Rabbi Wengrov said

“Male circumcision is one of the oldest … practices of Judaism.”

Old =/= good. Slavery was thousands of years old before it was abolished (and it is in the Hebrew scriptures how to treat your slaves, so it can be – and was – argued that slavery is also divinely ordained). The Chinese bound girls’ feet for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Female genital cutting is probably just as old as the male.

“…and most essential…” If cutting baby boys’ genitals really were essential to Judaism, then that would be a stain on Judaism. It contradicts the edicts to loving-kindness, to doing no harm, and against marking the body. If Judaism is the fine ethical system it appears to be in every other respect, it will move on from the idea that baby boys’ genitals have to be cut.

“This is no more than anti-religious bigotry in the disguise of liberalism.” No, most Intactivists are in the US, where they give by far the greatest part of their energy to opposing the US “medical” circumcision, which 30 times as common as the Jewish, and is carried out with quasi-religious fanaticism for hundreds of bad reasons.

I agree, but you can’t even do anything at all to female genitals in most progressive countries I know, nothing even if its damage that would heal in a day or less, no worst than a small cut on your finger or your arm.

While it is legal, and done in well-over 50% of US male births, as a matter of so-called cleanliness. Because sure, having a keratinized penis must be much better in itself.

It’s still much better in adulthood, even if it takes a longer time to heal. The same for intersex infants being reassigned or butchered. If they want it themselves, it can wait until they are old enough to decide for themselves, rather than have butchered tissue to try and do something with (you try and tell a boy who was raised as a girl and who had his penis cut off, though they called it clitorodectomy, as a “social emergency” to better identify as a girl, that they HAD to cut his penis off.)

There’s also freedom of religion. You can indoctrinate your family in your traditions and your religion, but until they can agree to take part in it in an unbiased fashion, they should not have to. Especially one-time rituals that end up maiming their sex organ for life.

I was baptized as an infant, but since I didn’t drown, and had no lasting effect or trauma, or anything physical to show for it – I don’t mind. Doing something irreversible is different.

Also, adult circumcision is much more painful and takes longer to heal than when done in infanthood.

Male circumcision is one of the oldest and most most essential religious practices of Judaism. Countless regimes attempted to ban it, with no avail. They are history, the Jewish faith lives on.

This is no more than anti-religious bigotry in the disguise of liberalism. If this ban passes, it will be a stain on Denmark’s Folketing. Jews will just have to continue circumcising their male infants elsewhere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_male_circumcision#Male_circumcision_to_prevent_masturbation

jewishcircumcision.org
jewsagainstcircumcision.org

It’s funny, but I find myself on the fence on this one. I fall into the “nothing could be less wonderful” group, so I tend towards allowing choice. At the same time I stongly disagree with the brainwashing of young minds to a parent’s religion, so I find it hard to argue with your final paragraph.

Scratch that – you’ve convinced me. Not sure I’d risk creating a market for back street operations though.