Please critique my letter (long)

[AutumnMama]

Here is a draft of a letter I am writing to my friend who is due to have her baby boy next month...I think I might use it as a template for sending to other moms too.
I am including Dr Fleiss' "The Case Against Circ." and also "Protect Your Uncirc'd Son"

I might end up deleting/editing this post after I send it to her, cause I told her to come here and look around
Let me know what you all think...thanks a bunch!!

Dear _____,

First of all, I want to congratulate you on your precious little one who will soon be joining us!
Secondly, I wanted to share some information that was given to me when I was pregnant with Gabriel regarding circumcision.
I feel that every mother has a right to know all the facts about her baby's care, and a responsibility to make a truly informed and educated decision based on those facts.
What Ben and I have learned has absolutely changed our mindset regarding this subject.

I know that I had never questioned that we would be circumcising any and all sons that we would have. I took it for granted that it was a medically sound decision, and it never entered my mind that not doing it was even an option for us!
Of course I also believed that it was God's idea in the first place, so there can't be anything wrong with it.
Right?

What I found during my research has suprised, shocked, and disturbed me.

I found that, while most of the people I knew had circumcised their babies, not one major medical association currently recommends doing so.
In fact, most of them very strongly recommend against the surgery!
(I now know a great many young mothers that have chosen not to have this procedure done.)

Statistics show that circumcision rates in the U.S. have been dropping rapidly. In 1980 the rates were 90+%, they are now approx. 50% (with the western part of the U.S. being under 37%!).

This is happening because parents are making a point to do research on their own, and finding that this surgery is not in the best interest of their babies.

America is the only country in the world that routinely performs this unnecessary operation on our newborn sons.
That means that over 85% of the world's males are intact (not circumcised).

An intact penis is much easier to keep clean. There really is nothing to it...trust me, cleaning a little girl's poopy diaper is much more complicated! With Gabe all we have to do is wipe over his penis like you would wipe your finger clean.
Once they are older and the foreskin is retractable (which can happen anywhere from toddlerhood all the way till the end of puberty) all that is required is to pull back, rinse, replace.
Any more (soap, scrubbing, etc) can actually cause problems such as infections. If you are told differently-- even by Doctors-- please, don't pay attention!

As far as circumcision and the Bible is concerned, I discovered that what God instituted in the Old Testament is truly nowhere near what is done today.

God commanded Abraham to take just the tip of the foreskin (the original text uses 2 words: Namal, (this is the word God used with Abraham when He first instituted the ritual) which means "clipped" like the tips of the fingernails or ends of the hair are clipped; and Muwl, which is defined as "to curtail, to blunt, to cut shorter" The Hebrew language has words for "cut off" and "remove" which are entirely different from these words).

Doctors today take the entire organ--not a simple task, as it is fused to the glans (head of the penis) during infancy and childhood--much like our fingernail is attached to our finger!

No wonder Dr. Spock (who was once very insistant in his belief of the 'benefits of circumcision') states now:
"If parents knew what was involved with this procedure, they would never consent!"
Also,
"If I had the good fortune of having another baby boy, I would leave his little penis alone!"

God never ordained that the foreskin, or any other part of the human body, should be amputated unless it became diseased.

The ritual of circumcision virtually disappeared among Christ's followers after the resurection (with Paul vehemently speaking against men who would continue the practice), the same way that animal sacrifices did.

Modern circumcision began in America in the 1800's (for non-medical reasons), as you will read in one of the articles I have included. And continues today as a matter of outdated predjudices and tradition.

It is not an easy thing to realise that we will never be able to experience intimacy the way God intended, but thanks to the information that is out there, our son and his future wife someday will.

It may be difficult to 'go aginst the flow', especially if you have misinformed friends, relatives, and even physicians (no matter how well-intentioned they may be!).
But we have a responsibility to do what is best for our children, and what is best may not nesarily be what has "always been done".

I hope this information will help lead you in making a decision that is right for your son (both now in infancy, and later in adulthood), and his future wife--should the Lord tarry.


Of course if you should have any questions I hope you will feel free to ask me (there are no silly question in my opinion!).
I know that I had TONS starting out, but having put in literally hundreds of hours of research, I think I have pretty much covered it all!

Just know that I will be praying for both of you, and we love you very much.
Having a son is such a joyful experience!

God Bless all of you!



P.S. Here are a few websites that I found helpful:
www.cirp.org
www.circumcision.org
www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org
www.mothering.com/discussions (This is a wonderful discussion board that has a forum dedicated to circumcision information...it's about halfway down the page.)

I believe on the CIRP website there are some links to illustrations of intact penis'(among many other things!). I appreciated those because I wanted to know what 'things' would look like without actually having to look at photographs(of course, there are links to those as well ).

[KellyB]

Very good. You're a lot more mellow than me, though. I tend to think in terms of "sexual mutilation" and "excruciating pain"...but you're way is probably better...lol...I've become a little fanatical as of late...

[nicandboys]

Could I ask you to link me to a specific source that backs up what you said here:
Statistics show that circumcision rates in the U.S. have been dropping rapidly. In 1980 the rates were 90+%, they are now approx. 50% (with the western part of the U.S. being under 37%!).


Not that I don't believe you , but because I am in the process of writing a letter to my extremely uninformed, former, pediatrician. And I would like to include that statistic as part of why it would be a good idea to educate himself about this, because he might encounter more and more intact penises. I need specific sources for everything I say in my letter though.

Thanks!

[LadyWulf]

Very well written. I can't discuss circ without getting venomous though so you have done much better than i have. I tend to get too emotional and accusatory.

[Frankly Speaking]

Nicole:

Here's a link to the circumcision rate statistics:

http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/bollinger2003/



Frank

[hummingbear]

Yup, good letter. Like others here, I too have come to view circumcision as a form of genital mutilation; if you friend comes here to browse she might need to know that strong opinions are posted. I like the article "Seperated at Birth" from the following link http://www.whackamohel.com/

Originally Posted by GenevievesMama

Of course if you should have any questions I hope you will feel free to ask me (there is no silly question in my opinion!).
I know that I had a TONS starting out, but having put in literally hundreds of hours of research, I think I have pretty much covered it all!

Would that read better if it said "a TON" or "TONS"?

Good Luck

[MonicaS]

I think that's a great letter. It is calm and hits on a lot of good points.

I'm so not picking on anyone, I've just been noticing this a lot lately. The plural for penis is penes or penises.

[Sarah]

Hannah- I think you did a great job with your letter. I have two criticisms, but they are my own opinions, and not really faults with your letter.

1. The part about the original circumcision being less severe- unless she is Jewish, I really don't think that is relevant- what is relevant is that the promises of the old covenant were replaced when Jesus died. Through his death we have been promised something much greater. (read Hebrews 8)

By getting involved with the question of this change in the technique- you are asking her to believe something which is not clearly documented in the bible and is not something you can proove. If she doubts this, then your whole point goes down the drain... and the fact is- the stuff that you can easily proove with the bible- stands on it's own- regardless of the technique of the original circumcision.... even if it was the same as the hospital circumcisions- you can not honor the new covenant while at the same time honoring an obsolete and surpassed covenant. If the new covenant is worth ANYTHING... the old one is worth NOTHING.

My second critique is in the idea that circumcision was started in the USA for non-medical reasons. I do not agree... perhaps in our CURRENT medical understanding we know that this was JUNK SCIENCE... but back then... masturbation was a serious health threat... which could cause all sorts of serious health problems... advancing circumcision for the intent of sexual damage- WAS A MEDICAL REASON... and it was advanced by Doctors!! The point is, circumcision was NOT cultural and it was not ritual... when it got it's toe hold in this culture- it was being advanced as science... it was done in hospitals without parental involvement, the push came from Doctors, not parents. All those original reasons have been disposed of and traded in for new reasons... the disease of the decade. A link to the historic medical quotes at circumcisionquotes.com would be great to make this point.

Love Sarah

[nicandboys]

Thanks for the link Frank.