Decision Maker

Hi Ed,
Firstly I am impressed by the "pop" format of the site and just how many different styles of web-site the anti-circs. have ... we need such snappy short formats .. people dont have time to read these days.

your main interest is circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/decide/adult-circumcision/adult-religion/

their recommendation for Jews sort of bumbles along as though they know what they are talking about - but havent actually got anything to say ... i mean the Covenant is rather clear about this !! i thought the Covenant on circ. was the defining start of Judaism? (or was it only part of the deal?)

On the updated site (coming soon) i have written at the top of every page
"Full circumcision (particularly for infants) is a ridiculous treatment or prevention for any form of phimosis. Those who follow Abraham are asked to please consider using his methods of partial circumcision."
i wonder if even this will be abhorent to the anti-circers?

And then - though i much appreciate the civil rights issue and the anger of those who were needlessly circd. at birth ... it is unfortunate that anti-circ info. shows so little awareness of foreskin problems :
e.g. "The average age of separation allowing full foreskin retraction is ten years. Some foreskins, however, never fully retract–and that, too, is normal."
"The average adult’s foreskin is: the most sensitive part of the penis, with 3/4 of its sensitivity"

From what I have seen, anti-circ. thinking and info. is still as it was 15 yrs.ago -
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what i found fascinating new info .. a list of maybe100 studies back to 1830 - and it shows how incredibly biased PRO circumcision medical thought has been in the past, ...
circumcisiondecisionmaker.com/circumcision-facts/history/

circ. prevents HIV cancer epilepsy - tuberculosis - urinary and rectal incontinence. masturbation blindness, deafness, and dumbness - alleviates tubercular meningitis and myetitis, and cures brass poisoning, prevents spinal paralysis, prevents cervical cancer in women -- the foreskin causes curvature of the spine, paralysis of the bladder, and clubfoot -

however only 3 studies mention phimosis :
circumcision prevents spinal paralysis.
paralysis from reflex irritation, caused by congenital phimosis and adherent prepuce

crossed eyes.
Two cases of reflex paraplegia (one with aphasia) from tape-worm and phimosis

"frequently necessary for pathological conditions."
... so one study actually says pathological conditions .. so, humm - suppose thats a start

thanks for the link ...
cheers robin

For instance, Abraham decided, eventually, to circumcise himself, and within a year his hitherto "barren" wife conceived and gave birth to his son, Isaac. This suggests to me that it wasn't her "barrenness" that caused the difficulty conceiving, but that Abraham had a problem-foreskin, which also caused him a good deal of anguish. And to those who say, "ah, but Abraham had a son, Ishmael, before Isaac, with his wife's slave-girl, Hagar"... call me a cynic but a slave-girl in the situation she was put is going to get pregnant, with whomsoever can get her pregnant. Abraham's wife very clearly, subsequently, had issues with Hagar and her behaviour.

Yes, definitely like your writing about Abraham and his motives, e.g. "and then decide to do it to his children? If he noticed a similar condition in his children and if he was a caring person, he would wish to eliminate this element of chaos in his children". The chaos must have been very fundamental for Abraham. I can empathise with that. But the solution then? And now? And all time in between? Well, the problems with the blanket circumcision solution policy really started with Ahraham's great grandchildren when they got a group to agree to be circumcised then killed them while they were still suffering from the effects of the procedure, i.e. before the scars had healed. So circumcision and foreskins became a weapon and trophy of war or raids, and argument has polarised ever since, waxing and waning. Look at 1 Maccabees 2, for example. That's really extreme! Both ways.