Modern Circumcision is Not Necessary, Natural, or Biblical

October 31, 2011

Big topic, people. I know. And a very controversial one at that. I know this blog post won’t be a comprehensive, exhaustive dissertation on the topic, but what I have learned about the subject is too important to keep to myself.

So here we go. It’s time to clear up a whole host of misconceptions when it comes to infant circumcision.

photo credit: Jeff Dickerson

Circumcision is Not Medically Necessary

Did you know America is the only Western nation to implement mass infant circumcision? What does that tell you about the necessity of the procedure? Only 2% of males in the world today are circumcised (9/10th of those being in America.) In 1949 Douglas Gairdner recognized the lack of medical justification for circumcision, which led to the elimination of infant circumcision in the UK. In talking with Kiwis here in New Zealand, one man in his 30s can’t think of anyone in his generation that is circumcised and another woman in her 20s wondered that it was even still widely practiced anymore. As it turns out, the rest of the world functions quite well with their genitalia in tact.

“All of the Western world raises its children uncircumcised and it seems logical that, with the extent of health knowledge in those countries, such a practice must be safe.” -former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, M.D.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) wrapped up an exhaustive 2 year study in 1999 and concluded that “routine circumcision of male infants was not essential to their current well-being and could not be justified on medical grounds.” (Check out this pdf for that reference and many other facts concerning the medical basis for keeping boys intact.)

So why do we do it? The International Coalition for Genital Integrity (ICGI) names ‘cultural momentum’ as the culprit. But once you learn where the practice began in the first place (below) you’ll wonder how anything this silly could be continued. (But then again, I wonder the same about lots of other things that most people consider ‘normal’ . . . )

Plus, you’ve got to follow the money trail. Let’s not forget that circumcision is a source of income for the medical community.

Where Did Modern Circumcision Come From?

So why do we amputate boy’s foreskin these days? Who decided this was a good idea? Oh, so glad you asked. Several doctors and psychiatrists in Victorian times got together and came up with the idea hoping to discourage self-stimulation. Yep, that’s right. Edward H. Dixon declared in 1845 that he had cured masturbation with circumcision. As you might have guessed, their little experiment didn’t work, but after a while, the practice just became “tradition.” More and more doctors throughout the 1800s tried to say circumcision cured everything from nocturnal emissions (wet dreams) to crooked eyes.

Diagram of the first circumstraint device

Then in 1893 Mark J. Lehman demanded the immediate implementation of mass circumcision for all American boys. In 1953 R.L. Miller & D.C. Snyder reveal their plan to circumcise all baby boys immediately after birth to prevent masturbation and provide “immunity to nearly all physical and mental illness.” Talk about a pointless tradition! And, as the website I mentioned earlier so cleverly recognizes, “there are few things so safely guarded as tradition.”

“Circumcision is a solution in search of a problem.” -Edward Wallerstein

Check out this great slideshow to see the rise and fall of infant circumcision in the US, UK, and the world, along with some really crazy stats.

What About Keeping it Clean & the Risk of Infection?

Yep, it’s true. Intact boys and men have to make sure the foreskin and entire genitalia is kept clean to avoid a risk of infection. But if you’re a woman reading this, how many folds and flaps do you have in your vagina? Do you have any trouble keeping it clean?

What’s really cool is that when a baby boy is born, the foreskin is sealed shut to protect the vulnerable glans from the urine & feces that will fill his diaper. Then right about the time babies are generally toilet trained, the foreskin begins to loosen and naturally retract. Talk about the crazy cool wisdom of God!

The same sort of skin found on the foreskin is also found in the mouth, nose, and inner genitalia of females. These are all dark and well-lubricated areas. When you change that environment for the male genitalia, you open up that male to problems like:

irritated skin
rashes
chafing
redness
bumps & blisters
sexual problems like chronic erection failure &
chronic premature ejaculation

That’s not to mention the risk of these potential side effects from the actual act of circumcision itself (see this pdf for references):

Hemorrhaging
Infections
Urinary retention (swelling from trauma of surgery & pain when trying to urinate)
Permanent bowing of the penis
Cysts
Skin tags (a cosmetic problem if there is an uneven removal of skin)
Meatitis (inflammation of the urethral opening)
Meatal stenosis (scar tissue causes urinary obstruction – occurs in 1/3 of circumcised males & not at all with intact males)
Meatal ulceration (caused by meatitis or abrasions from dry or soiled diapers – does not occur with intact boys but occurs with up to 50% of circumcised ones)
Heart failure or myocardial injury
Sexual dysfunction

photo credit: urbangarden

Circumcision in the Bible

So why did God command circumcision of His people? It obviously wasn’t for medical reasons (as we figured out above). Is this something we just accept as a “because I’m God and I said so” kind of thing? I actually don’t believe God works like that. He’s far too kind and wise and creative to throw down random commandments from his throne in heaven. (Note: Debating theology is beyond the scope of this blog, so what I’m discussing in this section might make some people angry–if the post hasn’t done that already, that is–so please take what I say with a grain of salt, if you would be so kind.)

Let’s think about the food laws of the Old Testament for a minute. For years I wondered what was up with “don’t eat animals without cleft hooves that don’t chew the cud or fish without scales.” Why all the regulations? I just didn’t get it. So it was like a spiritual revelation to me to read The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin and realize that God had His people’s health in mind when He set up those food laws! He didn’t create pigs and shellfish for food; they fulfill other roles in creation like cleaning up the waste of the farm and the sea.

I realize now there is still wisdom to be found in the Old Testament even though Jesus’s death and resurrection fulfilled the Old Covenant Law with all its rules and regulations and I can live in freedom. So you can imagine my confusion after learning that circumcision isn’t medically necessary and certainly doesn’t seem natural. Why would God create us with certain parts of our bodies that just need to be cut off? And why only boys and not girls?

Modern Circumcision is Nothing Like What Happened in Biblical Times

Learning this was like having blind eyes opened. Turns out modern circumcision is nothing like what happened in Biblical times. The two Hebrew words used to describe Old Testament circumcision are namal & muwl. Namal means “clipped,” like you might clip your fingernails. The word muwl means “to curtail, to blunt, to cut shorter.” There are totally different words used in Hebrew for “cut off” or “removed.”

The whole idea of circumcision as it was ordained by God at that time in history was that a little blood would be drawn as a symbol. It was a symbol of the sin of the world, which would eventually be repaid by the Messiah. God-ordained circumcision was in the same category as animal sacrifices (another symbolic tradition with blood that found its fulfillment in Jesus).

Also think about how you as a parent would feel (or felt) when you saw your son being circumcised. Imagine the pain as a parent knowing your child is having to endure. Then imagine the pain of the Father as He watches His only Son endure the pain of suffocating to death on a cross in order to take the sin of the world into hell and pay for it Himself. (But don’t forget that God never asked His people to mutilate any part of the male genitalia. Clipping a tiny bit of the foreskin to draw blood is nothing like amputating the entire thing.)

The writers of the New Testament are very clear that circumcision (along with animal sacrifices) are no longer necessary. It’s not about the body anymore. Jesus bought our freedom and if we live in Him we are no longer under the burden of the Law anymore. (Can I get an Amen?!)

If you’d like to read more about what the Bible says about circumcision under the New Covenant, check out this website that has lots of great information.

No Judgement Here, People

I do want to make it clear that if you did or do decide to circumcise your baby, I hold no judgement whatsoever. Had I not learned everything that I just shared with you, I would have done the same thing. It’s a personal decision for the parents, though I do hope that it becomes less and less of a tradition so more people can be educated on the facts.

Now it’s your turn. What are your thoughts on modern circumcision now that you have the facts?

This post is linked to Monday Mania

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Rebecca
March 21, 2013 at 2:51 pm

I do not have enough information gathered for me to feel comfortable contributing to the conversation, but since there are a lot of people scolding others for stating what the AAP says or doesn’t say or what the risks/benefits are according to the AAP…I thought I would post a link to what they say for themselves: http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/New-Benefits-Point-to-Greater-Benefits-of-Infant-Circumcision-But-Final-Say-is-Still-Up-to-parents-Says-AAP.aspx

Please stop making bold statements about what research says or doesn’t say without said research backing you up. This author stated her opinion based on what she found (and included in her post) and provided others, like me, access to it. Whether I agree with her or not, I appreciate her discussing this topic. Thank you!
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7 Ways to Chill Out & De-Stress
August 19, 2013 at 5:00 am

[…] may not be one of those hot button topics like circumcision or veganism, but it’s uber important in its own right. Don’t get caught up in the whirlwind […]
Osiris
August 24, 2013 at 11:08 pm

God is repulsed by animal sacrifice and never ordered it.

Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

God allowed them to do it because animal sacrifice was what people did back then, but he never wanted it.
Blessed thou who knoweth thy Bible.
Osiris
August 25, 2013 at 4:50 pm

Isaiah 65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

More passages about the animal sacrifices!
K
March 23, 2014 at 12:10 am

my husband is circumcised and I hate it. hate it. my inlaws robbed me of a normal sex life before I was born. It’s not like a shirt that you buy, don’t like, and return. Once you’re married, you have signed up for
a lifetime, so it’s not like I can get a new partner who doesn’t injure me every time we have sex. We’re talking like, recovering from childbirth type soreness. and no, it’s not an issue of my natural lube or of artificial lube (we have and use plenty of both) or of appropriate stimulation. it’s that he can’t feel anything at all, so we grind away for hours trying to get some kind of orgasmic response. apparently all his sensation was stripped away with his 20,000 nerve endings, meissner’s corpuscles, ridged band, etc. God intended sex to be a gift to married partners, but in my case it’s been nothing but a source of emotional and physical pain. Had my husband had a choice he would have wanted to keep his whole penis. Our sons are intact and because we know the basics of proper care (never ever retract, only wash the outside like a finger, when the foreskin naturally becomes retractible, teach the boy to pull back and rinse) our sons have never had a problem.
Crystal C.
May 15, 2014 at 9:30 am

In the Bible, what was done was a sign of covenant with God. I’m curious, where did you get your information on modern circumcision? I had found a video saying John Harvey Kellogg was the one who started it all in order to curb masturbation and I just started research into this. I had no idea that’s where the modern day practice of it originated. Thanks for your blog on this! The more I learn, the more I’m saddened that I ever subjected my son to it. :(
Mellotron
June 2, 2014 at 12:18 am

I hope I can add to this conversation a bit; both of my brothers and I were circumcised shortly after birth (in my case, barely out of the womb, but I’ll get to that); my parents believed it was a better option in terms of cleanliness (there was no objection to folks who chose to keep theirs, it was a personal choice made for us), and I believe (it’s been eight years since my Da passed Upstairs, so I can’t really ask him now) my father was also circumcised for the same reason.

I was also circumcised, although it was a) almost directly after my birth and b) the foreskin was intentionally and necessarily removed as a whole, because I was born with what I understand to be a reasonably unusual birth defect of having no urethral opening; I was born with a completely enclosed foreskin with no penile opening, and was badly jaundiced when I was freshly out of my Ma, although fortunately the correction and recovery steps were done quickly enough that I had and have no lasting trauma from it- well, short of no foreskin, but I’m comfortable with that.

I asked my Ma recently if, had I not needed surgical correction of what could’ve been a severe (and, according to the records I’ve looked up in my case, and what little medical knowledge I have, possibly fatal if left uncorrected) threat to my health at birth, I would have been circumsised as my brother’s were. She honestly wasn’t sure. It was more important to her that I was afterwards healthy and grew up thus, although I can understand it was really not a choice a caring parent would make any differently.

I thought this was worth adding to the conversation, as I have yet to meet anyone (as far as I know) who had a birth defect that was as severe a threat to their health as mine and necessitated the total removal of the male foreskin to correct it.

-Mello.
Realist
July 27, 2014 at 9:22 am

Once you get passed the point of realizing there is no god this makes sense
Little Images
May 8, 2015 at 5:04 pm

Looks like I’m late to this party, but thanks for the helpful post! If you’re still monitoring this, Lori, I’d love to connect with you. We’re doing work at Little Images on this exact issue, with Christian readers in mind.
1. Lori Winter
  May 11, 2015 at 11:03 am
  
  I checked out your site and I love it! Way to go presenting the facts so well!
Rion
December 3, 2016 at 5:13 pm

After all you present, it is difficult that you say at the end “It is a personal choice” while it is a personal choice for the owner of the penis, it should never be a choice for a parent to mutilate their child.

I wish I knew all of this when our first who is now 12 was born. We have two younger boys who are intact and perfect. Our oldest had 10 years of infections, complications, and pain. No child should ever have to go through a surgery that is not medically necessary.
Frank
January 15, 2017 at 1:19 pm

Two of my sons were adopted from other countries school-aged. They were intact, and were told if they wanted to be circumcised like many of the boys they would know here, we would find a way. Both said no. The first said it was part of his self-identity. Neither had any difficulties being clean or health issues, or any other complaint that they told me about, the door being left open for that conversation. So my two cents worth are first that it isn’t medically necessary to circumcise, and these are two young men who made their own choice not to be “cut.”
Beyond that, I know of two situations where the parents chose to have only the tip cut off in the manner of early Biblical circumcision, and far as I know their sons were fine with that too.
Some families ask for or doctors choose to do a very “tight” circumcision, which can present difficulties for a man during sex. Removal for the foreskin behind the glans is not needed and for some is a serious problem.
I vote that circumcision is rarely necessary or beneficial, and my two sons voted to not go there! If one feels they must do it for religious reasons, I respect the choice of two families that chose to snip just a little off the end and let their sons have the benefit of what God gave them.
Frank
July 1, 2018 at 8:05 pm

I’d like to share some experiences in my life about this subject. First of all, I grew up “intact”, and I guess my only problem was that I envied the appearance of circumcision. Eventually as a man I got one. It wasn’t the worst mistake of my life, but I couldn’t believe the amazing sensations i lost. All for the looks of something few will ever see! On balance, I would no longer ever recommend circumcision to anyone who hadn’t first felt what I gave up foolishly.
Next, I adopted three school-aged boys, one locally who was cut, two from other countries who were not (hardly a surprise). In spite of my own experience, figuring it would just come up for discussion, I told the younger boys if they ever decided they wanted to be circumcised, we would talk about it. Neither was even a little interested in that idea, and I was more than fine with it that way.
My sister’s youngest son got the orignal and very conservative brit milah circumcision because she said it was important to get one, but she wanted him to be essentially intact. She decided this after talking with two other mothers whose boys got nipped, not cut. She then passed that idea on to others, hopefully swaying someone else to give their boys a very reasonable compromise. I like to pass that idea on when I can.
Last, in this country we do not allow parents to let their children get tattoos, not even small ones, because lawmakers decided parents should not be allowed ot alter their children in ways that are (nearly) irreversible, and the kids can wait until they are adults for such. Likewise, far as I know, parents are not allowed to permit their kids to be pierced except the earlobes, even though is is something that will typically repair itself if the child does not wish to remain that way. But my youngest wanted a nose ring badly. Not only did he claim that a classmate had one, at a school function he showed me. I guess some laws sometimes are overlooked. I didn’t like the idea at all and my son wouldn’t stop asking about it. We finally got a ring that pinched on in such a way it looked like the real thing. I told him that he needed to try this idea of his for a while, all day every day for at least a week. I would only agree after that if we could find a professional to put it in. After wearing the look-alike nose ring for a few days, he decided it wasn’t for him after all, and thanked me for convincing him to not just get one, assuming he could. But all three of my boys wore earings during their school years, into their early manhood. None of them does that now.
So the thing is that their is no way to just try circumcision. I promise that at least some of the guys who think what they lost is just fine, would think otherwise if they had first known the fantastic feelings of a foreskin, the frenulum, the super-sensative glans. Circumcision is plastic surgery. Since most of the men in the world are not cut, it is not only possible to live without circumcision, the cut is not needed at all. Speaking as a guy who actually had it both ways, man, I wouldn’t do that again! It’s like a fine meal without the sense of taste. You’ll get by, but you are missing out.
1. Circ Du So-long
  May 3, 2020 at 2:29 am
  
  A fine meal without salt is a better anaolgy to get the point across. You can still taste what you’re eating but its rather bland and boring. If you’ve never had salt, you’d never know that you’re missing out on an amazing experience. This is what sex without a foreskin is like. It is pleasurable, you can “taste” it, but you’re missing out on a vital ingredient that takes the pleasure of the task to new heights immeasurable.
  
  The doctors that cut up these children live lavish lifestyles. I think the boats and 6,000 square foot houses, vacation properties, large medical practices, and sports cars should be repossessed and restitution made.
AleXAnder
August 13, 2019 at 5:05 pm

One woman’s perspective – and something veryoften stated by women who have experienced intercourse with both intact and circumcised men.
https://medium.com/@tlr31/in-praise-of-the-foreskin-9c93b69d7561
Is Circumcision Just a Medical Procedure?
December 16, 2019 at 10:42 am

[…] Certainly, as circumcision was/is a part of Jewish belief and teaching, there is a religious aspect to some parent’s choice to circumcise or not. What I did find fascinating in my research was that the circumcision done in biblical times was likely very different from the one done today. As this writer explains: […]