San Francisco considering banning circumcision

[Halceon]

What do you guys/gals think of this? Should circumcision be outlawed or should it stay because it is a religious practice?

It should be a voluntary decision. Circumcision is religiously (and often secularly) practiced way before any decision-making age.
In fact, I'd probably support a law that forbids religious indoctrination before the age of 16.

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

Thats like Asking half the population of san fran *the jewish* to leave.

 

[Revolutionary]

It should be a decision made by adults if they want it for themselves.

Ok I completely agree, however banning it is just wrong beyond discussion. It's like banning tattoos in countries where that is part of their traditions.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

It should be a decision made by adults if they want it for themselves.

as should baptism but that shows no signs of changing

 

[Jonluw]

It should be a decision made by adults if they want it for themselves.

as should baptism but that shows no signs of changing

Though I agree, I don't think splashing some water on a child in a symbolic act is quite as bad as cutting of his foreskin.

Getting rid of the circumcision of infants is a more urgent matter if you ask me.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

Uncircumcised penises are creepy. Just sayin.

I hope you wax down there then.

 

[RabbidKuriboh]

It should be a decision made by adults if they want it for themselves.

as should baptism but that shows no signs of changing

Though I agree, I don't think splashing some water on a child in a symbolic act is quite as bad as cutting of his foreskin.

Getting rid of the circumcision of infants is a more urgent matter if you ask me.

yeah you're totally right it's just that i haven't much knowledge on circumcision as I'm almost positive Ireland has no jewish population, and the baptism thing is fresher in my mind as every couple of months I have to watch a sweaty old man in a robe man-handle a newborn child

 

[SanguineSymphony]

Sounds like a positive step to me. I don't think a Parent should be give that option. Leave it up to the kid when he turns 18 or set an arbitrary age where they can make the decision without their parent's meddling.

I would have probably elected to keep mine.

It should be a decision made by adults if they want it for themselves.

Ok I completely agree, however banning it is just wrong beyond discussion. It's like banning tattoos in countries where that is part of their traditions.

Huh? I think a lot of traditions are harmful and only continue to exist because they haven't been scrutinized enough and are given cultural and Religious exemption

 

[Nihilism_Is_Bliss]

Circumcision for guys: I don't care. Actually helps to prevent some health risks apparently, and doesn't really matter.

Girls: Should definitely be illegal.

 

[Korolev]

Okay - circumcision isn't exactly the worst thing you can do to a child, but still, you should let the the individual make that choice. I'm aware that it probably doesn't do anything particularly bad to the child, but they can't make that choice.

My stance on this is clear - unless it's a life-saving medical procedure, wait until the child is old enough to make their own decision.

 

[Dastardly]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42784426/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/?GT1=43001

What do you guys/gals think of this? Should circumcision be outlawed or should it stay because it is a religious practice?

The government should not be able to forcibly remove existing rights from parents.

Unless this practice can be shown to be grievously harmful in nearly 100% of cases, which it is not, the government has no right touching it. Our government should have a firm "When in doubt, hands off" policy when it comes to abridging any rights. It is a currently existing right for parents to decide this for their children. It's one thing to prevent something from becoming a right, but once it's there? It will (and should) take a miracle to remove it from the people.

That said: Quit trying to ban things. Educate against it. Provide doctors with stacks of free, brief pamphlets that advise against it. Advise doctors to stop performing it. Let both doctors and parents come to the decision themselves, and it'll stick much better.

 

[zxvcasdfqwerzxcv]

That said: Quit trying to ban things. Educate against it. Provide doctors with stacks of free, brief pamphlets that advise against it. Advise doctors to stop performing it. Let both doctors and parents come to the decision themselves, and it'll stick much better.

Agreed, educate to change ideals, don't just force them through law. That will just encourage stauncher resistance. IMO it's an unnecessary practice, though coming from Ireland, where it is not practiced, I can scarcely imagine WHY it has continued to be used outside of the Jewish community.

 

[Valkyrie101]

3: It makes sex more pleasurable

Phallacy.

Your bulb actually becomes less sensitive over time as it has no protection from every day frictions.

Did you mean to spell fallacy like that? if you did, I applaud you.

 

[Venereus]

Just remember trauma is culturally determined too. As long as it's not taboo, and you won't get persecuted for doing something, you can do it guilt and pain free. Even if from the outside it looks awful for others. This goes for everything.

 

[Dastardly]

That said: Quit trying to ban things. Educate against it. Provide doctors with stacks of free, brief pamphlets that advise against it. Advise doctors to stop performing it. Let both doctors and parents come to the decision themselves, and it'll stick much better.

Agreed, educate to change ideals, don't just force them through law. That will just encourage stauncher resistance. IMO it's an unnecessary practice, though coming from Ireland, where it is not practiced, I can scarcely imagine WHY it has continued to be used outside of the Jewish community.

People working out of habit, mostly. For others, it's based on old information from the medical community. But mostly just habit.

I'm circumsized (at the risk of OverShare), and it hasn't affected my quality of life in the least. I wasn't traumatized in any way, and have no recollection of the event. It's not that I "want" or "don't want" to be, because I don't really care either way. I'm not bitter at not having made the decision, any more than I hate that I didn't get to decide my name or height.

This is a case of people getting outraged on behalf of someone else. That's what leads us to the Nanny State. It should take the physical relocation of Mt. Everest to remove a right from the people, no matter how "ridiculous" we think it is.

People can make the argument that religion is "harmful," and that it is "forcibly imposed" on children. Will they outlaw all religion, then? No matter how ridiculous some of us may feel it can be, it's not my place to push for it to be outlawed.

 

[Normalgamer]

Damn glad I'm not circumcised, I heard a chap once say that circumcised men enjoy sex only half as much as us regular folks.

The argument goes like this:
The fore skin is 30% of your erogenous tissue (anyone that has one can attest to that) and add in the fact that after circumcision, the exposed head of the penis thickens like a callus and becomes less sensitive and you have one broken tool.

I'm inclined to believe him, all the tissue on the inside of the foreskin is really sensitive and it feels amazing when my girl strokes it, also foreskins make blow jobs awesome. I really feel sorry for dude's that have had theirs cut and will never know how good if feels to have a whole dick.

Two can do this tango.

I heard a friend say once that uncircumcised men have dicks that look like dog's penis.

The argument goes like this:
You get smegma from your Foreskin(anyone who has one can attest to that) and add in the fact that before circumcision, the unexposed head of a penis looks like a nasty worm.
I'm inclined to believe him, my girlfriend use to hate looking at my smelly disgusting looking unclean dick. I feel really sorry for dudes who didn't have their cut and will never know how good it feels to not see a girl hold her nose for a blowjob.

OT: 1. Nobody will ever be able to tell the difference of pleasure from a circumcised man and an uncircumcised man, unless they have the procedure done themselves.
2.Different country's ladies have different tastes, "beauty(If we call dicks that now)" are in the beholder.

Stop being prejudice psuedo-fact spewing posters.

 

[DaJoW]

Sounds good, cutting pieces off babies never struck me as a good thing.

 

[FateOrFatality]

I was circumsised when I was around eight or so for medical reasons. This type of situation would still be allowed, right?

To be honest, I can see both sides of the arguments. However, I'm not so sure if it infringes on people's freedom of choices, because at the moment circumsision is a choice forced onto another person. There isn't really any choice to be infringed upon.

However, I'm not really sure what the big deal is. From what I remember, circumsision isn't painful at all with modern anesthetics (or can these not be used on infants? Even so, it's not as if they'd remember it). The "mutilation" point is somewhat more concerning, but seeing as how circumsised genitalia is definitely socially acceptable, perhaps even more so than the alternative in some cases. There isn't really any consequences from it.

Although, could anyone link to definitive proof that circumsision leads to less feeling during sex? Some claims in this thread have me rather worried... xD

 

[Jonluw]

It should be a decision made by adults if they want it for themselves.

as should baptism but that shows no signs of changing

Though I agree, I don't think splashing some water on a child in a symbolic act is quite as bad as cutting of his foreskin.

Getting rid of the circumcision of infants is a more urgent matter if you ask me.

yeah you're totally right it's just that i haven't much knowledge on circumcision as I'm almost positive Ireland has no jewish population, and the baptism thing is fresher in my mind as every couple of months I have to watch a sweaty old man in a robe man-handle a newborn child

At least he doesn't man-handle their genitals... or so I hope.

I think part of what really gets me about circumcision is the circumstraints.

Spoiler: Seriously. Look at these things.

Circumstraint, newborn immobilizer, they call it. Jeez. Way to give it a creepy sounding name and throw in a pun there.

They're straight out of a bloody horror movie.

 

[SpaceSpork]

Why was it legal to cut off baby penis skin in the first place?

Because it is an important part of my religion, and has been for thousands of years.

(Also, my Captcha asked me to type the symbol for Mu. What the fuck?)

If I started a religion that said that an important part of my religion is that all babies should have half of their left ear cut off at birth, should that be legal? Then why is it that cutting off baby penis skin is legal? Sure, your religion has been around longer and has more members, but does that make everything about the religion completely right and inarguable, any more than my stupid made-up religion?