Circumcision - yes or no?

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The marginal damage to religious freedom would be so much worse than the direct damage to 'bodily integrity' that even though it unnerves me I have to go with the first option. Even from a grey legalistic standpoint we give parents pretty a pretty broad umbra of authority over medical decisions for minors anyway.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I understand the religious and cultural beliefs of people, but I don't believe any person (let alone a baby) should have their body surgically modified without their consent.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I think the status quo is fine. If parents want their child circumcised, I see no problem. But I would allow my child to make their own choice.

[Hatman 🍁]

This poll should be opened up to see how the people with foreskins voted vs. those without. Those who have foreskins probably couldn't imagine how horrible it would be without one.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

I'll pose the questionI did in the other thread.... do you all support parents waiting to name their kids until the kid is old enough to choose?

[Hatman 🍁]

I'll pose the questionI did in the other thread.... do you all support parents waiting to name their kids until the kid is old enough to choose?

A kid can always change his name, he can never get his foreskin back.

[Holmes]

I'll pose the questionI did in the other thread.... do you all support parents waiting to name their kids until the kid is old enough to choose?

What does this have to do with the permanent removal of a part of your body?

[CLARENCE 2015!]

I'll pose the questionI did in the other thread.... do you all support parents waiting to name their kids until the kid is old enough to choose?

What does this have to do with the permanent removal of a part of your body?

It seems some folks have issues with parents making decisions for their children which I find objectionable...I'm not going to get angry about this issue as I know no Democrat would be silly enough to propose a ban on circumcision here. I am not personally circumcised but knowing the health benefits and had it performed on my son as a newborn.... Your desire to regulate not only the religious but the medical power of parents to raise their children as they see fit is stunning

[Napoleon]

I am happy I am circumcised and moreover I am happy it was done at an age where I wouldn't have to remember feeling any kind of pain...the decision is fine being left to parents.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I absolutely endorse circumcision.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It's hilarious how ~important~ people are making out having foreskin to be.

[Free Palestine]

I'll pose the questionI did in the other thread.... do you all support parents waiting to name their kids until the kid is old enough to choose?

Well, you can always change your name, and I believe that there shouldn't be the expectation that one will have the name their parents gave them (I quite like Burmese naming conventions).  It's not comparable to permanently lobbing off a piece of one's body.

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Yes, I do, because I don't believe that children are quasi-property.

[Napoleon]

It's hilarious how ~important~ people are making out having foreskin to be.

Libertarian fundamentalism demands it.

[Holmes]

Your desire to regulate not only the religious but the medical power of parents to raise their children as they see fit is stunning

Yeeeeeah, I'm gonna need you to find a quote of me saying that, because I don't believe that at all. Unless you just made it up, which is stunning.

[Hatman 🍁]

I'll pose the questionI did in the other thread.... do you all support parents waiting to name their kids until the kid is old enough to choose?

What does this have to do with the permanent removal of a part of your body?

It seems some folks have issues with parents making decisions for their children which I find objectionable...I'm not going to get angry about this issue as I know no Democrat would be silly enough to propose a ban on circumcision here. I am not personally circumcised but knowing the health benefits and had it performed on my son as a newborn.... Your desire to regulate not only the religious but the medical power of parents to raise their children as they see fit is stunning

Im sorry if you think parents should be able to mutilate their children. Im not against parents making choices for their children, but I draw the line at genital mutilation. And those supposed "health benefits" have been debunked. I guess you missed that memo.

[Mechaman]

I support genital integrity. I couldn't imagine what life would be like without a foreskin. Would it even be worth living?

OH man, it is so horrible!  Everyday I wake up wishing I were dead and how much better my life would be if my parents hadn't cut a flap of skin on my dick!

[Free Palestine]

Honestly, even though I'm against infant circumcision, I'll have to side with Mechaman in disliking that sort of crowd that acts all butthurt over having been circumcised.  I mean, there's a perfectly legitimate point to argue against infant circumcision, and people who attach weights to their dick to regenerate their foreskin aren't helping.

I lack a foreskin, and I really don't give a crap.  I can understand that some people might, though.

[Holmes]

People do that? That's a little extreme.

[Free Palestine]

People do that? That's a little extreme.

Yeah.  If you don't mind a screen-full of baby penis, watch the Pen & Teller: Bullsh&t! episode on circumcision.

[Hatman 🍁]

I support genital integrity. I couldn't imagine what life would be like without a foreskin. Would it even be worth living?

OH man, it is so horrible!  Everyday I wake up wishing I were dead and how much better my life would be if my parents hadn't cut a flap of skin on my dick!

You wouldn't be able to know, so why would I expect you to be upset?

[Mechaman]

I support genital integrity. I couldn't imagine what life would be like without a foreskin. Would it even be worth living?

OH man, it is so horrible!  Everyday I wake up wishing I were dead and how much better my life would be if my parents hadn't cut a flap of skin on my dick!

You wouldn't be able to know, so why would I expect you to be upset?

Well, why would you make such a f***ing stupid statement anyway?

And frankly, "Would it even be worth living?" deserved a full on sarcastic response.  Yes, there are those of us without foreskins and yes we live productive successful lives.  The fact that people like you treat us like we're little more than mutilated freaks speaks a lot about you as a person.

Would I circumcise my kid?  Probably not, given the whole "he can't consent" argument.  However, are people like you incredibly ignorant?  Yes.

[Oakvale]

It's hilarious how ~important~ people are making out having foreskin to be.

It's more the principle of bodily integrity - one that (personally) I value much more than some notion of religious freedom, which, in my book, shouldn't extend to permanent body modification of a person who's not able to consent to it. To use a deliberately exaggerated example, if my parents chopped off my hand as a baby because they were members of an obscure sect that demanded such, I'd be outraged, and I wouldn't much care about their protestations of "religious freedom" - unethical is unethical is unethical.

By the way, to address another valid point raised here, as someone who's used the word "mutilation" to describe male circumcision, I do understand the negative reactions to it, since it's implying parallels between male circumcision and female "circumcision", which, for the record, I certainly don't place on a remotely comparable moral level.

I do think the non-essential, permanent removal of a body part for cultural reasons is mutilation, however (relatively) benign it supposedly is - it's not entirely benign - there's evidence that circumcision can reduce sexual pleasure, for example. But I'd like to be clear that I'm not comparing it to much more horrific practices.

PS: In response to Morgan's above point, since I've posted in another thread on this I'd also stress that I'm not some kind of anti-circumcision activist, and the only times the topic's occurred to me at all is because of this forum.

And, the most important part of this post :

...IMO.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It's hilarious how ~important~ people are making out having foreskin to be.

It's more the principle of bodily integrity - one that (personally) I value much more than some notion of religious freedom, which, in my book, shouldn't extend to permanent body modification of a person who's not able to consent to it. To use a deliberately exaggerated example, if my parents chopped off my hand as a baby because they were members of an obscure sect that demanded such, I'd be outraged, and I wouldn't much care about their protestations of "religious freedom" - unethical is unethical is unethical.

By the way, to address another valid point raised here, as someone who's used the word "mutilation" to describe male circumcision, I do understand the negative reactions to it, since it's implying parallels between male circumcision and female "circumcision", which, for the record, I certainly don't place on a remotely comparable moral level.

I do think the non-essential, permanent removal of a body part for cultural reasons is mutilation, however (relatively) benign it supposedly is - it's not entirely benign - there's evidence that circumcision can reduce sexual pleasure, for example. But I'd like to be clear that I'm not comparing it to much more horrific practices.

PS: In response to Morgan's above point, since I've posted in another thread on this I'd also stress that I'm not some kind of anti-circumcision activist, and the only times the topic's occurred to me at all is because of this forum.

And, the most important part of this post :

...IMO.

All right. That's fair. I obviously disagree with you on the relative values at play here, but I can understand where you're coming from.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It's hilarious how ~important~ people are making out having foreskin to be.

This forum is full of Manly Men who care greatly about their cocks.

[Hatman 🍁]

I support genital integrity. I couldn't imagine what life would be like without a foreskin. Would it even be worth living?

OH man, it is so horrible!  Everyday I wake up wishing I were dead and how much better my life would be if my parents hadn't cut a flap of skin on my dick!

You wouldn't be able to know, so why would I expect you to be upset?

Well, why would you make such a f***ing stupid statement anyway?

And frankly, "Would it even be worth living?" deserved a full on sarcastic response.  Yes, there are those of us without foreskins and yes we live productive successful lives.  The fact that people like you treat us like we're little more than mutilated freaks speaks a lot about you as a person.

Would I circumcise my kid?  Probably not, given the whole "he can't consent" argument.  However, are people like you incredibly ignorant?  Yes.

What I said was hyperbolic. I figured that was obvious. But yeah, I do honestly think it would suck to not have a foreskin. Obviously not the end of the world, though. And I never said y'all were freaks (or treated you as such), so don't put words in my mouth.

It's hilarious how ~important~ people are making out having foreskin to be.

This forum is full of Manly Men who care greatly about their cocks.

Yup. But, to be honest, the politics of sex interest me greatly.