Ritual Mutilation in Canada

December 28, 2006

Today’s topic is ritual mutilation, practiced among some tribes in Africa, the ill-informed, and of course Jews.
Some tribes in Africa cut lines in their faces and rub mud in, to make nifty scars. Other tribes actually cut out the labia and clitorises of young girls so that the young girls will not stray from their new owners after marriage. Presumably, if the girl will never be able to enjoy sex, then there will be no reason to ever leave the only man that she will ever have sex with.
There was some media coverage of this in Canada, when some of these people came to Canada as immigrants, and wanted to continue this quaint custom here.
Hoo-ha, said some women’s groups, this must not be allowed because it hurts women.
Hiya, said some cultural groups, the un-elected judges who rule Canada will say that cultural rights trump women’s rights. Just wait and see!
While much attention was given to this barbaric ritual, and the possible perpetuation of it in Canada, few commentators made reference to the equally barbaric ritual of circumcision of males that is a part of the Jewish religion.
Doctors, who take the Hippocratic oath, “First, do no harm”, routinely cut healthy tissue from male babies. This is more hypocrisy that Hippocrates.
The ill-informed may also take part in this, citing “health reasons”.
If pressed, the pro-mutilators will refer to an 18th-century study of chimney sweeps who let coal dust accumulate under their foreskins and thus had a higher rate of cancer than those who just let the coal dust fall off.
So, if you are a chimney sweep who never washes your genitals, then circumcision just might be for you.
Or maybe not. After all, the tobacco companies were able to prove that smoking is good for you, in a few cases. One of these cases was where men working in an asbestos factory who also smoked a couple of packs a day, got fewer cases of cancer than those who did not, as the heavy mucous in the lungs caused by the smoking allowed the men to expectorate most of the asbestos fibers that they inhaled, while those without the mucous took the carcinogen fibers straight into their lungs.
I believe that an adult should be able to do whatever he or she wants, so long as it does not hurt someone else. If you want to pierce your nose so you look like a bull going out to pasture, if you want to tattoo yourself like a stamped side of beef, if you want to drink or smoke yourself stupid, so long as you are supporting yourself (not living off of relatives, loved ones, or taxpayers), then go ahead. You are only hurting yourself and those who choose to associate themselves with you.
BUT I strongly believe that the practice of ritual mutilation of penises would tend to wither if it could only be performed after the age of 19. Give the kid a chance to decide for himself if he wants to hang onto the bit at the end.
For you Darwinists, the foreskin is still there after many, many generations. It must serve a purpose. Perhaps that purpose is protection, perhaps to maintain the sensitivity of the nerve endings underneath.
What is clear, is that there is no purpose to its removal, and no purpose to the continuation of this barbaric custom. Perhaps a ritual nail-clipping would suffice, or just sacrifice a chicken. Leave the kid alone!