Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year
Today is Andrew Sullivan's least favorite holy day, the Bris Milah of Jesus, known by us gentiles as the Feast of the Circumcision. The modern world is put off by circumcision, however, so now we tend to devote January 1 to the Solemnity of Mary. (This year, it also happens to be the Feast of the Holy Family - a triple header!)

Christ's circumcision was done within a religious and cultural context, but most Americans have theirs performed within a medical and cultural context. The current consensus is that we suspect there are health benefits to the procedure, but we can't prove it, so we leave the decision entirely to the parents, who more often than not base their decisions on cultural grounds. If the men in the family are circumcised, they tend to go with circumcision.

How it all got started to begin with is anyone's guess.

 

1 Comments:

well, there are pretty good studies that circumcision in Africa decreases HIV transmission...
And after seeing all the problems with uncircumcized males during my time working in Africa, (phimosis, paraphimosis, balanitis, cancer) one can see it has advantages, especially in dry climates where dust gets in tender areas...
Ironically, here in the Philippines, they use a dorsal slit, done at puberty...

By  Nancy Reyes, at 10:38 PM  

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