So I was reading this lady's blog the other day. She is a mother of four who shares wonderfully entertaining stories about her little brood of rugrats. She also is very natural, opting for cloth diapers, organic food, and delayed/limited vaccination of her children. I have heard of all of these things, and though I am not sure what we will do on these issues when we have children, I've enjoyed her perspective. But one 'au naturale' choice of hers made me pause...
They do not circumcise their sons.
You can read her blog for yourself to get the nitty gritty on why they have made this decision, but in a nutshell they didn't think anything of it until assigned a research paper on the topic for their childbirth class. They began thinking they'd write a paper on why you should circumcise, yet through the process of their research their minds were changed.
Now, I haven't given much thought on the "to circumcise or not to circumcise" issue. I just assumed it was a given. So I asked Jonathan what he thought about it, and this is how it went:
ME: Jon, how do you feel about circumcision?
JON: What do you mean?
ME: Like, is it a big deal for you to have your son circumcised? 'Cause I was reading this lady's blog and she said that basically there is no medical point to it and it's just removing a piece of the body for no good reason...so I was just wondering what you thought about it all.
JON: Well, I'm not sure what the big deal is. I mean, you just tie it off and wait for it to fall off.
ME: WHAT!?!
JON: Isn't how they do it? They just tie it off, it turns black, and you wait for it to just fall off, right?
ME: Umm....honey, I'm pretty sure you're thinking of the umbilical cord.
JON: Are you sure?
ME: Yep. Pretty sure circumcision is when (detailed explanation of circumcision that I will spare you) and the umbilical cord thing is when (ditto).
JON: Oh...yeah, that does sound right.
TOGETHER: Laughter.
Our poor baby boys. So glad we've cleared that one up.
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15 comments:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I actually had a male friend in college who was not circumsized and he HATED it...I think it was mostly because it is standard in today's society for men to be circumsized so he said that most females were disgusted by it and he was embarrassed...
hahahahahahahahahaha!! that is awesome! that's great! I knew someone uncircumsized and he HATED it. he was so embarrassed by it! And honestly, I think it's kinda gross!
That is so hilarious!! Way to clear things up! When it came to the decision to circumcise Caleb, I left that totally up to Josh, since he would know what our son would have to deal with!!
AHHHHHHHHHHH, hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! That is hilarious! So funny! Can you imagine if that's how they did it?! I mean...OW!!!!
this post really made me laugh! our little son, once he makes his appearance, will definitley have the "procedure" done. :)
That convo made me laugh. I'd have to say my first thought about my future sons would be not to circumcise. But then again, I think Canada has a lower percentage of circumcisions performed than the US.
Oh gosh, glad y'all talked that one through! Thanks for all of your sweet words; I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to be pregnant until next week, and that's all there is to it. But hey, at least I'll get to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner! :)
Hey, my best frind didn't circomsize there boys because the dad wasn't. Only the bad thing is you have to make sure that you clean the boys well. One of there boys got a bad infection, and then had to have surgery to get circomsized. I think it is personnal prefance. Having two boys, and knowing how dirty they get, I am glad we had them circomsized.
We don't circumcise our boys, either.
One of the guys at OBU on the floor was getting married soon, and hadn't been circumcised. He started looking into it, and supposedly, Circumcision has some medical benefits (though I don't remember what he said they were--something about infection and STDs I think). But I guess he believed it because, as a result, he got it done before the wedding--and was really wishing his parents had done it when he was too young to know it.
I'm surprised, however, that no one who has commented even gave a second's consideration to a theological consideration. Afterall, it was originally something that God asked his people to do to set them apart.
As Christians, do we ignore this fact because it's Old Testament, and we no longer live under that law? Do we take it into consideration because of our spiritual heritage? Do we follow (I think it was Timothy's) example, & do it regardless of whether or not we believe it's needed, in order to "Be all things to all people?"...
Here's just a few passages a quick search produced--Be sure to check out page 2 for additional references within the New Testament (Paul had quite a number of things to say on the topic)
http://tiny.cc/te3G6
My husband and I did not have our boys circumcised. With the rates falling to a record low around 56% I guess they won’t be alone. Our doctor advised us that it was purely cosmetic and also confirmed that there is no medical justification for it. He said there was really not much benefit as circumcised boys still can get UTI's and STD's. As for keeping them clean it does not take any more work. The few people we know that ended up getting circumcised where due to the physicians pushing for the procedure rather then trying to treat the problem before resorting to a circumcision, which I think is just wrong. But hey procedures are how they make their money right? Anyway one of the guys said that it was the worst decision he had ever made as he lost most of the feeling not to mention that sex is now very different.
Oh by the way we stumbled upon a couple good websites that you might be interested in. I think the more you learn the more you will question the practice. Maybe you should let your son decide? Good luck
www.ksnocirc.org
www.notjustskin.org
What a funny conversation that must have been...! ;)
I laughed for a good minute on this one...stumbled on to your blog hope you don't mind me reading it now! :-)
I just read this post to the family gathered in my living room . . . thanks for giving us all a good laugh!!!
This is too FUNNY! I seriously laughed out loud! My husband wanted to know what I was laughing about so I told him. We laughed about it together.
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