been my view on this. A decision made by parents with the blinkers on.

^^ I see what you are saying on the religious aspect and that the parents don't own their kids bodies. But my views on it are the parents are the ones who are going to be indoctrinating the children into the religion. If it's an issue of "rights" over someone else, then the same argument could be made of why the parents have the "right" to choose their children's religion for them.

The religions that are big into circumscision: Islam and Judaism. Islam, people do not convert out of the religion. Jewish, people generally don't convert out either. Even if for some reason they do convert out, they still have the Jewish cultural identity. For any of these people that are raised in this cultural/religious background, they're not really going to complain about the snip. It's going to be their background, traditions, whatnot. I mean if you are raised Jewish or Muslim, and are of age to make your own choice, you would choose the snip. I don't see how it makes a difference when you are young to have it done, because you would choose it again later anyways. If you get what I'm saying.

^^ I see what you are saying on the religious aspect and that the parents don't own their kids bodies. But my views on it are the parents are the ones who are going to be indoctrinating the children into the religion. If it's an issue of "rights" over someone else, then the same argument could be made of why the parents have the "right" to choose their children's religion for them.

The religions that are big into circumscision: Islam and Judaism. Islam, people do not convert out of the religion. Jewish, people generally don't convert out either. Even if for some reason they do convert out, they still have the Jewish cultural identity. For any of these people that are raised in this cultural/religious background, they're not really going to complain about the snip. It's going to be their background, traditions, whatnot. I mean if you are raised Jewish or Muslim, and are of age to make your own choice, you would choose the snip. I don't see how it makes a difference when you are young to have it done, because you would choose it again later anyways. If you get what I'm saying.

I hear you, but to me its a choice parents should leave to their children as once done it cannot be undone.

Religious teaching is another thing altogether and many people are not as religious in Muslim countries as the authorities there would have you believe.

I have no problem with a kid of 13 or 14 making this decision but it shouldn't be done to a small kid....its abuse in my view.

How many kids 13-14 years old have the maturity to make such a decision?

Do you know anybody that is unhappy they were circumcised as a baby?

In my nearly 75 years I have never met anybody complaining about it. YMMV.

How many kids 13-14 years old have the maturity to make such a decision?

Do you know anybody that is unhappy they were circumcised as a baby?

In my nearly 75 years I have never met anybody complaining about it. YMMV.

Not much point in complaining is there?

In my view, circumcision is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We need MORE circumcision, not less.

How many kids 13-14 years old have the maturity to make such a decision?

Do you know anybody that is unhappy they were circumcised as a baby?

In my nearly 75 years I have never met anybody complaining about it. YMMV.

Not much point in complaining is there?

Pointless

In my view, circumcision is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We need MORE circumcision, not less.

Your comparison conjures up a manic surgeon let loose among helpless infants! But yes, I agree on the whole. I wouldn't dream of arguing against the rights of Jews and Muslims to follow their religious rules, but in this case I think that they're on the right lines. Circumcision is certainly not harmful, and is generally beneficial rather than not. Better done to babies rather than waiting until near puberty. (Like our pigs; we castrate them in the first 24 hours, and they don't know what they've missed.)

It's mutilation of a child. Jews and Muslims were asked not to comment by the OP as you can't argue with a religious biggot. Give me 1 proven scientific reason for doing it to a baby?

Just to point out, if you go to the circumcision page on wikipedia

It's mutilation of a child. Jews and Muslims were asked not to comment by the OP as you can't argue with a religious biggot. Give me 1 proven scientific reason for doing it to a baby?

I should have stated the reasons other than pre existing medical conditions. Yes Wiki gives loads of hypothesis but appears to sit onto the fence as to medical benefits against possible future medical problems. With the benefits not truly scientifically proven then sadly it is up to the parents to decide whether to mutilate their child.

^^ I see what you are saying on the religious aspect and that the parents don't own their kids bodies. But my views on it are the parents are the ones who are going to be indoctrinating the children into the religion. If it's an issue of "rights" over someone else, then the same argument could be made of why the parents have the "right" to choose their children's religion for them.

So it should be. To inclucate a child in something being true when they themselves believe it on personal faith is wrong.

Along the same lines...,. No, you can't deny women their basic rights and pretend it's about your religion freedom. If you don't like birth control, don't use it. Religious freedom doesn't mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs.

I hope the legal situation in Germany is resolved soon.

Less than two months after a German court banned religious circumcisions, a rabbi is now facing criminal charges for performing the ritual brit milah on a child.

According to the Times of Israel, a doctor in Germany filed a criminal complaint against Rabbi David Goldberg for performing the ritual circumcision, alleging that the procedure caused "bodily harm" to the boy involved.

http://www.huffingto...m_hp_ref=religi

I don't think it has anything to do with any vestigial nazism among Germans. It's hard to know what the psyche is behind this. Some doctors for a long time have clearly believed that circumcision is unnecessary and brutal, but there is now a vindictive element among western atheists that looks for opportunities to restrict or prohibit religious practice and symbols in whatever form (e.g. the cross at Ground Zero).

My feeling is that hostility to religion is a factor in the German situation and those atheists who have an authoritarian/totalitarian mindset have played a role in bringing circumcision to the attention of the courts.

Of course I don't want to paint all atheists with the same brush, by any means. Atheism is a perfectly reasonable position for civilized people, especially when it is combined with liberal and tolerant positions towards others.)

In my view, circumcision is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We need MORE circumcision, not less.

recently a German High Court begged to differ and the ruling caused quite an uproar.

http://www.google.co...ype=&as_rights=

sorry for not reading all postings.

but to me its a choice parents should leave to their children as once done it cannot be undone.

Totally agree smokes.

....its abuse in my view.

Absolutely. You can't smack your kid but it's ok to surgically remove a part of his body without his permission and no medical need.

In my view, circumcision is the greatest thing since sliced bread. We need MORE circumcision, not less.

recently a German High Court begged to differ and the ruling caused quite an uproar.

http://www.google.co...ype=&as_rights=

sorry for not reading all postings.

Not the first or last time the German government has been full of it.