Germany to Pass Law on Circumcision

German legislators will pass a law this year permitting the circumcision of boys in response to global protests by religious groups reacting to a district court ruling that the practice amounts to bodily harm.

Social Democrat Burkhard Lischka, who sits on parliament’s legal-affairs committee, said his opposition party and the environmental Greens reached agreement with the governing coalition to seek draft legislation, probably by October. He said a “broad majority” will approve a resolution in the lower house, or Bundestag, tomorrow.

“You have two world religions that view the circumcision of boys as a constitutive path to join a community of faith,” Lischka said today in a phone interview in Berlin.

Jewish, Muslim and Christian organizations this month decried a May 7 Cologne court decision that circumcising boys constitutes battery even if parents consent to it, creating legal uncertainty and the prospect that doctors could be committing a crime by performing the procedure. Chancellor Angela Merkel warned party colleagues this week that Germany risks being branded a “nation of buffoons” if it becomes the only country to prohibit the practice, Bild newspaper reported.

Continue reading at www.businessweek.com

« Previous Article

Posting Policy

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, vulgarity, profanity, all caps, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a courteous and useful public environment where we can engage in reasonable discourse. Read more.

Crashaxe

Circumcision is preformed for health and cleanliness and should be done on the eighth day as directed by God in scripture.
- Jeff Dixon
  
  The American Academy of Pediatrics previously held that "…the procedure has
  potential medical benefits and advantages, as well as
  inherent disadvantages and risks. In other words,
  circumcision may
  or may not provide any benefits or
  advantages, but it does have built-in disadvantages and risks. It is not surprising, therefore,
  that the AAP had assigned a Task Force to re-examine
  Routine Infant Circumcision. On March 1, 1999, after a two year investigation,
  it was concluded that the "potential medical benefits" of infant circumcision
  aren't significant enough and therefore, the AAP does not recommend it as a
  routine procedure.
  - http://www.answersingenesis.org/ keyboardshark
    
    Proving once again that parents should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding medical procedures performed on their children (and themselves) and should disregard the advice of so-called experts who recommend or compel certain procedures as 'routine' such as vaccines, circumcision, tonsil removal, etc.
    - http://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.dixon.509 Jeffrey Dixon
      
      How that "proves" your comment is a fascinating look into your mindset. The doctors find that the procedure offers no specific benefits, but does have specific risks and all you take away from that is that doctors know nothing.
      - http://www.answersingenesis.org/ keyboardshark
        
        I thought I was agreeing with you. I just worded it differently. You indicated that there was conflicting medical information regarding circumcision, and i was indicating that that was a good reason for parents to make their own decisions when there is no clear medical consensus on a procedure, such as circumcision, as well as vaccinations, routine tonsil removal, etc.
      - http://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.dixon.509 Jeffrey Dixon
        
        When you toss vaccinations in, which have saved the lives of millions, then it is clear we are not agreeing on anything.
      - http://www.answersingenesis.org/ keyboardshark
        
        But there is considerable debate as to whether vaccinations are effective, and whether they are safe. My point was, that when some procedure is recommended to the general public as something routine that everyone should do, regardless of personal differences or medical history, then we have to be suspicious as to whether the thing is actually necessary. It might just be a money-maker for doctors and pharmaceutical companies. In other words, a conflict of interest.
        
        Another example is the recommendation to take an aspirin daily. They are now finding out that it does little if anything to prevent a stroke or heart attack, and may have serious side effects, such as stomach bleeding, and may even cause strokes in some individuals.
- http://www.PoemsAndReflectionsConstantineIvanov.com Constantine Ivanov
  
  Romans 2:28-29
  "28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
  29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
  
  P.S. In a political dimension:
  Many circumcised Jews voted (and are going to vote again) for the Evil called "obama."
  
  A few non-circumcised Jews voted (and are going to vote again) against the evil called "obama"
  
  So, who is a Jew "not in the letter", "whose praise is not of men, but of God"?
Retrogirl42

Good for her. I'm a Christian Protestant & had my 3 sons circumcised for several reasons..It's healthier, looks better & & God ordained it.
- http://www.PoemsAndReflectionsConstantineIvanov.com Constantine Ivanov
  
  In other words, you willy-nilly imply that God had botched the male creation and demands that humans should correct His faulty job?
  
  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
  God created man not circumcised, and man was created in His own image, which means that God is not circumcised.
  
  "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."
  So, God was satisfied with his work.
  But you are seemingly not and want to improve the God's job?
  
  The total world population is almost 6.5 Billion people.
  The total Jewish world population is slightly more than 15 Million.
  The total Muslim world population is slightly over 2 Billion.
  So, 6.5 BLN – 15 MLN – 2 BLN = > 4.4 Billion people DO NOT DO circumcision and feel pretty well without it.
  So, why fanatical parents should have the right to mutilate their kids only to satisfy THEIR OWN fanaticism?
  I was circumcised because of phimosis when I was 5-year old and there were no other means to cure my disease that time.
  So, please don't lie to people that it "looks better" and "healthier": it doesn't.
  - http://www.facebook.com/richard.olson.5832 Richard Olson
    
    I take it you find abortion “battery” and on at least the
    scale of man slaughter. We cannot choose our parents. The pros and cons of
    health benefits of circumcision of males is an arguable debate with medical
    professionals and both sides have sound reasoning. It is a private matter
    between doctor and patient and unlike abortion they are not deciding for
    non-medical reasons to destroy and profit from a life.
    
    Female circumcision on the other hand is gaining in certified
    practice. So far medical professionals agree that there are no health benefits
    for female circumcision but it does have health risks. It’s a kin to a boob job
    that they are performing on underage girls anywhere from 4 to 15 years old.
    
    Slippery slopes have two sides, least you see only one side
    the other becomes a cliff.
    - LouiseCA
      
      Slippery slopes? God was on a slippery slope when He directed the Israelites to circumsize their boys thousands of years ago, and now brilliant modern man has decided He didn't know what He was talking about, I guess. Please.
      - http://www.facebook.com/richard.olson.5832 Richard Olson
        
        You hate modern science when it threatens your believes and
        you hate GOD, got it.
        
        Let’s just throw away or better yet burn reading material
        and research material that LouiseCa and company find too damaging to mental
        health.
      - UF Gator
        
        key words: mental health
  - LouiseCA
    
    God is the One Who instructed His people to perform circumcision. He had distinct reasons for it. He give precise directions as to the exact day it should be done. There are medical reasons for this. You don't know what you are talking about.
    - http://www.PoemsAndReflectionsConstantineIvanov.com Constantine Ivanov
      
      In the Old Testament (aka Torah), God also ordained animal sacrifices.
      If you so ardently follow God's word, why don't you sacrifice animals? Or you do?
      
      I bet you don't obey many things God ordained.
      I bet no one Jew in Israel (real Israelite) pays the tithe to the Livites and ONLY to the Livites today, even though it is strictly ordained.
      
      As for medical reasons, only 2% of males are circumcised in the entire world, and 9/10 of them are in America.
      So, if to believe you, 98% of the world population are idiots who don't know what their [medical] happiness is?
      
      In 1949, Douglas Gairdner published the result of thorough studies that proved the lack of medical justification for circumcision.
      S/He who wants to study this issue, will do it with open mind, eyes and brain.
      S/He who doesn't want, won't. That's simple.
      Blindness may be convenient, but I prefer the light.
      I am afraid that it's you who "don't know what you are talking about."
aceituna

Circumcism is a personal choice. Read 1st Corinthians chapter 6, read the whole book. It is neither commanded or condemned.
- http://www.PoemsAndReflectionsConstantineIvanov.com Constantine Ivanov
  
  "Circumcism is a personal choice"??????
  Whose? A baby of a few days of age?
  Or fanatical parents who want to impose on a helpless baby their own vanity and fanaticism?
  - LouiseCA
    
    Oh, stop with the "fanatical parents" garbage, would you? You don't even know what you're talking about.
    I know thousands of men and boys and I would bet that 99% of them were circumsized and I have never heard of a single one of them having health issues because of it. On the contrary, I have heard of instances where a few who were not, did have problems.
    So, hush up, already.
    - http://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.dixon.509 Jeffrey Dixon
      
      Conditions, Behaviors, and Diseases Physicians Have Claimed Circumcision Will Prevent or Cure(Partial List)
      Asthma
      
      Bladder inflammation
      
      Blindness
      
      Cancer of the cervix
      
      Cancer of the penis
      
      Cancer of the prostate
      
      Clubfoot
      
      Clumsiness
      
      Compulsion to rape
      
      Constant crying
      
      Convulsions
      
      Criminal behavior
      
      Deafness
      
      Diabetes
      
      Diarrhea
      
      Divorce
      
      Dumbness
      
      Epilepsy
      
      Excessive saliva
      
      Frequent urination
      
      Gangrene
      
      Gonorrhea
      
      Hernia
      
      Herpes
      
      HIV/AIDS
      
      Hives
      
      Homosexuality
      
      Idiocy
      
      Impotence
      
      Indigestion
      
      Irritability
      
      Marital unhappiness
      
      Masturbation
      
      Mental disease
      
      Nervousness
      
      Nightmares
      
      Nose picking
      
      Oversensitive penis
      
      Paralysis
      
      Passion
      
      Promiscuity
      
      Restlessness
      
      Urine retention
      
      Sexual appetite
      
      Spinal curvature
      
      Swollen feet
      
      Syphilis
      
      Tuberculosis
      
      Urinary tract infections
      
      Wet dreams
      
      Are these all honest mistakes, or the biggest medical fraud in history perpetrated by circumcised men with a compulsion to have done to others what was done to them?
      - UF Gator
        
        absurdity has no bounds
    - http://www.PoemsAndReflectionsConstantineIvanov.com Constantine Ivanov
      
      1. "I know thousands of men and boys and I would bet that 99% of them were circumsized" – this phrase (not the misspelled word "circumcised") seems to be either a huge exaggeration or simply an irresponsible lie: a) one ordinary person hardly knows "THOUSANDS of men and boys"; b) therefore, you cannot "bet that 99% of them were" circumcised unless you were conducting a professional research, which is unlikely in your particular case.
      All this your utterance seems to be a simple B.S.
      
      2. Lack of medical justification for circumcision, which has been asserted by Douglas Gairdner already in 1949, does not mean necessarily "having health issues". You simply distort what I said on that particular issue in a dishonest attempt to "adjust" your arguments. Such a practice never benefits any discussion.
      
      3. Your personal experience ("I know…", "I have never heard", "I have heard") cannot be accepted as an irrefutable argument in a discussion simply because every single example you bring up can easily be opposed by a polar argument (almost like many verses in the Bible: "tooth for tooth" against "turn the other cheek", for instance.)
      
      So, I am afraid, it's you who "don't even know what you're talking about"
http://www.PoemsAndReflectionsConstantineIvanov.com Constantine Ivanov

@@ Jeff Dixon and Richard Olson:
You've probably noticed that as soon as you (and me, of course) say anything against their beliefs, we automatically get a few "downs" and vice versa – everything supporting their beliefs gets "ups."
Any open-minded discussion is out of question. Boring. Dark. Stinks.
I quit.
I always supported Christianity and Judaism. But the more I meat stubbornness and "blinkerness", the less I am willing to spend the rest of my life in attempts to converse with them freely.
I'm going to unsubscribe from this Zionica site.
Good luck, if you stay.
UF Gator

Psychological and emotional consequences

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_analysis_of_circumcision#United_States

… Goldman (1999) discussed the possible trauma of circumcision on children and parents, anxieties over the circumcised state… and suggested a need on the part of circumcised doctors to find medical justifications for the procedure.[94] Boyle et al. (2002) state that circumcision may result in psychological harm, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), citing a study that shows an incidence rate of PTSD (measured according to DSM-IV) of almost 70% among Filipino boys subjected to ritual circumcision, and 51% among boys subjected to medical circumcision (with local anaesthetic).[95] Hirji et al. (2005) state that "Reports of [...] psychological trauma are not borne out in studies but remain as an anecdotal cause for concern."[96] The British Medical Association (2006) stated that the "medical harms or benefits have not been unequivocally proven," and that "[...] it is now widely accepted, including by the BMA, that this surgical procedure has medical and psychological risks."[13] Some organizations have formed support groups for men who are resentful about being circumcised.[1]
http://profile.yahoo.com/ORPWDZFSM62U2DGOMKZREDYJ2I Terrie

My daughter was married to an uncircumcised man and had many problems with vaginal infections and such. He had an affair and she left him and just had her first baby with her second husband who is circumcised, and has had no problems these two years with him. Just stating my two cents.