Chase
From the beginning, we Christians have striven to shine as lights in the world. We "seek first the kingdom" not only by preaching the Gospel and pursuing holiness but also by helping plague victims. By opening schools. By building orphanages and hospitals.
We rescue captives. We take in the homeless. We show sinners forgiveness and love.
But too many times in history, we Christians have, under cultural pressure, been sadly silent.
This is one of the reasons I love following Christian blogs. From Tim Challies, the writers at The Gospel Coalition, and Albert Mohler and Russell Moore on current events, to Patheos blogs and writers like Rachel Held Evans and David Bentley Hart, I enjoy reading various Christian perspectives on everything under the sun. Certainly I can’t agree with everything in such a diverse spectrum of blogs, but each writer frequently challenges my assumptions.
But when a highly-publicized case dragged on for months, a case involving parental strife, threats, abuse, coercion, and misuse of power, I expected at least some Christian bloggers to mention it. Many may not have heard about it yet, but surely someone will say something. Any day now.
Before I address the 7 reasons I think Christians who have heard about this case have remained silent, here’s a quick scoop on the case itself. I only know some of the people involved in this case personally, not all, and this is admittedly only a quick sketch, but details lacking here are readily available online.
Heather and a younger Chase.
In the state of Florida, a young boy of almost five was taken from his mother and handed over into the custody of his father, an allegedly abusive man with a considerable criminal record. This man had no part in his son’s life until this fiasco – the parents were never married and separated soon afterward – but he has now been handed complete control over the boy's life.
This at the order of a judge whose actions have been condemned as biased, insensitive, and coercive. The reason for the transfer of custody? The mother, Heather, does not want her boy Chase circumcised. Years ago, the parents initially agreed that the father could schedule and pay for a circumcision, but this was not done. Now that Chase is older, Heather’s research into the matter has changed her mind. Despite the years that have passed, Judge Jeffrey Gillen of Florida recently ordered Heather’s arrest and told her that she "would sit in jail until she gave consent.” After Heather finally complied, in handcuffs and tears, the judge nevertheless handed over custody to the boy’s father. The legal battle is still ongoing, but the father meanwhile has permission to arrange Chase’s unnecessary circumcision. Doctors around the state of Florida have recognized that a signature obtained by threatened incarceration does not in any way constitute valid consent. So far, they have refused to perform the amputation. It has been scheduled by the father and cancelled by various doctors several times.
Chase Hironimus, now nearly five years old, understands the surgery, does not need it, and is terrified of it. A very good medical reason would be needed to proceed. But there is no medical reason. A pediatric urologist testified in court that Chase does not need this cut – an amputation of healthy tissue – and that he would not do this to his own son. In fact, Chase’s life is even at risk: he had a seizure the last time he underwent anesthesia. The urologist’s testimony and the serious risk of seizure have been omitted by many major media outlets. And despite these dangers, Judge Gillen has forced Heather’s consent and authorized the suddenly-"caring" father (who has since allegedly injured the boy by forced retraction) to proceed.
Heather, Chase's mother, is forced to sign a consent form for her son's unnecessary circumcision, under threat of incarceration.
Medical and legal professionals have spoken out (e.g. here) – in fact, it is thanks to their protests that doctors have refused to perform the amputation so far. But I would think that when a young child is publicly threatened with a risky, unnecessary, and unwanted body modification, both the Christian Right and the Christian Left would speak up, too.
After all, to varying degrees, one or both sides are concerned about respecting God’s design, protecting children from violence, honoring Christian traditions and principles, pursuing social justice, preventing pain and suffering, protecting those made in the image of God, and encouraging love and grace towards our children.
But even though this issue encompasses all of these, the silence from Christians is deafening. Why?
What is overpowering our commitment to love, justice, mercy, and respect for our Creator's wisdom?Click To TweetThere are at least seven factors I see here – seven reasons we have ignored Chase as well as the broader issue. There may of course be other reasons, and these seven won’t apply to everyone, but they are the reasons I’ve most often encountered. Some of them are so ingrained in the American Christian mindset that readers will wonder how the bold statements just above could possibly apply to an issue involving male circumcision. Hopefully some explanation of each will help.
1) We falsely think circumcision is practiced by Christians.
From the Apostle Paul to the Church Fathers, from Chrysostom to Aquinas, and from Martin Luther to Pope Pius XII, Christians have rejected the practice of circumcision entirely. In fact, they have viewed it as “discontinued” (e.g. Origen, Chrysostom, Aquinas) by Jesus and even “forbidden” for Christians (cf. the Council of Vienne, the Council of Florence). In the Middle Ages, Christians even feared that Muslims would invade and circumcise Christian men and boys – a fear today fulfilled by the forced mutilation performed on Christian men and boys by the Islamic group ISIS.
This at least is one issue that both sides agreed on during the Reformation. For instance, John Calvin argued that Jews should not circumcise, now that Christ has come. And Catholics have said that circumcision is only "morally permissible if ... it prevents a disease that cannot be countered in any other way" (Pope Pius XII, 1952).
Circumcision, like the Old Testament sacrifices, has been made not only unnecessary but also unhealthy and reprehensible by the work of Jesus Christ. Or so Christians believed until pseudo-medicine reintroduced the practice in the 19th-century United Kingdom. Realizing its harm, the UK soon put a stop to it. Virtually all Christians in the world reject circumcision. Only in the United States do a large number of Christians remove God-designed parts from their infant boys.
This is in part thanks to the untenable assumption that God commanded today’s “circumcision” in the Old Testament – so even if it’s not necessary, it at least must be a good thing, right?
2) We think God commanded the modern form of circumcision for the Jews.
This seems like common sense, but it is categorically false. Scholars (including pro-circumcision Jewish scholars) know it, medieval Jews knew it, reference works like The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion know it, and Christians such as Martin Luther knew it. As the dictionary article says, “It was probably in order to prevent the possibility of obliterating the traces of circumcision that the rabbis added to the requirement of cutting the foreskin that of peri’ah (laying bare the glans).”
This peri’ah step, as Luther mentions, is what causes babies the most intense pain. And it is this step that removes the God-designed functions of the foreskin. This step was not a part of the original procedure but was added by rabbis around the year 130 AD to prevent reversal.
Other evidence of this change includes Paul’s mention of reversal by stretching (not very feasible after the modern procedure!) in 1 Corinthians 7:18, the fact that the Samaritans – who were separated from the Jews before the change – never praticed peri’ah (and still do not), the distinction between milah and peri’ah in Jewish documents, and the clear dissimilarity between the cut described in the Old Testament (e.g. Exodus 4:25) and the multi-step, multi-cut process the procedure requires today.
It’s a move befitting the Pharisees to add something to God’s commands in order to keep the people from being able to reverse it. The new procedure removes what in the adult is 15 square inches of tissue, including several complex structures providing significant functions. God never authorized this extensive modern circumcision for any people group at any time. But this simple fact is now rarely known to Americans since it’s not often discussed. In fact, anatomical discussions in general make us uncomfortable.
3) We are scared to talk about anatomy.
We are especially scared of anything that seems strange and foreign. False rumors and implications made in church when we were growing up have led us to believe that God’s design of this body part is naturally filthy, sickly, and in the way. This is nonsense. Modern circumcision in fact removes an intricate complex of structures with multiple functions.
Men who have lived with this design removed cannot imagine how additional structures could improve anything. Meanwhile, men who live as God designed them are unwilling (unless injured by repeated forced retraction by uninformed caregivers) to part with this highly-innervated and highly-specialized set of structures that provides them with protection, comfort, and other benefits. “Cleaner” is a common myth, but if forced retraction is avoided, cleaning intact babies is actually easier, and adult males have no problem keeping clean.
But if God designed something so intricate and useful, why did He command its removal? This was addressed in point #2: He didn’t. Or at least not in the way many Americans assume he did.
4) We think it’s not a big enough issue.
This is perhaps the most common reason I hear from Christians who decline to say anything about this case. We live in a world with ISIS, interracial violence, gay rights issues, economic struggles, debates between pro-life and pro-choice advocates, and innumerable other conflicts. The Charleston shooting has the blogosphere’s attention, as it should. With all of this, who wants another conflict?
But this is already conflict. Conflict that is causing physical, sexual, moral, and psychological harm to the very people we are most called upon to protect – our helpless children. This in addition to a prolonged period of pain (which babies feel, too) and other complications that occur.
Many readers will be surprised that I say “harm” – myths are hard to discard when God’s natural, intricate design falls entirely outside of our experience. As I mentioned above, we are scared of what is foreign. We are scared of what is new. We are scared of what seems to us to be out of the ordinary. And what’s more…
5) We don’t want to feel like we are victims.
We are too scared to think we could be victims of harm or could have caused harm ourselves.Click To TweetThis isn’t an attack on any blogger’s moral character. It’s simply an observation of our default mindset. From crucial Gospel issues – denying we are sinners or that sin is harmful – to everyday mundane issues, this is our normal mode of thinking.
Most of us resist the suggestion that we have been harmed or that we have unintentionally harmed others. And if we admit that five-year-old Chase would be harmed by this circumcision procedure in multiple ways, we risk admitting that we ourselves are harmed – or worse, that we’ve unintentionally harmed our own children.
This also helps us understand why American doctors, many of whom don’t have any knowledge about this intricately designed body part, are sometimes in favor of circumcision. But in this, they stand alone. With access to all of the same medical articles and studies, the majority of doctors stand firmly against circumcision.
6) We have heard that doctors recommend the procedure.
This is easily disproved by a survey of major medical organization statements. Medical organizations in European and other countries are strongly against male circumcision, saying it "can cause complications – bleeding, infection, urethral stricture and panic attacks are particularly common" and "calling upon doctors to actively and insistently inform parents who are considering the procedure of the absence of medical benefits and the danger of complications" (KNMG). The only major organization to be favorable towards infant genital cutting is the American Academy of Pediatrics, whose eight-member Task Force on Circumcision has been called biased and unethical by medical and ethical professionals everywhere. Yet even the AAP stops short of a recommendation.
The overwhelming majority of the world's medical organizations stand firmly against male circumcision.Click To TweetBut even when we learn of the harms of genital cutting from doctors, we are still hesitant to join our Christian brothers and sisters throughout history and around the world and speak out to help Chase. Perhaps there is yet another factor.
7) We don’t want to step on parents’ toes.
Unlike the factors above, which are based on misinformation, this factor makes a lot of sense. Many Christians perceive a continual erosion of parental rights over the past years and decades, and any suggestion that a common parental choice could be the wrong choice is shunned. And even though Chase Hironimus is nearly 5 years old, the suggestion that he should not be subjected to an unnecessary and unwanted amputation of God-designed structures implies that younger children (and even babies) should not be subjected to it, either.
Christians and doctors around the world agree: no, baby boys should not be cut. But even this uncomfortable truth does not stretch beyond the limits of the vocabulary of love. It won’t be easy, but we can advocate change without shaming or attacking those who have made a different decision in the past. We can ask important and uncomfortable questions without failing to love our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. In fact, it is because of love that we must ask these questions.
It’s not too late.
There’s still time. This topic might be uncomfortable, and speaking and writing about it might have some repercussions, but we are called to be the voice for the voiceless and help for the helpless, even at our own expense. Our Lord calls us to do the uncomfortable, the risky, the unpopular, and the compassionate thing.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s not too late.
Let us fight for the helpless. Let us honor Christian mercy and our Creator's design.Click To TweetStart by sharing this post to your favorite social network!
- 2016 Report: Little Images reaches thousands - January 2, 2017
- The most widespread abuse in the American Church - October 26, 2016
- Why are Christians cutting their baby girls? - October 6, 2015
Amy James says
Great job.
Kate Saili says
#3 is a big one. cool website. thanks for addressing this issue!
Pete says
Thanks. Please spread the word. Lord-willing, many others will start addressing it, too!
Britney Farrington says
Crying shame
Anna says
Thank you so, so much for this article!
Jennifer Calandra says
Nonsense!
Vicki Mayefski says
Poor little guy
Lena Taylor says
There is no excuse for this child being taken away from his mother and given to the abusive father, regardless of any religion instead of silencing yourselves u christians should be up in arms over the decision of this judge, shame on you, hows a blog or GOD gonna help this boy the law cant( look at the judges actions) i only hope the doctors keep refusing this surgery!! Disgusting 🙁
Pete says
There is no excuse, you’re right.
But some Christians are in fact “up in arms” and speaking out – it’s just that most Christians (like most non-Christians) are keeping noticeably silent. The purpose of this post is to encourage those of us who have remained silent to speak out.
Lena Taylor says
3 billion christians in the world is there a petition on this injustice??
Roger DesMoulins says
Church bodies and theologians are very selective in the injustices they criticise. No branch of Christianity in North America has deplored the North American fashion of routine infant circumcision. I know of no denomination that has rebuked ministers who preach that circumcision is a virtuous act for Christians. I conclude that Christian denominations and theologians are deeply afraid of being branded as antisemitic by rabbis and B’nai Brith. There is also a growing fear of provoking conflict with Moslems. Finally, most polite educated people are made very uncomfortable by a conversation focused on the most sexual part of the male body, the tip of the penis.
Matt Enrico Joseph says
http://www.catholicdoors.com/faq/qu340.htm
Renita Hoblit says
We are getting scarily close to loosing our freedom of making our own decisions..
roger desmoulins says
Please understand that giving parents the “freedom” to decide how a son’s penis shall look and function, takes that same freedom away from the man their son will grow up to be.
I simply do not believe that parents have a right to alter, irreversibly, how their son’s and the future spouses thereof, will experience intimacy.
Helena Yablon Leffingwell says
Whoever wrote this article is extremely ignorant!!!!! Circumcision done the right, biblical way (at 8 days for all uniformed people of this post) is healthy and prevents disease.
It should be “little minds. Org”! Not “little images”! Smh!
Real Christians have way bigger fish to fry then this
Pete says
Dear Helena,
This article refers to many sources: Christian authors, Jewish sources, doctors, scholars, historians, etc. It is well-researched and worth reading. But do you have any sources for the common myths (“biblical” and “healthy”) you’re repeating here? I address these directly in the article (see points 1 and 2 and point 6). For more sources, see https://www.littleimages.org/origin
Sylvia RN MSN NP-C says
Helena, it appears that you are the completely uneducated on on biblical circumcision. Biblical circumcision removed hardly any part of the prepuce (foreskin). The modern version (complete removal) was not invented until years after Christ’s death, and would have resulted in much higher death rate/infections. None of the Biblical patriarchs were cut in the modern version.
Also, God created us in His image, and said that his creation is good! We as Christians should NOT be practicing Old Covenant commands- such as stoning of rebellious children or performing animal sacrifices. God gets no glory out of these. Under the New Covenant, Christ’s blood and our baptism are the sign that we are in covenant with God. Paul even warns to watch out for “evil dogs who mutilate the flesh” (In Philippians). Pretty strong words against those who encourage circumcision.
God did NOT design the human body with any mistakes. He designed our bodies, EVERY PART, perfectly, with purpose and function. It makes NO sense to cut a healthy body part off.
I encourage you to do more reading. Most Christians in America are sadly misinformed about circumcision. Circumcision is NOT recommended by world health authorities, and MOST of the world’s men are happily intact!
http://www.drmomma.org/2010/07/biblical-circumcision-information.html
http://domesticgeekgirl.com/faith-2/christian-parents-circumcise-infant-sons/
http://www.circumcision.org/studies.htm
Sylvia RN MSN NP-C says
By the way, cutting off healthy functional tissue is NOT “healthy and prevents disease”. Women get breast cancer at a rate of 1 in 8. Men get penile cancer at a rate of 1 in 100,000! The USA has the highest rates of HIV of any industrialized nation, as well as the highest circumcision rate besides Israel. I assure you, men in Europe, Australia, Canada, South America and Asia are NOT walking around with horrible diseases from having their intact bodies!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/moral-landscapes/201109/more-circumcision-myths-you-may-believe-hygiene-and-stds
Hans Castorp says
Helena: As discussed in the blog post, the “biblical way” did not include laying bare the glans as is currently practiced.
The last I looked, there was an entire aisle in my local supermarket devoted to feminine hygiene with no male equivalent. So perhaps we really should be cutting girls instead of boys? Hygiene is often cited as a reason for female genital cutting in societies that practice it.
Jennifer Calandra says
Helena, Is name calling part of your religion? If your going to preach Christianity why not act like it too? Just Sayin.
Jennifer Calandra says
Also did you happen to see the website? I saw there is an entire section about girls whos genitals are mutilated. Is that not on your agenda as a christian? You may not share the same opinion as the author but resulting to name calling isnt apart of the Christianty that I live. 🙂
Lena Taylor says
Helena in the name of your religion and god have u had any of your body parts or excess skin removed i presume not u babble utter rubbish! This is a child u fool who has no say or choice in what happens to him geta life and pray to god for your stupid comment!
Greg Cook says
Maybe so many people are silent because it’s not that big of a deal. Of course Christians love the smallest of issues concerning Christian persecution, it gives them something to bond over. I was circumsized and I’m fine. Many bigger problems going on than A little boys custody battle. “Amputation” seriously it’s like 1 inch of foreskin. Smh.
littleimages says
And maybe they’re silent because they believe that. What’s removed nowadays becomes, in the adult, roughly 15 square inches of tissue (about the area of the face of an iPhone 6) when unfolded, and that includes a tendon-like structure, an elastic ridged band, mucosa, smooth muscle, and dense innervation, including fine-touch nerve ending types not even found elsewhere on the body. https://www.littleimages.org/harm
This is a set of complex structures. “Flap” or “fold of skin” is sadly incorrect, and removing this part of God’s design also removes several functions. It’s great that you don’t have any problems that you notice, but many men do.
Sylvia RN MSN NP-C says
It’s not 1 inch of foreskin. It’s 1/2 of penile tissue, with 20,000+ nerve endings. American men sadly don’t even realize what they are missing. I had to witness a circumcision in nursing school and was sick to my stomach because it was horrific. I was literally sick to my stomach.
Also, many boys and men are NOT fine- I work ER and have seen many with complications, bleeding, infections, etc. As well as complications later- skin bridges, desensitized thick skin (why do you think the USA has such high viagra use?!). Baby boys in the rest of the world are NOT having to undergo the trauma that American boys are going through.
Please educate yourself on the issue. If you can watch this entire video, it would be well worth your 30 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceht-3xu84I
JoAnn Brant DeGlopper says
I respect your opinions but I don’t think you should condemn those who choose to have their boys circumcised. I had my baby done at 2 months. Cried for maybe 2 minutes. No problems afterwards.30 yrs old now still never a problem. I’ve known men who didn’t have it done and are so completely embarrassed when with a woman. Maybe right or wrong it’s the parents choice. God will not send us to Hell for having it done to our boys.
Little Images says
If after reading this post you would like to help Heather and Chase in some way beyond spreading the word, please visit the group Fight4Chase (https://www.facebook.com/Fight4Chase).
elizabeth says
well this is the first i have heard of this. and not once, that i saw, was religion a part of why the judge made this idiotic ruling. this never should have been done and hopefully this little boy will not be forced to undergo this type of surgery. at his age, recovery will be much longer and painful. it’s not needed. but, this is mostly an american practice. no other country, that i know of, circumcises like the US does, other than Isreal and those who are Jewish. also, circumcision in america is not really a religious practice, unless you are Jewish. parents, religious and non religious, circumcise b/c that is what is done here in the US. some don’t even know you can opt not to. when i found out i was pregnant with my son i had many discussions before and after his birth on this practice. i say with my friends it’s about 50/50 and our Jewish pediatrician says it’s that way in his practice and he sees Jewish families choosing to not do it. we chose to do what we did based on what we thought was best for our son. not based on an Old Testament religious practice/covenant that pre-dates the death and resurrection.
so why the author is chastising Christians on the lack of uproar over this case is puzzling to me. as i said, i’d never heard of it. i would think that anyone (regardless of religion) would be outraged over this. perhaps the author should be taking this passion to news outlets to get the word out to more people regardless of their religious beliefs instead of alienating christians by blaming them for not taking up the battle cry.
littleimages says
Dear Elizabeth: thanks for writing. Pete isn’t chastising Christians – he’s just wondering why those who hear remain silent. The news outlets have covered this case, but many Christians who hear about it are reluctant to say anything, and it may just be for the reasons he suggests. He’s a Christian himself and doesn’t want to alienate others but encourage them.
In addition, the purpose of Little Images is to perform and publish research specifically for the benefit of the Church. We wouldn’t be very interested in focusing on getting information out to non-Christians. Informing everyone regardless of their religion is a fine goal, but it’s not the purpose of Little Images.
Pamb Strickland says
The new testament condemns circumcision.
For references see here: http://www.circumstitions.com/Xy.html
Susan says
Agree 100% that this is just plain wrong. One suggestion for author however, stop using the word, “Amputation.” Definition of “Amputation,” is removal of a limb, foreskin does not qualify, and use of it seems a bit hystrionic thus damaging credibility IMHO.
Joseph says
Dear Susan,
Thanks for your feedback! I’m curious, though, which definition you referenced. According to Merriam-Webster, amputation is ‘to remove by or as if by cutting’, and then says the official medical definition is “medical : to cut off (part of a person’s body)”. Being that the foreskin is a distinct part of the body, and circumcision either removes it directly via cutting, or, in the case of the Plastibell procedure, causes its removal as if by cutting, I’d say ‘amputation’ fits the bill.
That being said, we at Little Images prefer to stay away from many commonly-used buzzwords that might upset certain readers, especially if they are learning about circumcision for the first time. However, the truth, spoken in a kind way, can help people to see things from a different angle.
Joe
Renita Hoblit says
I should not even engage in this debate because it is so ridiculous!!! God cares about the state our heart is in not whether you are circumcised or not. This makes me so sad and I’m sure it saddens my Jesus. If you are convincted to not circumcise that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean you should push that idea on others. My boys are circumsized and are quite fine. Have suffered no medical conditions. Have not died from it. I think the ones that have died from it must have been strange cases . I can tell you this from a nurses standpoint that when you are in a nursing home and you have old man in there that have not been circumsised it is the nastiest thing because it gets nasty and infected and is very disgusting to keep clean . in no way do I want to put my son in a position where he is old someone has to touch him that intimately to keep him clean. Also I can say from experience that they did not circumsized one of my sons right and it has been nothing but a pain for him. If he doesn’t keep it clean, it gets very sore and causes much pain. I very much regret that we did not go in and have it redone.
Joseph says
Renita, the basis of the argument against Christians circumcising is that it’s a heart issue. If we choose to circumcise our sons for religious reasons, then we are ignoring Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. If we do it for medical reasons, it’s because we’re trusting American culture over truth. If you read some of our articles, or other information available, you’ll find that ONLY in the United States is circumcision performed on boys for ‘medical reasons’. That should tell us something, but many times, we allow culture to speak louder than the Bible.
I understand it can be a tough pill to swallow. LI doesn’t want to make anyone feel bad for having done it without knowing it was wrong. We’re trying to shift the cultural paradigm.
Also, as for the nursing home argument, that only happens in the United States as well. Nurses are taught incorrect information about how to care and clean for the foreskin, and it leads to iatrogenic conditions. The problem lies with education and health policy, not with mens’ bodies.
I’m sorry your son has to deal with side-effects of his circumcision, by the way. A boy’s intact penis is never supposed to be pulled back to clean. Once it is circumcised, though, you have to make sure the tissue doesn’t try to readhere in a desperate attempt to mend itself. On the bright side, he’ll grow into the skin, and it will benefit him as an adult. A lot of boys seem ‘fine’ with their circumcisions until puberty, when too little skin is left from the surgery to accomodate regular erections. I sincerely hope none of your sons experience this, because as someone who had to deal with it, it’s not fun. I wish every day that this irreparable damage had not been done to me.
Renita Hoblit says
I also think it is very unfair of you to add little girls in this. Because the Bible doesn’t talk about little girls being circumsized it talks about boys. We should be on the war to fight for the girls. Because that is just downright wrong and it is not biblical as I said.
Joseph says
We at Little Images believe that all children, both boys and girls, are designed by God and are entitled to bodily rights. FGM is a serious issue affecting millions of girls worldwide. As Christians, we are called to take action against things such as this.
Start here for info on FGM: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/
Furthermore, many Christians practice FGM in countries where it is common, such as Egypt. It is done for the same reasons (all myths) that Americans circumcise their boys. We contend that social conformity is NOT what God intends us to do, especially when it involves genital modification without express consent.
Pete says
Thanks for writing, Renita. After reading each of your comments, it still seems apparent that you haven’t noted point #2 in this post. And we care very much about protecting little girls. That’s one of our two core issues.
Renita Hoblit says
I know of adult men who were uncircumcised and struggled their whole life. They wished that they would have been circumcised and by golly their sons were circumsized.
Hannah Vander Wilt, I didn’t clarify myself about my son. They didn’t cut enough foreskin off leaving him almost uncircumcised. Hence has been our problem..
What pray tell does the cross and circumcision have to do with anything?? The cross had everything to do with abolishing sin!! Nothing more and nothing less.
I knew I should have left this alone. You are very much entitled to you religious beliefs. I’m ok with it. I’m not ok with trying to fforce others to believe as you do. I completely believe that if it’s that important to my Jesus that he will reveal it to me.
Blessings…..
Erin says
Renita, you more than likely know men who were improperly cared for during infancy and childhood which led to their problems. Intact men who are cared for properly meaning their foreskin is never forcibly retracted, no soap is used to clean under the foreskin, and their foreskin was allowed to separate naturally, rarely have problems. Less than 1% of intact men will need to be circumcised when cared for properly. Unfortunately, improper care instructions were given by doctors to forcibly retract the foreskin and clean in infancy years ago. This leads to damage, infection, and pain. Sadly, there are many doctors who still give this terrible advice or forcibly retract babies and young children.
As far as what the cross and circumcision have to do with one another is simply that biblical circumcision was a blood sacrifice that did not actually remove the entire foreskin like today and did leave the glans covered and protected as God intended but Jesus was the ultimate blood sacrifice. No sacrifice has been or ever will be required again. New Testament verses actually tell us not to circumcise, as does every major medical organization in the world.
Hans Castorp says
Renita,
I’m a bit confused.
You say “My boys are circumsized and are quite fine”.
But further down, you add: “Also I can say from experience that they did not circumsized one of my sons right and it has been nothing but a pain for him. If he doesn’t keep it clean, it gets very sore and causes much pain. I very much regret that we did not go in and have it redone.”
Joseph says
Hans, that inconsistency is what I believe is at the root of many Christians’ minds as to why they don’t acknowledge the problem of circumcision- to do so would require them to recognize the damage caused by it, and, in many cases, by the damage that was caused, either directly or indirectly, to one’s own children. Nobody wants to admit that they caused permanent damage to someone they love as absolutely as one loves their own child. Because of this, cognitive dissonance comes in and allows for two completely conflicting ideas to exist- in this case, a) my sons are fine, and b)my son was hurt by this. Read more about this at: http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/cognitive_dissonance.htm
Jenson says
Wow, sure a lot to learn here!
Erin says
Sadly, Chase has been circumcised and during the follow up it was discovered he has cancer. He remains in custody of his father and it cost Heather hundreds of dollars per visit just to see him. The legal issues are still going on. Prayers and an end to silence over injustices done to children are needed.