Uncut penises are gross

Other than that, wangs are wangs in my book.

If that were the case, I suppose I should've written "when pin-mounted in a frame" rather than "in my book."

Jesus wept.

Perhaps for parents who don't watch a circumcision (the majority don't; the minority that do wish they hadn't), the reality here - the strapping, forcing, cutting, bleeding, stripping, slicing and creating of immeasurable pain - is a little like the Bomb: something you'd rather not think about unless you absolutely, positively must.

The quote above from here puts it better than I could. How is this practice justified?

What is done to children, they will do to society. — Karl Meninger

By the Old Testament, yo.

A kid being teased for having a foreskin? Such a cultural chasm!

If you're basing lifelong decisions that will affect your child forever on what children will think, you're an asshat.

Butchering a baby for fear of school-age reprisal is insane. It's social engineering at its most prevalent. Surely if this abhorrent practice was stopped then those without would be the minority? I'll happily be persuaded otherwise but on face value it seems so bizarre - many of the old reasons for doing it have long since been discrecited anyway.

If I understand it correctly, it was prompted by concerns over hygiene - the theory being that men could not figure out how to wash their foreskin properly and the best way to eliminate any potential problem with this was to eliminate the foreskin. It was viewed as a simple, safe, and permanent solution to a vexing public health issue.

Once you've digested that, it is also important to remember that, in the same era, the medical profession was quite enthusiastic for eugenics. Electro-shock therapy was seen as a humane and safe treatment for mental illness. Removing tonsils was an expected childhood rite of passage. Autism was caused by unloving mothers. The confident fix for tooth decay was dumping fluoride in the drinking water so no one need be troubled with exercising any choice in the matter. And the general citizenry was known among the elite as The Great Unwashed.

JHWH is a rather paternalistic diety, too.

They still use electroshock. Not because it's humane, but because it works.

The initiation ritual is packing as many Skoal Bandits into your foreskin as you can. Even one will do. I'm not making this up.

* Apparently 2-3% of these operations result in complications, whilst many adults who were circumcised report problems of sexual dusfunction.

** Currently 85% of the world's males are not circumcised (including the vast majority of Europeans, Latin Americans, Japanese, and Chinese)

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004/11/16/circumcised_men_less_likely_to_get_aids?pg=full

Not that this should influence a parent's decision to not have their child circumcised. No reason *not* to have a son with a slightly larger, far more sensitive penis.

People are weird.

I'm not sure this practice is still American - an Irish buddy of mine had his removed by his parents. Just crazy - there is no need to do it.

Aw, jeez.

This is a touchy issue for many people. Let me simply say that flouride, applied topically to the surface of teeth, has good scientific data to back it up. So, putting it in toothpaste was a simple, good idea. It does what it is supposed to do. And you can spit it out after applying it, so you don't have to swallow it.

OTOH, flouride in water provides only a brief, and mostly ineffective topical exposure. Further, it requires you to ingest the stuff. Ingesting it has no proved benefits. Even if tiny amounts of flouride constantly ingested over a lifetime were actually harmless (and this is a very big 'if'), still, dumping millions of dollars worth of the stuff into the water would remain a fairly wasteful and comparatively ineffective approach, compared to topical application in toothpaste.

Now, odds are, someone will passionately challenge this (perhaps the the offspring of a dentist) and assert that the evidence in favor of flouridated water is overwhelming and utterly crushing in its massive authority. So, let's just call this my opinion. I really doubt anyone here is willing or eager to read the hundreds of pages of studies available on both sides of this issue... and flinging conclusions without sound data has been the norm in this debate for decades.

Nope.

No, it most certainly does not.

I will not have my future son, Lyle, circumsized.

A question for the ladies (and why not for gay men too).

Tuomas, no, I am not expecting.. but someday, totally!

* Apparently 2-3% of these operations result in complications, whilst many adults who were circumcised report problems of sexual dusfunction.

I'm going to call bullshit on this. What are these "complications"? Is a crying baby a "complication"? There's no way these can be permanenly scarring complications.

** Currently 85% of the world's males are not circumcised (including the vast majority of Europeans, Latin Americans, Japanese, and Chinese)

So? This means nothing. 85% of the world's males (and females) aren't Christian. Does this mean that nobody should bother being a Christian?

Also, the Salon article focused on medical circumcision, which is considerably queasier than Jewish ritual circumcision (= the baby cannot be restrained in the manner she described, and the use of anasthetic IS allowed (and I'm not just talking about wine)). Being a Jewish person, she might have wanted to mention this before going into her whole "OMG I'm wrestling with this Jewish moral dilemna" guilt trip.

Er, what percentage of uncircumsized males report problems of sexual dusfunction and at what median age do these reports start occurring? Also, is "dusfunction" what you call it when dust shoots out of your dick instead of semen?

Wait, where is outlawed?

Circumcision started with desert peoples (Ancient Egyptians were ciricumcized, and that's perhaps where the Jews got the idea) because, apparently, with little water it becomes hard to clean out in the desert, and things get very irritated very fast.

Getting a BJ must really suck if your cut.

Giving one is kinda boring if they're cut.

I DIDNT ASK TO BE BAPTISED INTO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EITHER

im so scarred because I DONT HAVE MY FORESKIN WAHHHHHH

penis PC is the worst!

how many men of wanking age get cut? like as 'welcome to puberty present'? or some kind of frat-boy prank?

I'm going to call bullshit on this. What are these "complications"? Is a crying baby a "complication"? There's no way these can be permanenly scarring complications.

"The estimated 1% to 3% incidence of complications after newborn circumcision covers only the immediate postoperative period prior to the infant's discharge from the hospital. The reported risks are hemorrhage in 1%, infection - occasionally leading to sepsis - in 0.5%, meat[iti]s and meatal stenosis, u[r]ethrocutaneous fistula, adhesions between the glans and remaining prepuce, secondary phimosis, and cosmetically unsatisfactory results. The rate of subsequent repeat surgery to correct adhesions of the glans, meatal stenosis, fistula, and phimosis with buried penis is unknown, but our practice at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia includes about two such cases per month. While this is not a large percentage of the total number of circumcisions preformed, it is a significant number of children undergoing surgery for the complication of this operation."

- Schwartz, et al. "Pediatric Primary Care: A Problem-solving Approach" pp 861-862.

(At 1.25 million circumcisions of newborns per year, a 0.5% infection rate amounts to 6000 cases per year, and a 4% overall rate of complications requiring treatment represents 48,000 patients experiencing avoidable morbidity.)

http://www.circumstitions.com/Images/retrac-anim3.gif

http://digilander.libero.it/gianniv/music/thn/album.sinead_o

Isn't it just? I'm predicting some keen f-skin envy by the end of the day.

http://www.circumstitions.com/Images/unfold-pisa.gif

Brian Eno, 1975

(I am ignoring the fact that this is all a big smokescreen attempting to mask that you're mad that I made the wooden lesbian joke before you did.)

"Jinkies, a clue!"

so obv it's a good thing.

http://www.foreskin.org/page2.htm

NOT WORK SAFE!!! NOT WORK SAFE!!! NOT WORK SAFE!!!

SMEGGY EW EW EW:

http://www.foreskin.org/smegma.htm

NOT ANYWHERE SAFE!!! NOT ANYWHERE SAFE!!! NOT ANYWHERE SAFE!!!

"investigate"!

My day is ruined.

SALISBURY, England, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Viafin-Atlas Ltd. and Viafin-Atlas Inc. are proud to announce the arrival and commercial availability of the world's first "Retractable Foreskin Prosthesis" or "Artificial Retractable Foreskin" for circumcised men.

The product has been designed for men of all ages who suffer diminished sensitivity in their penis. The product is manufactured in Britain and has patents pending in 131 countries.

http://www.neuticles.com/shop/images/bumpersticker.gif

uncut penises aren't gross. you guys with intact foreskins do not have gross penises. so not gross.

speak for yourself

rip van wanko mind u

Actually have encountered so many uncut men with weird foreskin issues, mostly that "the overalls are too tight" and have to deal with stress and strain. Two men I know have had adult circumcisions and one man I know needs one

Ah the ole hulk pants problem