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 Arsalan Iftikhar says the debate on circumcision is really about religious freedom.
July 17th, 2012
07:41 AM ET
My Take: Jews and Muslims should unite against Germany circumcision ban
By Arsalan Iftikhar, Special to CNN (CNN)–According to recent reports, a German court's ban on circumcising baby boys has provoked a rare show of unity between Jews, Muslims and Christians who see it as a threat to religious freedom, while doctors warn it could increase health risks by forcing the practice underground. This recent ruling has global media commentators on all sides of the political aisle debating whether this issue is an affront to religious freedom or a victory to protect the foreskins of young male babies around the world. Several prominent writers, including Michael Gerson of the Washington Post, rightfully challenged this recent legal decision by a local German court in Cologne, which would effectively criminalize ritual circumcision for infant males as an exercise of religious freedom for minority religious communities in the country. Gerson and others have been highlighting this most recent issue vis-à-vis Europe’s infamous history of anti-Semitism, which has long been a sociopolitical stain of xenophobia across European lands. However, it is quite interesting to note that most of these same commentators are not even adequately addressing the fact that the German case in question actually involved a Muslim family, not a Jewish one. Basically, many of these commentators are citing a legal ruling against a Muslim family in Germany to fashion entire columns devoted to prejudice vis-a-vis the Jewish community, with barely a reference to the original case involving Muslims or rising tide of Islamophobia in Europe, which exists alongside anti-Semitism on the spectrum of xenophobia and must be eradicated. CNN's Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the big stories Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel ignored the Muslim origins of this controversy when she recently told her party members that Germany risked becoming a "laughingstock" and that her country should not be "the only country in the world in which Jews cannot practice their [religious] rites". This entire meta-narrative is even more perplexing since most estimates find that Germany is home to approximately 120,000 Jews and more than 4 million Muslims. On the other side of the Germany circumcision debate, noted journalist Andrew Sullivan recently wrote about the topic and asked, "[Can] parents permanently mutilate a child's genitals to pursue their own religious goals?" Although Sullivan clearly states that he "veers on the side of permissiveness" in this case in Germany, he does anchor his position on the belief that the religious practice of infant circumcision is tantamount to male genital mutilation. "At some point, one can only hope this barbarism disappears," writes Sullivan. "And it will have nothing to do with anti-Semitism or Islamophobia; it will be about defending the religious liberty of Jewish and Muslim male [babies] to choose their religion, and not have it permanently marked as scar tissue on their [genitals]." Although I usually agree with much of his writing on most subjects, I would be curious to see if Sullivan would also consider parents who pierce the ears of their baby daughters to be committing "earlobe mutilation"? Probably not. Having said that, this is yet another instance of a "teachable moment" where Jews, Muslims and people of all faiths (or no faith) can unite to promote religious freedom for all people around the world. Since we tend to live in tribalistic circles where Muslim people tend to focus only on Islamophobia and Jewish people tend to focus only on anti-Semitism, we need to instill a new culture where Jewish people speak against Islamophobia and Muslim people speak against anti-Semitism across the globe. Similarly, as an international human rights lawyer, it would behoove me to highlight the importance for the global community to protect the legal and political rights of all religious minorities in every part of the world. In the case of the German circumcision ban, people of conscience should stand with both Muslim and Jewish communities in Germany to help ensure that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are equally challenged, especially since we are seeing right-wing xenophobic political parties continue to rise to prominence in many part of the European Union. Similarly, we should also speak up for disenfranchised religious minorities in other parts of the world, whether it is Coptic Christians in Egypt, the Baha'i community in Iran, the Rohingya Muslims in Burma (now known as Myanmar) or the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter Even though we do not yet live in a world where many Jewish and Muslim people agree on many geopolitical matters, the concept of religious freedom should be something that people of all faiths (or no faith) should be able to agree upon wholesale. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly states that, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance." Basically, at a time where the world seems to become even more polarized on a daily basis, this latest Germany circumcision debate should be used by Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities to stand in solidarity and unite in an essence of true Abrahamic camaraderie, regardless of whether we are circumcised or not. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Arsalan Iftikhar.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's note: Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer, founder of TheMuslimGuy.com and author of the book "
My twin boys are having theirs done this weekend. It has absolutely 0 to do with religion for us as I have none. First.. it does lower infection rates UTI. STD.. ect.. Plus it is more appetizing to woman and might get them boys more mouth hugs thru life.
What if they were gay? Then whether America women like it doesn't matter. 😉
Or they may be straight and fall in love with someone from a culture where intact penises are normal and their preference?
Six pack abs are more pleasing to women...are you going to pay for liposuction whenever they put on a few pounds?.
Tall men are generally more pleasing...are you going to have them stretched if they aren't getting tall enough?
Dumbest arguement ever for mutilation.
If you lived in a culture in which men preferred women without inner labia, would you think it was justified if your parents requested that a doctor slice out your inner labia with a scalpel when you were an infant?
If your son develops a urinary tract infection, which is highly unlikely to begin with, treat him with antibiotics just as baby girls are when they develop such infections.
Regarding STDs, your sons can simply use condoms which are much more effective at reducing STD transmission between partners and does not involve cutting off part of their genitals.
Bravo! Well said in both posts. JV12, let them decide for themselves when they get older.
Why not let them decide for themselves? As a woman, I definitely prefer giving 'mouth hugs' to men who are not altered. There is just more for me to be creative with... more fun for me, therefore, I'm more eager to do it.
You are a very sick man. I pity your boys. You should research the various functions of the foreskin so that you are better informed as to what you are taking from them.
I'd like to have this procedure done to my cat.
The vet does not offer this at the clinic.
The rate of urinary tract infections among intact baby boys is at most 1% to begin with (AAP). Also, modern treatments exist for urinary tract infections in the form of antibiotics.
Penile cancer is exceedingly rare (AAP).
Condoms are a highly effective method of reducing HIV transmission and do not involve removing a part of the human body.
Amazed and all these people who care about jewish/muslim
babies....my foot
The mutilated Jewish penis means that a good character of someone depends more on faith than on Abrahamic descent.
Let us pray that the Jews, the earthly Israel, will join us soon, the heavenly Israel of fatih, through faith. That faith would be exactly the faith of their ancestor and archfather Abraham. Only the object of faith has changed, former it was the promise of a descent, today it is the promise that we become righteous through Jesus Christ.
The circu-mcision should be kept at any rate. Damned German judges, such morons. I say this although I am a Christian.
Hello, according to my descent I am a German, but I have joined the Israel of faith through Abraham's faith.
Got it?
What is Abraham's faith?
Abraham believed God's promise that he would give him descendants and a country to dwell. Abraham kept this faith for decades up to a very high age, when his body became very old and he could no more conceive children by natural male strength. Also Abraham's wife had become very old an could no more bear children. Furthermore Abraham lived in the very godless country Canaan (today Palestine) and was seduced persistently to forsake the Lord, the eternal God, which has made heaven and earth.
Despite all hostility of the pagans of Canaan and athough he saw no fulfillment of God's promise for decades, Abraham kept the faith and finally got a son by a divine miracle, called Isaac.
The circu-mcision is a sign, which should remember the Jews that they should more appreciate Abraham's faith than their descent from Abraham. The male member represents the descent of man. Reducing it by circu-mcision simply means to reduce the trust in the natural descent, but increase the appreciation of the faith, which causes the circu-mcision of the heart.
Hence, circu-mcison should not be abolished, because the Jews still need it as a sign of remembrance of Abraham's faith. It is merely a pity that the Jews don't understand that. Let us hope and pray that God will open the eyes of the Jews that their member tells them: YOU NEED ABRAHAM"S FAITH.
The modern promise of God is the Gospel, which we have to believe in a world, which totally rejects Christ. But one day he will return and the Christian Church will get revealed and glorified as God's new mankind.
Abraham? Hmmm?
origin: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482 NY Times review and important enough to reiterate.
New Torah For Modern Minds
“Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses. The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred. The same is true of the tumbling of the walls of Jericho. And David, far from being the fearless king who built Jerusalem into a mighty capital, was more likely a provincial leader whose reputation was later magnified to provide a rallying point for a fledgling nation.
Such startling propositions - the product of findings by archaeologists digging in Israel and its environs over the last 25 years - have gained wide acceptance among non-Orthodox rabbis. But there has been no attempt to disseminate these ideas or to discuss them with the laity - until now.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60 years. Called "Etz Hayim" ("Tree of Life" in Hebrew), it offers an interpretation that incorporates the latest findings from archaeology, philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the Bible as a human rather than divine doc-ument.
The notion that the Bible is not literally true "is more or less settled and understood among most Conservative rabbis," observed David Wolpe, a rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a contributor to "Etz Hayim." But some congregants, he said, "may not like the stark airing of it." Last Passover, in a sermon to 2,200 congregants at his synagogue, Rabbi Wolpe frankly said that "virtually every modern archaeologist" agrees "that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way that it happened, if it happened at all." The rabbi offered what he called a "LITANY OF DISILLUSION”' about the narrative, including contradictions, improbabilities, chronological lapses and the absence of corroborating evidence. In fact, he said, archaeologists digging in the Sinai have "found no trace of the tribes of Israel - not one shard of pottery."
prob•a•bly
Adverb: Almost certainly; as far as one knows or can tell.
If you base your morals and beliefs on a psycho who fantasized about infanticide, you're asking to be ridiculed and you may possibly be retarded.
It's amazing how a guy like Wolpe, who knows that Judaism is bogus, is still such a Jew Nazi.
he modern promise of God is the Gospel,
---
LOL..Not to jews or other religions..
There's nothing modern about the Gospels.
Rainer Braendlein
Christ had better hurry, Quetzalcoatl is due back soon!
"The AMA states that "virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circu-mcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice.".[48] Specifically, major medical societies in the USA,[56] Britain,[57] Canada,[58] Australia and New Zealand[3][dead link] do not recommend routine non-thera-peutic infant circu-mcision. The AAP advises that "Physicians counseling families concerning this decision should assist the parents by explaining the potential benefits and risks and by ensuring that they understand that circ-umcision is an elective procedure."
Well you first have to make the argument that 1/3 of the male population is actually abused. It's not as if this was brought on by a bunch of circu mcised people protesting their parents.
Funny part is, once secularist get their hands on genetic engineering, they'll probably be the first in line to re-write everything about their kids despite their nebulous definition of rights. Hell before the baby came out the womb, some of those same liberals felt it was ok to simply kill the thing and throw the parts out at 8 months 3 1/2 weeks. Of course if you punch a pregnant woman in the stomach and kill the unborn it's murder. This has nothing to do with rights, it's about pushing an agenda and creating a rights issue to pursue that.
Is there a huge number of circu mcised-at-birth adults running around asking for their foreskins back? If the answer is no then apparently this is a phantom rights issue.
.
Your post is so full of crap ass umptions, it's not worth the space it took up.
Are there a huge number of circ umcised women looking for their labias back?
Also, a mass of cells is not a baby (although I definitely am against late term abortions).
@Rational
Yeah they probably are.
There are major differences between male and female circu mcision. Female circu mcision has a morality risk due to bleeding(estimated around 10%), increases STD and UTI infection rates(a decrease occurs in male circu mcisions), later scarring can damage the uret hra, bladder, cause ste rility, increase the risk of still birth, the list goes on. Those are very serious complications and are actually worth the concern of the international community.
The argument I've heard is that while early-term abortions are for the benefit of the pregnant woman, late-term abortions are almost always for the benefit of the fetus, euthanasia to end a life that would only be short and miserable in any case. Of course a national debate should take place but it would probably ber taken over by extremists on both sides.
Iftikhar isn't much of a human rights lawyer since he doesn't consider the penises owner first and foremost. He disregards children's rights. What is most revealing–and proves my point that he is biased–is that Iftikhar quotes the Declaration of Human Rights but fails to quote the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which clearly states that the child has rights including protection from abuse and exploitation, and a right to privacy. It also says in any judicial dispute concerning their care the child's viewpoint should be heard. This is what the German court did, but Iftikhar wishes they hadn't.
i'm surrounded by a plethora of modern day technology that suggests we are an evolved species but once again i find myself questioning. i've always been appalled by the need for any religious organisation to remove part of a childs body. some countries around the world have seen fit to ban the practice of removing the tails of dogs when they are pups as it was seen to be cruel and unnecessary yet babies seem to be a loophole that noone has the spine to address....until a german court. bravo although i feel it will only ever translate as symbolic it's wonderful that the statement has been made. an afterthought, let the child grow to an age where he can make his own decision as to the removing of a bodypart?
German court bans circu mcising baby boys.
So I guess that there wont be any baby penis blood sucking? God is not going to be happy when he hears about this.
Definitely. If there's one thing Yahweh enjoys, it's baby penis blood sucking.
There is a life-long consequence of circu_mcision that the Israeli military, for example, is much concerned about. There are reports of scientific studies which show that men who were circu_mcized as babies have a much lower tolerance for pain than those who were not.
It's also been proven to reduce the transmission risk of HIV, syphilis, and genital herpes. Also a lower risk of urinary tract infection, and a lower risk of penile caner, but only if the operation was performed early in life.
"There are reports of scientific studies which show that men who were circu_mcized as babies have a much lower tolerance for pain than those who were not."
Sorry, but this sounds like BS. What are your sources?
@ME II and Polergiest:
I, too, am skeptical of report on science discoveries i read in the newspapers, since they are often based on improbable premises. In this case: however, the fact that the Israeli military is very concerned about it, which I accept as honestly reported, seems to provide a degree of substantiation. As for circ_mcision reducing the transmission risk of HIV, syphilis and genital herpes, just how reliable is the research? And, even if the conclusion were true, who would risk their life on circ_mcision to protect them? Obviously a better approach is needed.
man was created in god's image. does Yahweh have a p.enis? does god's p.enis have a foreskin? has god been circ.umcised? if not, does that mean god is going to hell? if god has been circ.umcised, who performed the circ.umcision? one of the archangels with a steady hand? if god hasn't been circ.umcised, it seems kinda lame of him to expect man to get snipped...
man is created in god's image, but why would god need a p.enis? is there a goddess out there? does god get morning wood? does god go pee pee? the p.enis is mostly used for h.umping or u.rinating - god do either of those?
* on a side note, if we're created in god's image, does Yahweh have a b.utthole?
These 3 previous posts regards Ezra's Warning about intermarriage with wives who practice pagan religions. It was written during the return of Babylon. Solomon is another example when he started worshipping with his wives their pagan ways. The rest of that history included children for Burnt Offerings. Solomon was a wise young man, but an old fool. So, Moses, Joshua, Abraham and Solomon committed the same mistake. Mixing with other religions. This is: Comixio Religionis.
The Abraham story Genesis 17 was added after the return from Babylonian. Around 550-500 BC, from Jewish MD/Anthropology professor Leonard Glick, "Marked in Your Flesh". The Abraham story is in reference of taking up aspects of Egyptian religion. The Great Mother Goddess was Isis who also had the moon-god son Horus. So who is the God of Abraham? Isis? Or Egyptian Horus.
What kind of sick demented god gives men foreskins just to demand that they be cut off during childhood?
The stupidity of religion is mind boggling.
One invented by man.
Protecting the right to choose religion?? the right of a newborn baby?? Hmm... it's like saying we shouldn't teach babies to talk to protect their freedom of speech!
The Chancellor is rightly more worried about the reaction of Jews given the history of the German-Jewish relationship.
Why rightly? If Jews claim to have received recent divine revelation claiming that the Germans are the new Canaanites, should Merkel allow all Jews living in Germany to massacre the non Jewish population?
LOL! Some human rights lawyer you are. In fact, you're proof that the words human rights followed by lawyer form an oxymoron (or just a moron).
'Although I usually agree with much of his writing on most subjects, I would be curious to see if Sullivan would also consider parents who pierce the ears of their baby daughters to be committing "earlobe mutilation"?'
What would you consider it if parents had their daughter's genitalia pierced or otherwise permanently altered? You're comparing apples to oranges here.
If you want to stand up for religious rights, why not the religious rights of the babies? As you said, yourself, the UN declaration of human rights states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
Notice it includes the right to CHANGE religious beliefs. If you stand for a parents' "right" to make irreversible bodily modifications, you are impeding the child's right to change his religion. I don't understand how this hypocrisy is not obvious to you.
Then there were the ancient Egyptions
"Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 BC) tomb artwork in Egypt is thought to be the oldest docu-mentary evidence of circu-mcision, the most ancient depiction being a bas-relief from the necropolis at Saqqara (ca. 2400 BC) with the inscriptions reading: "The ointment is to make it acceptable." and "Hold him so that he does not fall".[10] In the oldest written account, by an Egyptian named Uha, in the 23rd century BC, he describes a mass circ-umcision and boasts of his ability to stoically endure the pain: "When I was circu-mcised, together with one hundred and twenty men...there was none thereof who hit out, there was none thereof who was hit, and there was none thereof who scratched and there was none thereof who was scratched."
And then there were the evolved h-ominids of the 21st century:
"The AMA states that "virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circu-mcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice.".[48] Specifically, major medical societies in the USA,[56] Britain,[57] Canada,[58] Australia and New Zealand[3][dead link] do not recommend routine non-thera-peutic infant circu-mcision. The AAP advises that "Physicians counseling families concerning this decision should assist the parents by explaining the potential benefits and risks and by ensuring that they understand that circ-umcision is an elective procedure
Reality's changing history again. Hey Reality, with all these changes, do you know what's true or not? Most likely, you don't care.
Looks like the GERMANS would be a little more hesitant to single out Jews.
Actually, they're singling out the genital mutilation of infants and minors.
What Germans are you referring to? German by family lineage or German by taking over the country and reside there?
So what does it support?