You couldn't pay me enough money to induce me to argue about circumcision on the Internet. There's plenty of fodder to be found in the mommy Internet wars in any online search. I prefer to keep my friends. :-)

Is this all we have to talk about on Gwinnett Patch ?... disappointing......

No Cowboy, you have plenty of other issues to weigh in on - particularly as it comes to politics - such as http://loganville.patch.com/articles/are-you-better-off-than-you-were-4-years-ago-0c82b45b. I thought it might be good to vary it a little for those who might have political burn out (I believe I'm one right now) and believe it or not, this is one topic that often gets people really fired up. However, we would love to start a discussion that might be of interest to you and the rest of our readers. What would you suggest? You can comment here or you can email me your suggestion at sharon.swanepoel@patch.com. There will be plenty more red meat next week when the DNC gets under way.

Hey Sharon, I hope there was no pun intended in that last line. : )

Nope, Larry, no pun intended. :)

Reminds me of a funny story.... http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+34&version=NIV

I have to admit, this is not the direction I expected this conversation to trend. :)

Brian, are you making a statement on the nature of Bible stories - thus, saying that many people circumcise because "it's Biblical?" That's what I was told by my ex when I chose not to circumcise my son, now 9. Why on Earth would anyone quote Fox News?

We're equal opportunity quoters here Athens Mama. I get picked on by one side when I quote from Huffington Post and by the other when I quote from Fox News. It makes me feel like I'm doing my job. :)

Come to think of it, why is this topic always relegated to mommy blogs? Women don't understand our plumbing any better than we do theirs. If you want to know if circumcision is a good idea, ask any man over 50. There are some very good reasons that I'm glad I've been clipped.

Medical ethics requires doctors to use effective, non-invasive methods of prevention and treatment first, before they use surgery. Because there are effective, non-invasive ways to prevent and treat problems related to a male's foreskin, it is unethical and inappropriate for a doctor to circumcise a healthy boy.

The idea that male circumcision has medical benefits is based on the false cultural belief that a normal, intact foreskin has no value or function. People in cultures that cut the genitals of children devalue the parts they cut off.

They brand men like a herd of cows. American men are such wimps to let their sons be subjected to this absurd surgery. If it were women tied down & cut, the Feminists would be howling all over the world. The male genitals are a cheap commodity. There is no argument too absurd for the circumcisers. They insult the appearance of the intact penis, claim that circumcision heals everything from body warts to HIV, and draw an illogical distinction between female & male genitals. Circumcision is the mark of a slave, not a free man.

Top Ten Tortures Less Painful Than Circumcision

10. Get knocked out by Mohammed Ali.
9. Pull out your fingernails.
8. Eat a pile of steaming bear phooey.
7. Skin yourself alive.
6. Fall into a vat of molten iron.
5. Get run over by a train.
4. Go through a sausage grinder.
3. Saw off your legs.
2. Poke out your eyes.
1. Go To Hell

~Dick-Scalper

I think this is a very personal decision. All parents must do their best on this one. In regards to HIV and other STDs, I have to say I think it is just slightly strange to suggest I cut off the tip of my son's penis in case he puts himself at risk for sexual disease later. Maybe he will just have a couple of long-term relationships, or maybe even just one? Maybe they'll both be virgins, maybe they'll get tested before they have sex.

You ever notice some people write things in a blog just to see it on the internet and never write anything that adds value to the subject matter?

Having had sons and grandsons I agree it is a personal decision and is one I've heard debated by the respective parents in a very serious way. In fact, sometimes it has proved to be quite a point of contention. In my experience, fathers like the whole, "like father like son" issue and if a mother has a different opinion, it often takes some compromising and seriously looking at the issues involved.

I went to China a few years ago and learned about female genital mutilation--which I was strongly against so when I had a son, I read up on circumcision at circ.com and actually viewed one. After reading the history, and the lack of medical studies that proved it reduced cancer, and then watching one via youtube, etc., my response was "over my dead body." From what I read, all the medical advantages can be obtained by using soap and water. Turns out my brothers were not circumcised either and have had no issues that I am aware of. I'll have to check out the American Society of Pediatrics site. I find it hard to believe that they would endorse this barbaric procedure. Some doctors refuse to do them.

Here's an excerpt from lower in the document...seems the studies were in Africa where HIV is rampant...

"Two studies have found that circumcision actually increases the risk of H.I.V. infection among sexually active men and women, the academy noted.

Other studies have linked male circumcision to lower rates of infection with human papillomavirus and herpes simplex Type 2. But male circumcision is not associated with lower rates of gonorrhea or chlamydia, and evidence for protection against syphilis is weak, the review said.

The procedure has long been recognized to lower urinary tract infections early in life and reduce the incidence of penile cancer.

Although newborn male circumcision is generally believed to be relatively safe, deaths are not unheard of, and the review noted that “the true incidence of complications after newborn circumcision is unknown.”

Significant complications are believed to occur in approximately one in 500 procedures. Botched operations can result in damage or even amputation of parts of the penis, and by one estimate about 117 boys die each year.

Anesthesia is often not used, and the task force recommended that pain relief, including penile nerve blocks, be used regularly, a change that may raise the rate of complications."

so there is some lowering of risk due to penile cancer and UTIs...didn't say how much.

Most folks I know did it cuz the dad's was done...but if dad had his nose cut off, would you cut off your son's nose?

Hate to say this guys, but there are a lot out there that do not take care of sanitary actions[washing..ie]. Okay, me hetro, but in locker rooms you can smell, and I have bad sinus, if someone doesn't wash. And it comes from men without circumcision. I say have it done in hospital at birth.

I think it all begins at home. I have always taught my son, don't forget to pull your skin back - when taking a bath. Keep it clean or it could get infected. If you teach them that over and over, then they do it independently. He's 9 now and has never had a problem.

I wasn't and have NO problems