Should I circumcize my son?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
Asher:
1. It is about recovering time. Infants heal faster and are much more active sooner.

They also can't be sedated properly for the operation, while adults can. Adults can also take medication afterwards to help with pain.

[Dinner]

I have always found the religious justification for these procedures to be a total joke. If god really didn't want you to have a foreskin then why would he create man with one? This is just another primitive superstition.

[Asher]

Originally posted by tandeetaylor
Oh come on. Men enjoy sex enough as it is, don't you think?

But seriously, that is important to me.

Although, here in the US, he may end up having less sex because of it. I don't want anyone running in terror. Of course, I don't need superficial girls who don't really care about my son sleeping with him, do I?

Circumcision is a relic of ancient religion. It was originally done to prevent masturbation and infection for the most part. These days we have daily showers and masturbation is no longer a sin (for those of us sane), so the only reason circumcision persists is out of habit.

Most people have broken this habit. In Europe, hardly anyone is circumcized. In Canada the majority are not. The US, the majority are. Backwards nation...

Do it for the right reasons. If you're religious and the religion calls for it, then you should go for it. If you're not religious and are doing it for the sake of your son fitting in, I'd strongly suggest you do not mutilate him so he fits in better at the locker room (even though circumcision's popularity is fading). There is a reason the foreskin is there, and it's also more pleasurable, and there's also no chance of a botched circumcision.

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
My brother and his wife had their son circumcized solely for the reason that they didn't want him to be made fun of in the locker room in school. I couldn't believe that--found it appalling rationale.

My sons will only be in locker rooms if they play city sports because I'm home schooling them, so it won't be an issue, but if you can't find a better reason to mutilate your children... I wish I could tell that to my husband. My little brothers, aged 2 and 4, are not circ. and whenever he sees them running around naked he shakes his head. Maybe it's just his hang-up.

[Asher]

Is your husband still a practicing Muslim? Will your kids be Muslim?

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by Asher
Is your husband still a practicing Muslim? Will your kids be Muslim?

I'm an atheist, as a few of you may know, but my husband, well, he waffles. I hate that. Sometimes he says he doesn't believe in God and he really seems to be sincere, and we've talked about it a lot, but if you bring a piece of pork around him, he goes berzerk.

I made it very clear to him that we are not raising our children in any religion, but as long as he allows me the same privilege, he can tell them whatever he wants about what believes (hopefully after he figures it out).

I am more worried about his family interfering, although thankfully they are a continent and an ocean away. They seem to be able to exert an amazing amount of influence in spite of this fact, however...

[Asher]

If your kids aren't muslim, I don't see why they should be circumcised.

Then again, it's your husband and you have to deal with him...

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Asher

There is a reason the foreskin is there, and it's also more pleasurable, and there's also no chance of a botched circumcision.

I knew there was a reason, LAWSUIT!!!!

[DinoDoc]

Some info for you to base your decision on:
Medical Benefits From Circumcision

Mothers against Circumcision

I leave it to you to decide who puts up the better case.

[orange]

Certainly not

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
Yes cut em, I had all my 4 done.

Reasons?

The last one didn't turn out too good but hey! That's his problem now

Woah, I hope you're not serious about that. Yes, I see the smiley, but are you just being funny, or do you mean it in some ways?

I think considering that parents' decisions have such an effect on their children, we should take them rather seriously.

[tandeetaylor]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Some info for you to base your decision on:
Medical Benefits From Circumcision

Mothers against Circumcision

I leave it to you to decide who puts up the better case.

Yeah, I've heard what the moms have to say. I really want to hear what men have to say because my son isn't going to be a mom, he's going to be a man.

[Asher]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Some info for you to base your decision on:
Medical Benefits From Circumcision

Mothers against Circumcision

I leave it to you to decide who puts up the better case.

Ah, it's good to see the pro-circumcision people still try the hygeine argument and "studies" from 1947. Don't they have showers?

They also take an excerpt from the odd American doctor as an individual who promotes it. No doubt he performs the procedure and profits from it...

From the Mother's against Circ site:

After a two year investigation, the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that the "potential medical benefits" of infant circumcision aren't significant enough and therefore, they do not recommend it as a routine procedure.

Surely the Academy of pediatrics would know more about it than an individual doctor? Canada also has the same recommendations.

Routine Infant Circumcision [RIC] is not practiced in most medically advanced nations. Unlike American parents, few parents worldwide are actually faced with this choice. Their babies are automatically brought home intact. 82% of the world’s living men are intact. Few people are aware of the fact that circumcision was introduced to our culture in an attempt to eliminate masturbation.

People mistakenly believe the circumcised penis is cleaner. The myth that the penis with a foreskin is difficult to clean is exactly that -- a myth. Cleaning is so simple, it’s amazing that people fret so much about it. The big hoopla over hygiene is pure and unnecessary paranoia.

Circumcision does not guarantee a problem free penis. In fact, in many cases it is the very thing that initiates numerous problems. Careful cleaning must be performed. Infections of the raw wound are common.

[Boris Godunov]

By the time your son is old enough to be intimate with girls, I'm fairly hopeful that societal prejudices against uncircumcized men will be very much on the wane.

Since you're not religious and aren't going to raise him as such, I'd have to vote no. Don't deprive him of the choice, at least. Ultimately, he can, if he really wants, have it done of his own volition when older.

[Asher]

Originally posted by tandeetaylor
Yeah, I've heard what the moms have to say. I really want to hear what men have to say because my son isn't going to be a mom, he's going to be a man.

82% of the men in the world are uncut, and they'll almost all tell you they prefer it that way.
The rest are cut, and will tell you they don't mind it.

As a man, I would have hated my parents to have chosen to cut off my foreskin. Luckily my GP informed my parents about the benefits/risks before I was born and realized there's no point to circumcision these days.