Why I Do Not Believe in Circumcision

What a heated topic! Circumcision is widely debated amongst people in the US. It seems most folks are either adamantly pro-circumcision or anti-circumcision. People get mad about this topic. Some are mad that one would assume they'd made the wrong choice for their son(s), and some are mad because another parent would assume that this painful procedure was necessary for his or her child. The funny thing is, when this topic arises it seems very few people have any facts about it, but rather opinions based on what has always been done in their family or in their culture.
Before I move on, I'd like to add a disclaimer here. I used to avoid topics like this because of their controversy, and I still don't consider them my lifelong platform. However, God recently convicted me regarding another similarly controversial issue in the church that I should never be shy or slow to proclaim the truth, even when it is controversial. More and more we are coming into a time when the church will have to be vocal and less gray. I believe in declaring the truth, even when it hurts, and even when it's uncomfortable. Some of my sons are circumcised. We followed through with circumcision until we actually researched and prayed on the topic. We are expecting our fourth son so this issue has come up several times. I'd also like to say that I have friends and family members who do not agree with me on this issue, and that's alright. :) However, if you choose to comment on this post or via Facebook, please do so with respect for others and in love. If you do not, I will simply delete your comments. Gracias.
It amazes me, looking back, how little I researched or even sadly, prayed about issues that I just assumed were of importance because I was told they were. Most decisions I have made on that basis, I have regretted.
While I do not have the time or energy to cover this topic fully (site every study I've read, every scripture I know of on the topic, or cover every argument for or against it), I mainly want to bring out a few things in scripture as a believer that the Lord has hit me with personally. So this post on circumcision has more to do with circumcision and Christianity.
In the south, in what we call the Bible Belt, circumcision is more common than elsewhere in the US. In fact, most people don't realize that 80% of the world is "intact," or uncircumcised. Circumcision is incredibly common amongst christians in the southern US. I find that odd, considering the fact that the New Testament in scripture is pretty plain about circumcision. I have been told by people that they circumcise because they want their child to look like their father, because they think it is more hygienic, or because they simply think it's necessary. Another common reason for circumcising is that people assume their sons will be picked on in the "locker room" if they aren't circumcised.
Some of these ideas, are pretty bogus. If Billy Joe's father had his ear cut off in a lawn mower accident, we wouldn't automatically assume that we should chop off Billy Joe's ear at birth, so that he and his father can be twinkies. And additionally, we wouldn't automatically assume we should cut off Billy Joe's ear, because he might be one of those kids who grows up to have chronic ear infections. Under that ridiculous mindset, we might assume it would better to be ahead of our game and go on and chop off both of his ears, because, it would be bad to have ear infections. Sounds very silly, but this is along the same lines that many circumcisions are done.
While the ear is a very useful body part that we know serves a very important purpose, so does the foreskin. It is covered in thousands of nerve endings that are chopped off in the act of circumcision. These nerve endings were designed to enhance the male's sex life (in later years). Not to mention the fact that the foreskin acts as a protectant for the glans or head of the penis, just like the fingernail acts as a protectant for the finger. Circumcision has been deemed a cosmetic surgery with no medicinal benefits by many medical communities, hence the reason most insurance companies will no longer pay for it. We don't routinely remove any other part of the human body out of fear of future problems, so why do we do this with the foreskin? It is rather absurd considering that God himself created the human body WITH a foreskin. Did He mess up in His design?
I do not make any decision for my children based on the opposite of what I am raising them to be, and praying they will become. Meaning, I will not choose circumcision for my sons because of the locker room argument. I should hope that, for starters, I'm teaching my sons that they should never stand around and compare penises with other guys. That's just plain weird. And if someone does have something to say about the fact that they're uncircumcised, perhaps that will give them the opportunity to share the light and freedom found in the new covenant with these folks. I also would not choose circumcision because of the one standing study in favor of it. It shows a lower rate of STDs and HIV in circumcised males. However, this obviously could have more to do with cultural upbringing and a whole lot less to do with actual circumcision. If one is clinging to circumcision to protect a sexually promiscuous child...they will find themselves highly disappointed. So on the same token, I'm praying for my sons to choose to honor God and live a life of purity. But for me to assume that I can protect them from the repercussions of sin if they so choose such a life, is ridiculous. That's also one of the hundred reasons why I will not give my daughters the Gardisil vaccine. In choosing to base my decisions for my children with a net for their possible future sinful actions, I'm showing them my expectations for them, and they undoubtedly will rise to meet those standards I set-however low they might be.
The idea that we should circumcise our sons so they will look like their fathers, is very similar to the issue of pride that Paul battled in the New Testament church. New Gentile Christians were being told that they must obey the law, including circumcision, by some Jews. After all, it was what their fore-fathers had always done! This enraged Paul, who was a Jew himself. It enraged him so much that he wrote about it in several books in the New Testament. This post would be extremely long if I covered every scripture on the topic....but here are a few that have really hit me:
*So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.
You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.
Dear brothers and sisters, if I were still preaching that you must be circumcised—as some say I do—why am I still being persecuted? If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended. I just wish that those troublemakers who want to mutilate you by circumcision would mutilate themselves. (Galatians 5:1-12 NLT)
*For instance, a man who was circumcised before he became a believer should not try to reverse it. And the man who was uncircumcised when he became a believer should not be circumcised now. (1 Corinthians 7:18 NLT)
*For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, (Philippians 3:3 NLT)
*For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments. (1 Corinthians 7:19 NLT)
*In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:11 NLT)
There are so many more scriptures on this topic, but I love the one above in Philippians 3:3. Why do we as believers in Jesus put so much faith in a human procedure that God has made plain we as Gentiles (non-jews) under the new covenant are free from? It wouldn't make sense for God to say we are free in Jesus, but yet...."I will torture you with a life of infection if you do not participate in this procedure that I've freed you from." Or, "you're free from it, and I said you no longer need to do it. But do it anyway, so you'll look like your fathers."
Say what?!
Many Christians argue that because Paul had Timothy circumcised, that was reason for us to circumcise. That is totally a different situation. Timothy had a Jewish father, and also Paul knew that he would be traveling around ministering to Jews who still followed the letter of the law. They would have a hard time listening to Timothy, who was a Jew, yet not circumcised. I have not met a believer in this situation, as of yet.
I don't have time to go on and on with this topic, but think about this. If 80% of the world isn't circumcised, then why do we cling to circumcision as an act of hygiene? Are men dropping dead all over the world because of penis infections? Sheesh, 80% of the world's population at risk for death and serious issues if they do not cut off healthy body tissue they are naturally born with. Sounds nuts. It's because in most parts of the world, penis infections are treated with a steroid cream rather than automatic circumcision, except in areas where circumcision is common. What is done with a circumcised and uncircumcised male with an infection? They're given a steroid cream. What's done with a female with a genital infection? She's given some type of medication or cream. She doesn't undergo female circumcision for an infection, which most people agree is a barbaric practice (that takes place in some parts of the world). The infection argument is also bogus, besides it being already debunked by knowing God's character. Knowing God's character is assurance that He wouldn't offer freedom, and then repercussions, for not obeying the very thing He declared freedom from. As if that isn't enough, there are actually an equal number of UTIs in circumcised and uncircumcised males after the age of one.
There is no serious extra cleaning involved. Another myth. You clean an uncircumcised penis the same way you clean a finger. The foreskin does NOT need to be retracted, and this will happen on its own when a child grows up. Before then, it would be incredibly painful for the child, like pulling the finger away from the nail. Unnecessary.
If you desire circumcision for your child, that is certainly your choice. But please watch the procedure done, first. There are plenty of YouTube videos of the procedure. Many times no anesthetic is used in newborn babies because "they won't remember it, anyway."
I am not a judgmental person towards others who choose circumcision. No indeed. But I think we in the church should call our desire to unnecessarily circumcise our sons what it is. Pride. We are not bound, for any reason, to circumcise our sons as believers in Jesus and the freedom He brings. Believing we are bound and required to do something God said we do not have to do is the ultimate lie. We are free if Christ made us free. We are not bound to make decisions based on threats of infection, pride, persecution, or else-wise because the same Lord who made the human body and declared us free, has set us free indeed!
(Please do your own research on this topic. There is so much information available on it.)