You're right!  This is a 'hot' topic and a very personal one.  When my sons were born, I didn't know any of the things I know now and I was brought up to believe that the husband is the head of the house, so, in those years, I left it up to him and, of course, they were all circumcised because he wanted them to be like him.  If I had it to do over, I would not allow it - I, personally, think it is barbaric and I don't believe we were born with extra parts.  Several years ago I wrote a paper in a college English class on this subject - I am going to include it here to give you additional information - I hope it helps.
 

Should We Circumcise?

Let's take a look at what we are inflicting upon our sons by continuing this tradition.  According to Marilyn Milow, who witnessed a circumcision during her training in nursing school:

We students filed into the newborn nursery to find a baby strapped spread-eagle to a plastic board on a counter top across the room.  He was struggling against his restraints - tugging, whimpering, and then crying helplessly . . . I stroked his little head and spoke softly to him.  He began to relax and was momentarily quiet.  The silence was soon broken by a piercing scream - the baby's reaction to having his foreskin pinched and crushed as the doctor attached the clamp to his penis.  The shriek intensified when the doctor inserted an instument between the foreskin and the glans (head of the penis), tearing the two structures apart.  The baby started shaking his head back and forth - the only part of his body free to move - as the doctor used another clamp to crush the foreskin lengthwise, which he then cut.  This made the opening of the foreskin large enough to insert a circumcision instrument, the device used to protect the glans from being severed during the surgery.  The baby began to gasp and choke, breathless from his shrill continuous screams . . . During the next stage of the surgery, the doctor crushed the foreskin against the circumcision instrument and then, finally, amputated it.  The baby was limp, exhausted, spent. (Goldman 23)

This is an extremely painful procedure and there are dangers associated with it.  Most people in the United States seem to feel that there are health benefits associated with circumcision; such as cleanliness and protection from various diseases.  "However, the American Academy of Pediatrics has not found any proven medical benefit from circumcision" (Goldman2)

Every day 3,500 circumcisions are performed in this country, one every twenty-five seconds.  From a global perspective, most of the world rejects circumcision:  over 80 percent of the world's males are intact (not circumcised).  Most circumcised men are Muslim or Jewish.  The United States is the only country in the world that circumcises most of its male infants for non-religious reasons.  (Goldman 2)

From a religious standpoint, circumcision seems to have started with a revelation given in Genesis to Abraham.  As a part of the law of Moses the Lord said, "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised" (17:10).  This explains why the Jews still circumcise their children:  they do not believe the law of Moses has been fulfilled.  However, for those that believe Jesus Christ was the Savior of mankind, then the belief is that the law of Moses has been fulfilled.  For those who have no religious belief, circumcision is merely following the traditions of their fathers.

What exactly is circumcision?

The tip of the penis consists of a slightly enlarged region called the glans penis which is shaped like an acorn.  The edge of the glans is called the corona.  The glans is protected by a loosely fitting retractable covering of skin known as the prepuce or foreskin.  Some cultures practice circumcision, the removal of the foreskin for religiouos, cultural or supposed hygienic reason.  This is usually done in infancy among Western peoples, but some African tribes include it in rites of puberty.  removal of the foreskin leaves the glans unprotected.  In most instances, anesthesia is not used. (Frye 187)

Why do we feel the need to alter a baby's physical appearance from the way he is born?  If it is due to vanity because we want him to look like his father; are there possible complication that we should be concerned with?

Although considered a minor surgical procedure, reported complications of neonatal circumcision include infection, hemorrhage, loss of penile skin, laceration of penile and scrotal skin, injury to the glans, urethral fisttula, urinary retention, staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, concealed penis, necrotizing fasciitis, Forunier's syndrome and sepsis . . .

Elective newborn circumcision is a cruel procedure . . . the beliefs that infants "do not feel pain" or "won't remember it anyway" reflect concepts which cannot be substantiated and are barbaric . . . Marked flushing frequently occurs during circumcision and a propensity of newborn infants to wail and vomit under the stress of circumcision is well appreciated by nursery personnel.  The alteration in pitch, the intensity of cry when the first crush and clamp is applied to the foreskin is unmistakable . . .

. . . Questionable potential benefits including the facilitation of penile hygiene and diminuition in the risk of cancer seem to be outweighed by the risks of hemorrhage, life threatening infection, and lack of cost effectiveness.  The neglect of the operator to obtain informed consent and to perform a needlessly radical technique with apparent disregard for pain needs to be abandoned. (Block 423)  The first surgery was religious, and ninety percent of the surgery performed today is also religious.  The Jewish ritual circumcision, or bris, has a place in Jewish law and culture.  The bris is performed on the eighth day of life by a trained mohel who uses the same technique that has withstood more than 4,000 years of use.  Then men stand by to make sure he does it right, too.  Modern Medicines' routine circumcision, however, takes place on the first or second day of life, when blood loss can be especially dangerous.  It's performed by a surgeon, or an intern, or a medical student using the "latest" technique.  Where the bris ceremoney includes pouring some wine in the infant's mouth, no anesthetic at all is used in Modern Medicine's ritual.

Routine circumcision of all males makes no sense outside of a religious framework.  A circumcision is an operation, and its dangers are not inconsiderable.  It's not altogether rare for a sugeon to get smart and use cautery instead of a knife - and to slip and burn off most of the penis. (Mendelsohn 60)

Another question we might want to consider:  Is ther emotional trauma to the infant, along with the physical trauma?  If this child comes into the world feeling warm and secure in his mother's arms, what must it be like for him, when she hands him over to a complete stranger who takes him to another room, strips him, straps him to a plastic board and performs this procedure, usually without any anesthesia?  The emotional bonding connecting the infant and mother is called attachment.  The importance of attachment has been well established for decades.

"Studies have shown that circumcision can adversely affect mother-infant bonding" (Goldman 126).  "The parts of the brain needed for long-term memory have been identified.  Anand and Hickey, in their often cited review of the literature on infant pain, report that these structures are well developed and functioning during the newborn period" (Goldman 86).

Charles Knonia, a psychiatrist in eastern Pennsylvania who helps people resolve past traumas reports:

I can tell you that from my clinical experience in treating patients who relived their circumcision as well as observing newborns being circumcised in the delivery room, it is a nightmarish experience.  I shudder each time I witness patients going through the horror. (Goldman 97)

Psychologist John Breeding recounts his persoanl therapy session during which he reexperienced his circumcision:

The emotional experience . . . was horrible.  I felt overwhelming fear, sweating and shaking for long periods.  Intense rage also came up at times.  I wanted to protect myself, but I couldn't . . . I felt . . . terribly sad, engulfed in grief, despair and helplessness.  I released emotionally for well over an hour and was finally spent, sad. (Goldman 97)

It would appear from the research which has been done, that there is no good reason for routine circumcision.  "According to one national survey, 33 percent of American obstetricians and pediatricians are personally opposed to circumcision" (Goldman 1).  Unless the surgery is performed for religious reasons, we, as a nation, are unnecessarily mutilating our sons.

The good news is that people appear to be waking up to this realization.  According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the circumcision rate has dropped from a peak of about 85 percent to about 60 percent nationally and to only about 35 percent in some areas of the country (Goldman 1).

Samuel Butler said, "Mankind has always been ready to discuss matters in the inverse ratio to their importance, so that the more closely a question is felt to touch the heart of all of us, the more incumbent it is considered upon prudent people to profess that it does not exist" (Goldman 2).  This is certainly true with circumcision.  With the risks involved, the time has come to serously consider the pros and cons of this prcedure before subjecting our newborn sons to the knife.

Works Cited

Block, Polly. Polly's Birth Book. Hearthspun Publishers. American Fork, UT. 1996

Circumcision Resource Center. PO Box 232, Boston< MA 02133.

Frye, Anne. Holistic Midwifery. Labrys Press. Portland, OR. 1995

Goldman, Ronald, Ph.D. CIRCUMCISION: The Hidden Trauma. Vanguard Publications, Boston. 1997.

Mendelsohn, Robert S. Confessions of a Medical Heretic. Lincolnwood, IL. 1979.