Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Christy Salem — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:31:19 GMT

Christian parents who opt to circumcise their boys in the name of religion apparently have not read the New Testament. Christ did away with the circumcision of the flesh and it's not mandated for Christians to do that to their children.

And I must say as a Christian, I believe God created my child and knew him even in my womb. I spent 9 months praying for a healthy child and trusted that God would provide. He did and I was blessed with a healthy son. Cutting off a body part designed by God seems almost blasphemous to me. Needless to say, we didn't circumcise him.

I have no idea since I've never seen a mohel perform a circumcision but I hope they at least wear gloves and use sterile technique like a hospital does. It seems like an a high risk for infection otherwise.

And I agree those participating in a religious ceremony should be of that religion. Otherwise, how does it bring spiritual meaning to the occasion?

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Caroline — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:55:16 GMT

Many Jews are now choosing a non-cutting alternative called a Bris Shalom. For more information, see

jewishcircumcision.org

jewsagainstcircumcision.org

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Nicole — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:42:39 GMT

The Torah or the 'Old Testament' as Catholics call it, is part of 'The Bible'. I have always believed that Catholics should follow almost all of the holidays and customs of Judaism because it is the begininning (sp?) part of the Bible.

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Chiken — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:59:11 GMT

How do you raise your children anti-choice when you are pro-choice? Do you say, "our family believes that abortion should be illegal" or "abortion is wrong" even if you don't believe that? I find that very curious.

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Amy — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:14:16 GMT

The circumcisions done by mohels are much less extensive, removing less tissue, than the ones done in hospitals. In a hospital, the baby is restrained on a plastic board, his penis is clamped (think of a ring shaped clamp that goes around the entire end of his penis, cutting off circulation to the foreskin), and the entire foreskin is removed. The Jewish tradition is much kinder - the baby is held in someone's arms, for example, rather than being restrained, and less tissue is removed.

We're Presbyterian, and we had to go into counseling over the circumcision issue when we were pregnant with our first. He's pro, I'm antt. One of the compromises we discussed was having the procedure done by a mohel instead of by a physician, for the reasons I described above. In the end, I agreed to raise our children pro-life (he's pro-life, I'm pro-choice) if he agreed not to press to have them circumcised. We agreed that we'd allow our children to make their own decision on the circumcision issue, when they're old enough to understand the ramifications. I promised to wait on any sons hand and foot until they recovered if they elected to be circumcised when they were, say, 12 or 13.

Of course, we had two girls.

Still, watch videos of a hospital circumcision and a Jewish ceremonial circumcision, and see if the Christian parents' reasoning doesn't make more sense to you.

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Greer's Mum — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:06:48 GMT

Hmm... not sure how I feel about this. I am Catholic, but my husband is Jewish so we have been in a number of bris.However, my observation is that this is far more than just the actual act of circumcision. For one, the child is also given his Hebrew name, which is usually in memory of a deceased dear relative. The ones that I have been to, the parents speak about why they chose that name, and about the person the child is named after. Also, it is the first time that everyone gets to see the baby and since at least in my husband's family, there is no baby shower, the first chance to congratulate the new pareents. That said, I totally don't understand why Christians need to do this. Maybe I am missing something?

re: Christian Parents Opt for Religious Circumcision . . . Even if It's Jewish

Alice — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:44:15 GMT

So they want to pay more so their newborn can feel the pain of cutting part of his penis off and bleed a lot more? See, stupid people will spend money on anything.