The Rituals That Mark Milestones Occurring At The Beginning Of Life

According to a published report in the August 16th 2010 edition of the New York Time’s parents are choosing less and less to circumcise their new born sons. The article states instances of circumcision have declined “to just 32.5 percent in 2009 from 56 percent in 2006. The numbers are based on calculations by SDI Health, a company in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. that analyzes health care data”. Why are so many deciding to not have the elective procedure even though the rate of complication is extraordinarily low? What about the arguments for hygiene, sexual satisfaction, psychological and social concerns and, lest we dismiss, religious views?

Shayne J. D. Cohen presents an extensive study of the question “why aren’t Jewish women circumcised?” Throughout the book he examines this question in a number of different and unique ways. He writes this book in hopes to inform and educate the curious mind such as scholars and lay people. Furthermore, he states that “In this book I am interested not only in the history of Jewish circumcision but also, and perhaps even more so, in the history of Jewishness.” (Cohen, pg.xii) In other words, Cohen not only presents the reader with the history of the question, but also the history of the Jews and Christians. Overall, Shayne J. D. Cohen brings up the issue of gender within Judaism when he asks the question, also known as the title of the book,

Your key points this year. It is a matter of unfinished. Circumcision is about something old, and if you consider it with other cards, it tends to mean the total environment in your life.

Circumcision has been a debating procedure for many years. It is a procedure that means cutting off the foreskin, or ring of tissue that covers the head of the penis. Circumcision is said to have started many years ago and is a big part is some religions. For example, according to the book of Genesis in the Torah, god made a covenent with Abraham (a Jewish patriarch) in which Abraham and his decendents would be given great land riches, and success. There was only one catch, Abraham, his descendants, any slaves purchased or born in his house hold by the eighth day of life. If any failed to do so then they would be separate from his people and live without the favor of god. Untill this day Jewish people have lived by that and is a strong religious belief. This procedure on the Jews was called a bris or brit milah.

Many years’ people have made the conscious decision to either circumcise their new born baby or have the surgery themselves and remove the foreskin from the penis. However, most people make these decisions are solely based on culture and religion rather than the need of the patient. Although some may argue that it is a necessary act for a new born baby boy to be circumcised due to the fact that maintaining care is much more efficient. There are other whom deem this practice unethical and inhumanly unnecessary. That having this surgical procedure done can cause more harm for either the baby and cause medical and physical problems in the years to come of a young and growing man.

Infant male circumcision is only still practiced in a few countries, America is unfortunately still one of these countries. With the many reasons that circumcision still exists, I’m still unconvinced of its value in our society. With its dwindling popularity I don’t see it lasting very much longer. Genital mutilation is assault. No one should have their private parts altered without their own consent. We have banned genital mutilation on girl infants, why not on boys?

When young boys are born parents are given the option to circumcise them. Most of the time parents decide to circumcise their little boy if their father and or brother are circumcised. However, if the father and or brothers are not circumcised they decided to leave their little boy uncircumcised. When I have little boys I would like to circumcise them for several different reasons. However, I do not know who I am marrying and how they feel about circumcision or if they are circumcised or not. I would discuss circumcision with my spouse before making any decisions.

For example, “in order for a young woman to inherit land and get married, she had to be circumcised” (Female Genital Mutilation 17). It is believed that being circumcised is a way to ensure that the girl is pure and stays pure until she is wed off. Africa is mostly male dominant so it is often times, the man’s right to go have his daughter circumcised so when she does become a wife, she can satisfy the man. This is usually resulted due to the mother’s social status as where she cannot speak out against it. It is very seldom, as well, that a girl will volunteer to have this done to her due to peer pressure. If one was not circumcised, then she could not be wed and would be looked down upon by the people in her village. Furthermore, the surgery may be forced upon because a family member who is concern about the disgrace that could be brought upon the family’s reputation, may secretly have the girl circumcised without the mother even knowing.

Circumcision, possible for both males and females, implies the procedure of genital cutting. This process is one of the oldest surgical procedures done in a variety of countries. However, circumcision can not only be accepted for medical reasons but also tend to appear defining for one 's religious, cultural, as well as social lives. Thus, traditional circumcision is usually undertaken in worse conditions than the traditional medical one. With recent research, numerous advantages for a circumcised person 's health have been proven. In particular, circumcision is now known to reduce the risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), reduce the risk of penile cancer as well as cervical cancer in women. Another medical benefit is the reduced risk of UTI (World Health Organization, n.d.). Due to these benefits, more parents are opting for circumcision, for the medical profits of the procedure. In addition, in spite of the found benefits of circumcision, the matter has caused a range of legal and ethical issues that cannot be neglected. Still, from the overall perspective, circumcision is known to be a rewarding procedure.

In life no matter what religion, ethnicity, gender, etc that all people are made up by we see that all humans have the need to bring meaning to our lives, the Human Condition. We as humans, despite having different qualities and each person being unique, Joseph Campbell presents us with the idea that people are inherently more alike than we as people are different, the concept of Intrinsic Sameness. This Sameness in all humans allows us to observe similar themes and meanings behind our human ritualistic acts and stories, the stories that are very important to humans and how we came to be to this day. There are many traits/stages/ common experiences that relate to all humans, but to focus on two that have deep meaning and importance to any culture. A life cycle ritual that celebrates and marks the passage into death, along with a belief story that brings meaning to a culture similarly to other cultures world wide. The Chippewa (Ojibwe) culture focuses on these two traits, a life cycle ritual that celebrates and marks the passage into death, along with a belief story that brings meaning to the Chippewa Culture.

Doing an infant male circumcision takes the choice of keeping his foreskin away for the future man and places it in his parent’s hands. This article suggests that the foreskin carries a profound psychological significance for many men and boosts their masculine self-esteem as well as body image. If a guy wants to be circumcised and was not as a child he can make that decision and have it done (Darby, 2015).

As far as male circumcision goes, the Bible is very clear that he should be circumcised on the 8th day. Modern, or at least more modern, studies have showed that it is only on the 8th day that a baby’s body can physically clot. Therefore the wait period for circumcision is also well supported by modern practices. It only took us a few hundred years to prove God’s wisdom. Furthermore, circumcisions prevent UTI’s later in life, as well as the lower rates for contraction and spreading of STD’s and other infections.

"In Judaism circumcision is performed on the eight day of the male child 's life in accordance with God 's command and as a sign of the covenant between God and the descendants of Abraham." Circumcision was a

Ever since the beginning of religion, Jews, Muslims, and Christians have practiced male circumcision. This practice was scene as both sanitary, holy, and if done properly, harmless. This practice became so popular that civilization has carried out into current time, in which male circumcision still serves as a very popular procedure today. However what most Americans don’t know is that this procedure isn’t only done on males in other areas of the world. In countries

When I asked most of the girls if they plan on getting their future sons circumcised, all who were asked answered with fervor, “yes, of course”, but when I asked them to expand on why, they gave me no more than just, “well because that’s how it is supposed to look.” Most do not really understand how circumcision became popular, or really even why they want to implement this practice on their sons beyond, “well, that’s how they’re supposed to look.” Even the men agreed that they would get their