(prepuce) from the penis
. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin
(meaning "around") and (meaning "to cut").
Early depictions of circumcision are found in cave painting
s and Ancient Egypt
ian tomb
s, though some pictures are open to interpretation. Religious male circumcision is considered a commandment from God
in Judaism
. In Islam
, though not discussed in the Qur'an
, male circumcision is widely practised and most often considered to be a sunnah
.
"Circumcising a baby boy to protect against STDs is like selling your car to make sure he's never injured in a crash." ~ Dr Schwanz, Men's Health, July/August 2002
"Male circumcision provides a degree of protection against acquiring HIV infection, equivalent to what a vaccine of high efficacy would have achieved. Male circumcision may provide an important way of reducing the spread of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa." - Dr Auvert, et al, PLoS Medicine, November 2005
"To cut off the uppermost skin of the secret parts is directly against the honesty of nature, and an injurious insufferable trick put upon her." ~ Dr John Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis, man transform'd, or the artificial changeling (London 1650), p. 213
"Despite overwhelming evidence from urological surgeons that neoplasm of the penis is a lethal disease that can be prevented by removal of the foreskin, some physicians continue to argue against routine circumcision in a highly emotional and aggressive fashion." - Dr Dagher, Journal of Urology, 1973
"Why is the operation of circumcision practiced? One might as well attempt to explain the rites of voodoo!" ~ William Keith C. Morgan, MD The Rape of the Phallus, 1967
"In an apparent effort to bolster the weak anticircumcision argument, 2 anecdotal beliefs are added to the listed reasons not to choose circumcision: the "protective benefit" of the foreskin on the tip of the penis and the belief that circumcision causes decreased sexual pleasure later in life. Neither of these anecdotal beliefs meets the stated criterion of being evidence-based." - Dr Schoen, et al, Pediatrics, 2000
"Circumcision is a solution looking for a problem. The medical profession bears responsibility for the introduction of prophylactic circumcision without scientific basis in the past and for its continued use and rationalization without scientific basis in the present. ~ Edward Wallerstein, Circumcision: An American Health Fallacy, 1980
"The multiple benefits of newborn circumcision are additive over a lifetime and include prevention of cancer of the penis, of balanoposthitis, and protection against the effects of phimosis and poor hygiene as well as prevention of UTI and STD, particularly of HIV." - Dr Schoen, et al, Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 1997
"Circumcised males do not benefit from their circumcision but instead only suffer pain and permanent disfigurement of their genitalia." ~ Thomas Bartman, MD, PHD Division of Neonatology University of California, San Francisco Pediatrics, Evanston, Jan 2001, Vol. 107:1, p 210