The Peculiar Issue Of Male Circumcision
By James Donahue
Male
circumcision is the cruel and painful act of cutting away the foreskin of the penis and totally exposing the glans, or the
sensitive bulbous end of the penis. Performing this peculiar operation was originally directed by God to Abraham and his descendants,
or the Jewish and Moslem people, according to Genesis 17:9-12:
“And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their
generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every male child among
you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt
me and you.”
While known
to be a Jewish trait, it is strange to note that most males in North America are circumcised. There was a story that doctors automatically performed this procedure on newborn boys for sanitary reasons.
But research on this has shown that there is little evidence to support this. In fact, babies that are circumcised are more
prone to infections when wearing diapers over the unhealed scaring from this procedure.
Some say that circumcision reduces the pleasure men experience when performing
the sexual act. In our research for this story we found no documentation to prove or disprove this, however.
So why are we still circumcising our baby boys? We suspect it may
be the Christian influence since many Bible believers appear to believe that if God commanded circumcision as a covenant with
the Jewish people, it probably applies to Christian children as well. Also, doctors no doubt receive an extra fee for performing
this surgery, sometimes without even asking parental consent.
There are a few things seriously wrong with the alleged commandment by God that followers of the Jewish faith
be circumcised.
It is a historical fact
that the Book of Genesis was not put into text by church scribes until after about a thousand years after Abraham lived. The
five books of the Old Testament, or the Jewish law known as the Torah, were allegedly written by Moses. Scholars who study
the text of these books believe the books were a collection of ancient writings that came from several different authors.
They contain a list of harsh laws for living the way the Hebrew God wanted them to live. Who can say that the commandment
for circumcision was truly handed down by a voice from the sky or a burning bush?
The passages in the Torah, including Genesis 17, were believed to have been added to the Torah in the Sixth Century
BC, literally thousands of years after Abraham lived.
Then there was the New Testament letter to the Corinthians by Paul who wrote in I Cor. 7:17: “Was any man
called in the circumcision? Let him not try to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in the uncircumcision? Let him
not be circumcised! Circumcision is nothing. And uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandment of God. Let
each man remain in that condition in which he was called.”
Then in Gal. 5:2 Paul wrote: “Behold, I Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit
you nothing!”
Circumcision is a
barbaric custom. Why are we still doing it?
