Circumcision in men: the necessity or manifestation of barbarous customs?

Circumcision of the prepuce in men implies its removal by surgical intervention. The operation can be considered from two completely different points of view: religious and medical. Muslim and Jewish peoples circumcision is conditioned by cultural traditions, rather than medical indications.

Let us turn to reliable historical facts. The researchers found that the act of circumcision was a mandatory religious ritual, through which every man of the tribe who reached a certain age was required to go. Initially circumcision replaced the pagan rites of human sacrifice. Circumcision of men in Judaism performed almost the same function, it was a sign of acceptance of the boy in a certain religious community. The practice of circumcision of male foreskin in the Middle Eastern Muslim countries takes place only from the end of the 3rd millennium BC.

The Turks circumcised the foreskin in boys who reached 8-13 years of age, in Arab countries, the ritual was performed at the age of six, the Muslim boys of the Malay Archipelago were operated on to achieve 10-13 years. The execution of the circumcision act in these countries was accompanied, as a rule, by festivals, which are partly of a religious, partly social nature. To perform the operation-ritual, a clergyman or a doctor-witch doctor was invited. In Christianity circumcision was a type of baptism. In the very first Christian communities, all men, without exception, were subjected to this procedure, mention of it is also present in the pages of the New Testament. By the way, circumcision of the foreskin was the main reason for the persecution of Jews in the 1st century AD.

Circumcision in men is not only a religious one. It can be carried out for medical reasons. One of them is the presence of such a disease as phimosis - narrowing of the foreskin with the subsequent impossibility of exposing the glans penis. This ailment manifests itself at an early age, it interferes with the normal process of emptying the bladder and causes a lot of inconvenience. Phimosis in an adult man leads to disruption of the kidneys, has a negative effect on sexual life or makes it impossible. In the presence of indications, circumcision in men is performed under local anesthesia, the entire operation takes no more than 20 minutes of time.

It is known that circumcision contributes to an increase in the duration of sexual intercourse. This is due to a gradual decrease in the sensitivity of the glans penis. Circumcision in men reduces the possibility of contracting a sexual partner with the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer. Moreover, circumcision is often associated with a high level of hygiene. The permanently open head of the penis is indeed more hygienic, the presence of skin folds, on the contrary, promotes the rapid growth of pathogenic bacteria.

Circumcision is surgical intervention, which means that it can cause complications. In addition, the opponents of this procedure are confident that everything in man is perfectly provided for by nature, including the foreskin. They argue that there are no unnecessary tissues and organs in our body, and circumcision of one's own will is just violence against one's own body. Everyone has the right to his point of view. Agree to such an operation or not is a private matter for everyone. However, it is undeniable that modern men were much more fortunate than their ancient predecessors. Today, circumcision is performed only in a clinical setting with a scalpel of the surgeon, regardless of whether this act is a manifestation of the religious affiliation of a man or has medical indications.