[kldliam]

from humanity over MGM. How do you cope?

 

[LavenderMae]

It's so hard. I'm not sure I do cope really.

: It does help discussing it with like minded people, people who see circ as the abuse it is.

 

[ThreeBeans]

I withdraw.

A friend is expecting her baby boy next month. I know something needs to be said but I just ...am so tired.....

:

 

[carriebft]

Straight up: sometimes I don't. Sometimes it's impossible, and, for all the good that the internet has done on this subject, it has also lead me to see conversations about circumcision that have made me so angry I have wanted to break things.

I feel sick walking down the street sometimes thinking about how the people passing me may have had their sons mutilated. I think about how these people walking around me may have had their sons strapped down to a plastic board, genitals presented, and had their penises skinned.

The best I can do is try hard to make sure the percentages go down. Only when we hit 0 will these feelings stop, at least for me.

I don't want this post to sound completely pessimistic...but this is how i feel sometimes.

 

[Quirky]

You know, quite honestly, I see so much evil in the world, just from reading the papers....war, terrorism, sexual violence, violence against children, slavery, stupid economic policies that punish the poor and reward the rich, environmental destruction.....it just makes me realize that circumcision is part of a whole suite of bad things that people do to other people for no freakin' reason. Not that it makes me feel any better about circ, but it puts it in context of the fact that in many ways we're not a particularly nice species overall.

I guess one of the things that keeps me going on intactivism is that it's an area where I do feel like I can make a difference. Yes, it may be one baby at a time but there's a huge ripple effect. There's so much else in the world that's so freakin' awful and I can't do a dang thing about it, but at least I can save a few babies from circ.

 

[bluetoes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quirky I guess one of the things that keeps me going on intactivism is that it's an area where I do feel like I can make a difference. Yes, it may be one baby at a time but there's a huge ripple effect. There's so much else in the world that's so freakin' awful and I can't do a dang thing about it, but at least I can save a few babies from circ.

That's how I feel. I can't stop war or poverty by a long shot, but it is a possibility I can have an influence a friend to not chop up her baby's winkie. Or not, but at least I can try. I am the same way in the volunteer work I do with animals. It's overwhelming thinking I can't save them all, but one at at a time is how I view it. Like the starfish thing - I can't save them all, but to that one I made a difference.

 

[kldliam]

thanks for all of your replies. I failed to convince my own brother yesterday. Gave him all the great articles, the DVD, etc... He said i was "too dramatic". It seems to hurt more when it is a family member. I prefer failing with strangers.

Quirky, I also feel like I can make a difference in the life of a child by being an Intactivist. But yesterday I failed a child that was particularly important to me.

I also feel that I am powerless over so much evil in this world. I've zeroed in on MGM because it is the first form of cruelty that we engage in with each other. Why not start at the beginning?

I feel sick and tired of humanity. Maybe if I think of us as the animals that we are, it might help me more.

:

 

[incorrigible]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeBeans I withdraw.

:

 

[A&A]

I try to focus on the positive: five little boys, including my own son, are intact because of me.

 

[Quirky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kldliam thanks for all of your replies. I failed to convince my own brother yesterday. Gave him all the great articles, the DVD, etc... He said i was "too dramatic". It seems to hurt more when it is a family member. I prefer failing with strangers. Quirky, I also feel like I can make a difference in the life of a child by being an Intactivist. But yesterday I failed a child that was particularly important to me. I also feel that I am powerless over so much evil in this world. I've zeroed in on MGM because it is the first form of cruelty that we engage in with each other. Why not start at the beginning? I feel sick and tired of humanity. Maybe if I think of us as the animals that we are, it might help me more. :

You know, I don't know why it is, but I have met/heard of a number of intactivists who failed to save the boys in their families. Sometimes family dynamics can really bite at the wrong time. But you're certainly not alone on this front -- circumcision has torn a huge hole in my family that I'm not sure will ever be adequately mended.

I'm having a very depressed day myself, based on some conversations elsewhere.

Sometimes I just want to quit the fight altogether, but I seem to be unable to stay away.

 

[TigerTail]

I'm sorry. I try to be more bonobo & less chimp, and it helps me feel like there's hope.

 

[kldliam]

Quote:

Quirky: Sometimes I just want to quit the fight altogether, but I seem to be unable to stay away.

yes. i feel the same way too. Thanks for your kind words. I am sorry you are having a lousy day.

 

[kldliam]

Quote:

TigerTail: I'm sorry. I try to be more bonobo & less chimp, and it helps me feel like there's hope.

??

 

[kldliam]

Quote:

Tiger Tail I try to be more bonobo & less chimp, and it helps me feel like there's hope.

Thank goodness for the online dictionary!

 

[A&A]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kldliam thanks for all of your replies. I failed to convince my own brother yesterday. Gave him all the great articles, the DVD, etc... He said i was "too dramatic". It seems to hurt more when it is a family member. I prefer failing with strangers. Quirky, I also feel like I can make a difference in the life of a child by being an Intactivist. But yesterday I failed a child that was particularly important to me.

I know what you mean. My brother circ'd his son three years ago (and it was right before my birthday, which made it feel even worse.) I sat down and cried and cried and cried.

I still love my brother, but I've lost a lot of respect for him. I don't feel nearly as close to him as I did. It took me a solid year to get over my hatred, actually.

Have your shown your brother the Penn & Teller video? (If he won't get offended by the language.)

 

[TigerTail]

sorry, didn't mean to be obtuse- riffing off quirky's animal observations. yes, sometimes we are not a very nice species. we don't usually eat babies, at least (even if oprah rubs their amputated foreskins on her face).

chimps are mean mofos. i'd much rather live the bonobo life

.