CIRCUMCISION

CIRCUMCISION is fooled over by circumcision as according to surveys, most parents decide to have their sons circumcised for very hazy reasons. There is even no clear health incentive to perform these routine circumcisions. The word "circumcision" came from theLatin circum , meaning "around", and caedere, meaning "to cut". This practice predates recorded human history withdepictions from st one-age cave drawings and Egyptian tombs suggesting that this practice is lost in antiquity. Cultures around the world oftencircumcise their males as a matter oftradition, either shortly after birth, in childhood or puberty as a rite of passage. This practice is most notable among Jews and Muslims, and in theUnited States. Theories of its origins include that it used to be a form of ritual sacrifice or offering, a sign of submission to a deity, a mark of defeat or slavery, a rite of passage to adulthood, or an attempt to alter esthetics or sexuality. However, non-therapeutic infant circumcision is a controversial issue recently where medical associations in the US, Australia, and Canada do not recommend it to the male newborns. The genital integrity movement condemns non-therapeutic circumcision that they consider comparable to female genital cutting. Yet, in spite of the fact, circumcision continues to be performed as a religious requirement on members of the Muslim and Jewish faiths along with a majority of Americans, South Koreans and Filipinos. In Judaism, circumcision is a religious practice required and usually performed in a ceremony called a Brit milah which is a Hebrew for "Covenant of circumcision". The ceremony is done on the eighth day after birth where according to the Torah (Genesis, chapter 17 verses 9-14), God commanded Abraham to circumcise himself, his offspring and his slaves as part of a covenant. Consequently, failure to follow the commandment carries the penalty of being cut off from the community by God. As for Muslims, the origin of the requirement of circumcision in Islam is a matter of religious and scholarly debate. However, it is mentioned in some parts of the Hadith, but not in the Qur'an and Fiqh scholars have different opinions about circumcision in Shariah. Moreover, there are some who interpret verses in the Qur'an as the requirement of circumcision based on the covenant with Abraham. On the other hand, Circumcision may also be backed up with scientific reasons for it can be recommended to treat medical conditions in males, such as phimosis, chronic inflammation of the penis, and penile cancer. However, there had been studies about the benefits of circumcision which have provided conflicting results. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) though says the benefits of circumcision are not significant enough to make it a routine procedure. And even with its medical benefits, there are even often less invasive treatments that can be tried first. The procedure of circumcision apparently is slowly being questioned especially among some non-Orthodox Jewish parents who are departing from the traditional bris. Some religious people hold that Jewish laws should forbid inflicting pain to any living thing, especially an infant. In fact, a 1989 AAP policy statement recognized the pain and trauma caused by the procedure to cause attendant behavioral changes among the young patients. However, circumcision is the only surgery in America routinely performed without the aid of anesthesia thus now AAP recommends analgesic cream or local anesthetic. Furthermore, the emotional consequences must be really accounted for in this practice just as much attention has been given to the emotional impact of female genital cutting. Several studies to date suggest that circumcised infants do not forget the pain during circumcision easily.