On May 4, 11:10=A0pm, Craig Stevens <craig_stev...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2006/02/23/news/news02.txt
> "In metzitzah b'peh, a mohel orally sucks blood from the site of the
genit=
al cut he makes
> during the cir***cision procedure."
>
> http://www.jewishcir***cision.org/jnews90.htm
> Jewish News - September, 1990
> Cir***cision: New Information Raises Questions
> By Ronald Goldman
>
> Though many divine laws, rituals, and traditions are ignored by numerous
A=
merican Jews, such as
> observing Shabbat and Kashrut, many Jews have accepted cir***cision
withou=
t subjecting it to
> any intellectual or emotional scrutiny.
>
> There have been several reasons. Many Jewish parents =A0have not
considere=
d cir***cision a choice
> at all. It was expected and not seriously questioned. There was little
awa=
reness or knowledge
> of its effect on the infant. Some parents have had doubts, but they were
b=
uried under the
> avalanche of thoughts related to tradition, history, and fears and
insecur=
ities about
> nonconformance to group practice. Health beliefs may have also played a
ro=
le.
>
> Recent medical re****ts have now caused concern and provoked questions by
s=
ome Jews about this
> ancient practice. In the March, 1988 issue of the Journal of the
American =
Medical Association,
> Howard J. Stang, M.D. and colleagues at Group Health Inc. and the
Universi=
ty of Minnesota
> re****t, "There is no doubt that cir***cisions are painful for the baby.
In=
deed, cir***cision
> has become a model for the analysis of pain and stress responses in the
ne=
wborn. Not only does
> the unanesthetized newborn cry vigorously, tremble, and in some cases
beco=
me mildly cyanotic
> because of prolonged crying, but other stress-related physiological
reacti=
ons have also been
> demonstrated, including dramatic changes in heart and respiratory rates
an=
d in transcutaneous
> oxygen and plasma cortisol levels."
>
> In the November 19, 1987 issue of New England Journal of Medicine, Anand
a=
nd Hickey, in a
> comprehensive review of recent medical literature on newborn pain,
conclud=
e that newborn
> responses to pain are "similar to but greater than those in adult
subjects=
.." Concerning the
> memory of pain in neonates they write, "The persistence of specific
behavi=
oral changes after
> cir***cision in neonates implies the presence of memory. In the short
term=
, these behavioral
> changes may disrupt the adaptation of newborn infants to their postnatal
e=
nvironment, the
> development of parent-infant bonding, and feeding schedules. In the long
t=
erm, painful
> experiences in neonates could possibly lead to psychological sequelae,
sin=
ce several workers
> have shown that newborns may have a much greater capacity for memory
than =
was previously
> thought."
>
> Dr. Richard Schwartzman of Philadelphia and Dr. Charles Konia of Easton,
P=
A help patients
> resolve past traumas. Dr. Schwartzman re****ts, "I have had patients who
ha=
ve re-lived the
> experience as evidenced by the severe pain felt at the site where the
fore=
skin was cut." Dr.
> Konia re****ts, "I can tell you that from my clinical experience in
treatin=
g patients who
> relived their cir***cision as well as observing newborns being
cir***cised=
in the delivery room
> it is a nightmarish experience. I shudder each time I witness patients
goi=
ng through the horror
> (emphasis by Dr. Konia)."
>
> Dr. Thomas Verney has conducted more than twenty years of medical
research=
on prenatal
> experience. In his book The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, Dr. Verney
wr=
ites that the unborn
> child is aware and leads an active emotional life from about the sixth
mon=
th on. "The fetus can
> see, hear, experience, taste and, on a primitive level, even learn in
uter=
o. Most im****tantly,
> he can feel... What a child feels and perceives begins shaping his
attitud=
es and expectations
> about himself." Dr. Verney concludes that parents can actively "help
shape=
the personality of
> their unborn child. They can actively contribute to his happiness and
well=
-being, and not just
> in utero, nor in the years immediately following birth, but for the rest
o=
f his life (emphasis
> by Dr. Verney).
>
> Frederick Leboyer has delivered more than 10,000 babies. In Birth
Without =
Violence he writes
> "People say - and believe - that a newborn baby feels nothing. He feels
ev=
erything. Everything
> - utterly, without choice or filter or discrimination." Dr. Leboyer
found =
that babies born with
> minimal trauma developed into happier and emotionally healthier
children. =
Other studies have
> shown that babies who are touched develop more quickly and gain more
weigh=
t.
>
> The new evidence sup****ts the conclusion that the infant's experience in
t=
he womb, birth
> itself, cir***cision, and contact after birth have a significant impact
on=
future well-being
> and functioning.
>
> <<Does everyone get that point? Is it no wonder so many Jewish males are
n=
eurotic?>>
>
> Jewish cir***cision has nothing to do with health factors. However, some
p=
eople believe it has
> health benefits. In the past routine hospital cir***cision has been
promot=
ed as a preventive
> cure for masturbation, mental illness, venereal disease, cancer, and
uncle=
anliness. Recent
> studies have disproved all of these claims. Edward Wallerstein's book
Circ=
umcision: An American
> Health Fallacy addresses this issue in convincing detail. The incidence
of=
health problems
> related to the foreskin is so low that removing it as a preventive cure
wo=
uld be tantamount to
> performing routine appendectomies to prevent appendicitis. The American
Ac=
ademy of Pediatrics
> and the American College of Obstetrics have concluded "there are no
valid =
medical indications
> for cir***cisions in the neonatal period."
>
> Some Jews believe, without any specific knowledge, that cir***cision
metho=
ds of mohelim are
> superior to those of doctors and cause less pain to the infant.
Actually, =
traditional mohel
> methods such as using sharp fingernails for cutting and sucking blood
from=
the cut by mouth
> have been abandoned in favor of modern clamp devices.
>
> Most mohelim get their training in hospitals and many are also doctors.
Or=
thodox mohelim do not
> use the clamp devices because they believe bleeding is a religious
require=
ment. Consequently,
> infants cir***cised without clamp devices have more risk of
hemorrhaging. =
In any case, there is
> no reason to believe that cir***cisions by mohelim are less painful to
the=
infant.
>
> Whether an infant is cir***cised in the hospital by medical staff or in
th=
e home by a mohel,
> there are medical risks as with any surgery. Though the incidence is
very =
small, there is
> potential for hemorrhage, infection, and surgical injury. On rare
occasion=
s death has resulted.
> For this reason Jewish law allows for exemptions when other children in
th=
e family have died
> from the effects of cir***cision.
>
> There is considerable misunderstanding of the anatomy of the foreskin.
Lit=
tle information has
> been available about foreskin for laymen or medical professionals. The
ass=
umption that it had
> no useful purpose and could be cut off as inconsequentially as hair is
fal=
se. Foreskin contains
> erogenous tissue with a high concentration of sensitive nerves, and it
ser=
ves an im****tant
> purpose in intercourse. During erection the foreskin ****fts to cover the
u=
pper shaft of the
> *****, a location which would contact the vaginal wall during
intercourse.=
Foreskin also has
> the purpose of protecting the ***** against irritation and is not
normally=
retractable until
> two or three years after birth.
>
> Without this protection, the ***** loses some of its sensitivity. A rare
a=
dult who had a
> cir***cision (while under general anesthesia) re****ted later that the
head=
of his ***** "lost
> its sensitivity and as it did I realized I had lost something rather
vital=
.. Stimuli that had
> previously aroused ecstasy had relatively little effect...Cir***cision
des=
troys a very joyful
> aspect of the human experience for both males and females."
>
> Some who have witnessed cir***cisions re****t little or no crying
response =
from the infant.
> There are three explanations for this. Nobody wants to hurt infants.
Anyon=
e involved in
> cir***cision does not want to believe that it is painful to the infant.
Ot=
herwise, he would
> have to question his sup****t for the practice. Cir***cision has been
such =
a fixture in American
> Jewish culture that questioning it can be very difficult. For many
people =
it is easier to
> resolve this potential conflict by denying the reality of infant pain.
>
> Rosemary Romberg, author of Cir***cision - The Painful Dilemma regrets
hav=
ing her three sons
> cir***cised. The third son, unlike the other two, was born at home into
a =
gentle, loving
> environment in a Leboyer-type birth. She re****ts a "profound and
dramatic =
difference in the
> nature of the baby born in this manner, compared to the baby born by
conve=
ntional
> techniques...The baby born to conventional birthing procedures is in a
sta=
te of trauma anyway -
> whether he is cir***cised or not!! This explains why some babies do not
cr=
y or appear to react
> when their foreskins are clamped and sliced off. The baby is already in
a =
state of withdrawal,
> simply from other common traumatic procedures associated with
conventional=
birth...Another
> explanation for the absence of crying during cir***cision is that for
some=
babies the shock of
> the assault is so intense that they cannot cry!" (All emphases are by
Romb=
erg.) Rather than
> endure the experience of overwhelming trauma and pain, the infant may
esca=
pe into withdrawal or
> a semicoma state. As adults we also have escape mechanisms for traumatic
o=
verload, such as
> fainting. Therefore, vocal response alone is not always a reliable pain
in=
dicator.
>
> Jews have always been sup****tive of human rights. Human rights must
certai=
nly include a right
> to one's own body. Some Jews are now asking if anyone has the right to
rep=
resent infants in
> such a critical irreversible decision as removing a normal, functioning
pa=
rt of their anatomy
> for religious reasons.
>
> Many Jews associate cir***cision with their Jewish identity. However,
bein=
g cir***cised does
> not make one Jewish. More than one million infants are cir***cised in
this=
country every year
> and the overwhelming majority are not Jewish. Of course, ...
>
> read more =BB
Mr. Stevens:
Since when do you give a **** about Christianity? Seeing as you are
the reining antichrist here, it seems out of character. I'm
cir***cized and I'm not Jewish. Less parts to clean-it's a good deal!
Your obsession with *****'s is noted. Bet you can't wait for the next
Aryan congress?
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