Circumcision in Modern Times

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I was circumcised as a baby and am happy I am for personal reasons. I had my sons circumcised as well. It is of course not required for any reason but I believe it is good and have seen no negative effects.
 
Could it possibly be confirmation bias, though?
You can’t really compare it to the alternative, can you? 😉
 
As I understand it, there is nothing wrong with circumcision itself. We have had issues with a male in my family who had an extremely painful infection under his foreskin as a toddler that would not occurred had he been circumcised, so I intend to have my eventual children circumcised.

The danger is believing that circumcision is necessary for our covenant with God, not circumcision itself.
 
No adult male is going to voluntarily submit to circumcision for anything other than an immediate health concern.
 
Cabeelibob said:
It seems that the Church condemned circumcisions as a sign of the Abrahamic Covenant and I am willing to accept Her conclusion. But when I think about it, I think, “Why should I not circumcise my son as Jesus was just as I would name my son Joshua or Peter?” Maybe I just don’t understand.

I’m not having a kid any time soon. I’m just trying to get the best understanding.
Thoughts?
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In the early Church there was a heretical group called the Judaizers which preached that to be either (1) a true Christian or (2) a better Christian, one had to be circumcized and observe the Jewish laws and sabbaths. The Church condemned this, and so stressed there was no need for circumcision, and I think in general it was looked down upon for its association with Judaizing Christianity.

Though it’s interesting to note that Paul had Timothy circumcized before Timothy went to the Temple, even though Paul discouraged circumcision in general (due to people misunderstanding it).
 
Angel_Bradford said:
No adult male is going to voluntarily submit to circumcision for anything other than an immediate health concern.
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Nonsense. Some adult men converting to Judaism get circumcised, and I’ve spoken with adult men from Africa who voluntarily submitted to circumcision without anesthesia as an adult so that they’d be permitted to travel abroad, per their cultural norms. (Africa is a very broad generalization, I don’t mean to say it’s an African norm in general, but unfortunately I forget the additional specifics of the men I spoke to regarding where they came from).
 
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Possibly but the notion that I cannot compare it to the alternative is nonsensical as I can be objective and conduct research. I have previously and did again just now out of curiosity. There are known benefits such as the reduced chance of infection and even possibly reduced chances of disease contraction. The possible drawbacks are the chance of it being done incorrectly. It seems to me with my personal experience and the limited research that I think I don’t the right thing and will continue to have it done to any future sons.
 
I have a hard time imagining infections unless we’re talking about people who don’t ever wash the area.
 
I guess my research has been wrong.
 
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Loud-living-dogma said:
So why should infants have it done to them? (obviously without their consent).
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A couple of issues here. First, it is a medical concern. In some countries where hygiene is not as much of an issue, there is definitely a known greater likelihood for the spread of infection and disease to someone else. Statistics show there is a correlation for a greater risk of uterine cancer in women who have relations with uncircumcised males than to those who are circumcised. There is also a small but statistically valid increased likelihood of a higher cancer risk for uncircumcised males.

This would also be true for what we would considered “advanced” countries. It is safe to say living in the United States or Europe doesn’t necessarily means a person regularly uses good hygiene. Enough examples have been citied in other responses to substantiate this. So it is indeed is indeed a medical concern.

You can do a google search to show some actual scientific papers to show this or you can simply go to WebMD for the Lay person language response.

In response to you asking -Why should infants be circumcised without their consent: I assume you are Catholic, if so, you know we have babies baptized without their consent and most parents have their children confirmed without their consent. We make a lot of decisions for our children that we feel are best for them.
 
I don’t think circumcision is a sign of anything at all. Our religion is what we profess not how we mutilate ourselves. It’s not a big deal either way in my opinion though some need it done in later life for medical reasons.
 
There are purported benefits, but very real risks as well. If all the benefits we’re true-- why aren’t infant boys in Europe or Asia routinely circumcised then?
 
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JW55 said:
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Loud-living-dogma:
So why should infants have it done to them? (obviously without their consent).
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A couple of issues here. First, it is a medical concern. In some countries where hygiene is not as much of an issue, there is definitely a known greater likelihood for the spread of infection and disease to someone else. Statistics show there is a correlation for a greater risk of uterine cancer in women who have relations with uncircumcised males than to those who are circumcised. There is also a small but statistically valid increased likelihood of a higher cancer risk for uncircumcised males.

This would also be true for what we would considered “advanced” countries. It is safe to say living in the United States or Europe doesn’t necessarily means a person regularly uses good hygiene. Enough examples have been citied in other responses to substantiate this. So it is indeed is indeed a medical concern.

You can do a google search to show some actual scientific papers to show this or you can simply go to WebMD for the Lay person language response.

In response to you asking -Why should infants be circumcised without their consent: I assume you are Catholic, if so, you know we have babies baptized without their consent and most parents have their children confirmed without their consent. We make a lot of decisions for our children that we feel are best for them.
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A lot of decisions indeed. Including elective cosmetic surgery on their private parts…
 
Seems to me a public health campaign centered on hygiene would be a way to address these concerns without having to resort to routine circumcision.
 
I can’t speak for Asia but Europe avoided circumcision in order to avoid being mistaken for a Jew. Prejudices have gone away but the acceptance of circumcision never took off, probably to keep the idea of son looking like dad. If the health benefits were remarkable, it would have become more common. They are slight as are the risks.

One issue here is men that are not circumcised need to be taught how to maintain hygiene…often a missing ingredient. As Europe never circumcised, they probably are better at knowing the hygiene routine?
 
The Church does not require circumcision as necessary to salvation because we are saved by faith, not works. The Epistle to the Churches in Galatia addresses this. However, in Christian freedom, if having your child circumcised as a reminder of Christ, you are free to do so. Hope that helps. The issue Paul had was not with circumcision, but with adding works to faith as a requirement for salvation.
 
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I have a son who isn’t circumcised, and it doesn’t seem too complicated. Bathe or shower daily, and don’t retract too soon. All baby care books can advise us unhygienic Americans. 🤣
That’s an interesting point as well about prejudice against Jews. Presumably doctors in Europe wouldn’t have had training in performing infant circumcisions (primarily done by mohels) anyway, so it wouldn’t be “a thing” to routinely ever start the concept of routine male infant circumcisions. Nowadays there are probably more female circumcisions than male in Europe, I would guess.
 
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