Religion and circumcision
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Redirect-distinguishTemplate:Religious text primaryTemplate:Religious freedom Religious circumcision is generally performed shortly after birth, during childhood, or around puberty as part of a rite of passage. Circumcision for religious reasons is most frequently practiced in Judaism and Islam. In some African and Eastern Christian denominations male circumcision is an established practice, and require that their male members undergo circumcision.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:TOC limit
Abrahamic religionsEdit
JudaismEdit
ChristianityEdit
Ancient churchEdit
Modern ChristianityEdit
Circumcision is considered a customary practice among Oriental Christian denominations such as the Coptic, Ethiopian, and Eritrean Orthodox churches.<ref name="Christian">Customary in some Coptic and other churches:
- "The Coptic Christians in Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Christians—two of the oldest surviving forms of Christianity—retain many of the features of early Christianity, including circumcision. Circumcision is not prescribed in other forms of Christianity... Some Christian churches in South Africa oppose the practice, viewing it as a pagan ritual, while others, including the Nomiya church in Kenya, require circumcision for membership and participants in focus group discussions in Zambia and Malawi mentioned similar beliefs that Christians should practice circumcision since Jesus was circumcised and the Bible teaches the practice."
- "The decision that Christians need not practice circumcision is recorded in Template:Bibleverse; there was never, however, a prohibition of circumcision, and it is still practiced by Coptic Christians." "circumcision" Template:Webarchive, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2001-05.</ref> The practice is near-universal in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.<ref name="WHO_2007_GTDPSA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web
}}</ref> Some Christian churches in South Africa oppose circumcision, viewing it as a pagan ritual, while others, including the Nomiya church in Kenya,<ref name="Christian" /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> require circumcision. It is common in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria.<ref name="WHO_2007_GTDPSA" />
Circumcision is widely practiced among Christian communities in the Anglosphere, Oceania,<ref name="Circumcision amongst the Dogon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref> South Korea, the Philippines, and the Middle East.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Circumcision is rare in Europe, East Asia, as well as in India. Christians in the East and West Indies (excluding the Philippines) do not practice it. Circumcision is also widely practiced among Christian communities in Philippines, South Korea,<ref name=riggs_2006>Template:Cite book</ref> Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and North Africa.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Lutheran Church and the Greek Orthodox Church celebrate the Circumcision of Christ on 1 January,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> while Orthodox churches following the Julian calendar celebrate it on 14 January. All Orthodox churches consider it a "Great Feast".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In much of Western Christianity, the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ has been replaced by other commemorations,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> such as the Solemnity of Mary in the Roman Catholic Church or the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus in the Lutheran Churches.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Exceptions, such as among most Traditionalist Catholics, who reject Novus Ordo and other changes following Vatican II to varying degrees, maintained the feast as a Holy day of obligation.Template:Citation needed
According to Scholar Heather L. Armstrong of University of Southampton, about half of Christian males worldwide are circumcised, with most of them being located in Africa, Anglosphere countries (with notable prevalence in the United States) and the Philippines.<ref name="Armstrong">Template:Cite book</ref> Many Christians have been circumcised for reasons such as family preferences, medical or cultural reasons.<ref name="Armstrong"/> Circumcision is also part of a traditional practice among the adherents of certain Oriental Christian denominations, including those of Coptic Christianity, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Eritrean Orthodox Church.<ref name="Armstrong"/>
Roman Catholic ChurchEdit
The Roman Catholic Church denounced religious circumcision for its members in the Cantate Domino, written during the 11th Council of Florence in 1442, warning of loss of salvation for converts who observe it.<ref name="Marie2016"/><ref name = "CoF">Template:Cite book</ref> This decision was based on the belief that baptism had superseded circumcision (Template:Bibleverse),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and may also have been a response to Coptic Christians, who continued to practice circumcision.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Origen stated in his work Contra Celsum that circumcision "was discontinued by Jesus, who desired that His disciples should not practise it."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Pope Pius XII taught that circumcision is only §"[morally] permissible if, in accordance with therapeutic principles, it prevents a disease that cannot be countered in any other way."<ref>Pope Pius XII, Discorsi e messaggi radiodiffusi, t. XIV, Rome 1952, s. 328-329</ref>
On another occasion, he stated: Template:Quote
The Church has been viewed as maintaining a neutral position on the practice of cultural circumcision, due to its policy of inculturation,<ref name="Slosar">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> although some Catholic scholars argue that the church condemns it as "elective male infant circumcision not only violates the proper application of the time-honored principle of totality, but even fits the ethical definition of mutilation, which is gravely sinful."<ref name="Marie2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Fr. John J. Dietzen, a priest and columnist, argued that paragraph number 2297 from the Catholic Catechism (Respect for bodily integrity) makes the practice of elective and neonatal circumcision immoral.<ref>Father John J. Dietzen. The Morality of Circumcision. The Tablet, Brooklyn, N.Y., 30 October 2004, p. 33.</ref> John Paul Slosar and Daniel O'Brien, counter that the therapeutic benefits of neonatal circumcision are inconclusive, but that recent findings that circumcision may prevent disease puts the practice outside the realm of paragraph 2297.<ref name="Slosar" /> They claim that the "Respect for bodily integrity" paragraph apply in the context of kidnapping, hostage-taking or torture, and that if circumcision is included, any removal of tissue or follicle could be considered a violation of moral law.<ref name="Slosar" /> The proportionality of harm versus benefit of medical procedures, as defined by Directives 29 and 33 of the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services (National Conference of Catholic Bishops),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> have been interpreted to support<ref name="Slosar" /> and reject<ref name="Fadel">Template:Cite journal</ref> circumcision. These arguments represent the conscience of the individual writers, and not official doctrine. The most recent statement from the Church was that of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:
The Church of Antioch sent Barnabas on a mission with Paul, which became known as the Apostle's first missionary journey . . . Together with Paul, he then went to the so-called Council of Jerusalem where after a profound examination of the question, the Apostles with the Elders decided to discontinue the practice of circumcision so that it was no longer a feature of the Christian identity (cf. Acts 15: 1-35). It was only in this way that, in the end, they officially made possible the Church of the Gentiles, a Church without circumcision; we are children of Abraham simply through faith in Christ.<ref>Benedict XVI, General Audience, Wednesday, 31, January 2007.</ref>
Latter Day SaintsEdit
Passages from scriptures connected with the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormons) explain that the "law of circumcision is done away" by Christ and thus unnecessary.<ref>Book of Moroni 8:8 and Doctrine and Covenants Section 74</ref><ref>Book of Mormon Student Manual, (2009), 395–400 [1]</ref>
DruzeEdit
Circumcision is widely practiced by the Druze:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> practiced as a cultural tradition, and has no religious significance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> No special interval is specified: Druze infants are usually circumcised shortly after birth,<ref name="auto">Template:Cite book</ref> however some remain uncircumcised until age ten or older.<ref name="auto"/> Some Druses do not circumcise their male children, and refuse to observe this "common Muslim practice".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
IslamEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The origin of circumcision in Islam is a matter of religious and scholarly debate.<ref name="Aldeeb 1995">Template:Cite journal; Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Reeves 2004">Template:Cite book</ref> It is mentioned in some hadith and the sunnah, but not in the Quran,<ref name="Aldeeb 1995" /><ref name="Reeves 2004" /><ref name="EncyclopediaofIslam">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name="Iranica">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> though perhaps it is implied by the command to "follow the way of Ibrahim, the true in Faith".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the time of Muhammad, circumcision was carried out by Pagan Arabian tribes,<ref name="Reeves 2004" /><ref name="EncyclopediaofIslam" /><ref name="Iranica" /> and by the Jewish tribes of Arabia for religious reasons.<ref name="Reeves 2004" /> This was attested by al-Jahiz<ref name="Iranica" /> and by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.<ref name="Reeves 2004"/><ref name="Iranica"/>
The four schools of Islamic jurisprudence have different views towards circumcision.<ref name="EncyclopediaofIslam"/> Some state that it is recommendable, others that it is permissible but not binding, while others regard it as a legal obligation.<ref name="Reeves 2004"/> According to Shafi‘i and Hanbali jurists male circumcision is obligatory for Muslims,<ref name="Reeves 2004"/><ref name="EncyclopediaofIslam"/> while Hanafi jurists consider circumcision to be recommendable.<ref name="Reeves 2004"/> Some Salafis have argued that circumcision is required in Islam to provide ritual cleanliness based on the covenant with Abraham.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Whereas Jewish circumcision is closely bound by ritual timing and tradition, Islam states no fixed age for circumcision.<ref name="Aldeeb 1995"/><ref name="Iranica"/><ref name="Anwer 2017">Template:Cite journal</ref> In Muslim communities, children are often circumcised in late childhood or early adolescence.<ref name="Anwer 2017"/> It varies by family, region, and country.<ref name="Anwer 2017"/> The age when boys get circumcised, and the procedures used, tend to change across cultures, families, and time.<ref name="Anwer 2017"/> In some Muslim-majority countries, circumcision is performed after boys have learned to recite the Quran from start to finish.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Malaysia and other regions, the boy usually undergoes the operation between the ages of ten and twelve, and is thus a puberty rite, serving to introduce him in the adult world.Template:Citation needed The procedure is sometimes semi-public, accompanied with music, special foods, and much festivity.Template:Citation needed
Islam has no equivalent of a Jewish mohel. Circumcisions are usually carried out in health facilities or hospitals, and performed by trained medical practitioners.<ref name="Anwer 2017"/> The circumciser can be either male or female,<ref name="Anwer 2017"/> and is not required to be a Muslim,<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/> and circumcision is not required of converts to Islam.<ref name="clark_2011">Template:Cite book</ref>
Indian religionsEdit
Template:See also Hindu canons make no reference to circumcision.<ref>Template:Cite news </ref> Both Hinduism and Buddhism appear to have a neutral view on circumcision.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, Hinduism discourages non-medical circumcision, as according to them, the body is made by almighty God, and nobody has right to alter it without the concern of the person who is going for it.Template:Sfn Certain Hindu gurus consider it to be directly against nature and God's Design.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Sikh infants are not circumcised.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sikhism criticizes the practice.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> For example, Bhagat Kabir criticizes the practise of circumcision in the following hymn of Guru Granth Sahib.
AfricaEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In West Africa, infant circumcision had religious significance as a rite of passage or otherwise in the past; today in some non-Muslim Nigerian societies it is medicalised and is simply a cultural norm.<ref>Ajuwon et al., "Indigenous surgical practices in rural southwestern Nigeria: Implications for disease," Health Educ. Res..1995; 10: 379-384 Health Educ. Res..1995; 10: 379-384. Retrieved 3 October 2006</ref> In many West African traditional societies circumcision has become medicalised and is simply performed in infancy without ado or any particular conscious cultural significance.Template:Citation needed Among the Urhobo of southern Nigeria it is symbolic of a boy entering into manhood. The ritual expression, Omo te Oshare ("the boy is now man"), constitutes a rite of passage from one age set to another.<ref>Template:Cite journal </ref>
In East Africa, specifically in Kenya among various so-classified Bantu and Nilotic peoples, such as the Maragoli and Idakho of the Luhya super-ethnic group, the Kikuyu, Kalenjin and Maasai, circumcision is a rite of passage observed collectively by a number of boys every few years, and boys circumcised at the same time are taken to be members of a single age set.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref>
Authority derives from the age-group and the age-set. Prior to circumcision a natural leader or Olaiguenani is selected; he leads his age-group through a series of rituals until old age, sharing responsibility with a select few, of whom the ritual expert (Oloiboni) is the ultimate authority. Masai youths are not circumcised until they are mature, and a new age-set is initiated together at regular intervals of twelve to fifteen years. The young warriors (Il-Murran) remain initiates for some time, using blunt arrows to hunt small birds which are stuffed and tied to a frame to form a head-dress. Traditionally, among the Luhya, boys of certain age-sets, typically between 8 and 18 years of age would, under the leadership of specific men engage in various rites leading up to the day of circumcision. After circumcision, they would live apart from the rest of society for a certain number of days. Not even their mothers nor sisters would be allowed to see them.
The Xhosa Tribe from the Eastern Cape in South Africa has a circumcision ritual. The ceremony is part of a transition to manhood. It is called the Abakwetha - "A Group Learning". A group of normally five aged between 16 and 20 go off for three months and live in a special hut (sutu). The circumcision is the climax of the ritual. Nelson Mandela describes his experiences undergoing this ritual in his biography, Long Walk to Freedom.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref><ref> Template:Cite book </ref> Traditional circumcisions are often performed in unsterile conditions where no anesthetic is administered; improper treatment of the wound can lead to sepsis and dehydration, which has in the past lead to initiate deaths.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Among some West African animist groups, such as the Dogon and Dowayo, circumcision represents a removal of "feminine" aspects of the male, turning boys into fully masculine males.<ref name="Circumcision amongst the Dogon"/>
Ancient EgyptEdit
Sixth Dynasty (2345–2181 Template:Sc) tomb artwork in Egypt is thought to be the oldest documentary evidence of circumcision. The most ancient depiction is a bas-relief from the necropolis at Saqqara (Template:C. 2400 Template:Sc) with the inscription "Hold him and do not allow him to faint". The oldest written account, by an Egyptian named Uha, in the 23rd century Template:Sc, describes a mass circumcision and boasts of his ability to stoically endure the pain: "When I was circumcised, together with one hundred and twenty men ... there was none thereof who hit out, there was none thereof who was hit, and there was none thereof who scratched and there was none thereof who was scratched."<ref>Gollaher, p. 2.</ref>
Circumcision in ancient Egypt was thought to be a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. The alteration of the body and ritual of circumcision was supposed to give access to ancient mysteries reserved for the initiated.<ref>Cf. Exodus Rabba 30:9, where Aquila of Sinope said to Hadrian the king, "I wish to become a proselyte." When the king retorted, "Go and study their Divine Law, but do not be circumcised." Aquila then said to him, "Even the wisest man in your kingdom, and an elder who is aged one-hundred, cannot study their Divine Law if he isn’t circumcised, for thus is it written: 'He makes known his words unto Jacob, even his precepts and judgments unto Israel. He has not done the like of which to any other nation' [Psalms 147:19–20]. Unto whom, then, [has he done it]? Unto the sons of Israel!”</ref> The content of those mysteries are unclear but are likely to be myths, prayers, and incantations central to Egyptian religion. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, for example, tells of the sun god Ra performing a self-circumcision, whose blood created two minor guardian deities. Circumcisions were performed by priests in a public ceremony, using a stone blade. It is thought to have been more popular among society's upper echelons, although it was not universal and those lower down the social order also had the procedure.<ref>Gollaher, p. 3.</ref>
AsiaEdit
In early 2007 it was announced that rural aidpost orderlies in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea were to undergo training in circumcision with a view to introducing the procedure as a means of prophylaxis against HIV/AIDS, which was becoming a significant problem in the country.Template:Citation needed
Neither the Avesta nor the Zoroastrian Pahlavi texts mention circumcision. Traditionally, Zoroastrians do not practice circumcision.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Circumcision is not required in Yazidism, but is practised by some Yazidis due to regional customs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Circumcision is forbidden in Mandaeism,<ref name="Drower">Template:Cite book</ref> and the sign of the Jews given to Abraham by God, circumcision, is considered abhorrent.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to the Mandaean doctrine a circumcised man cannot serve as a priest.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Circumcision in South Korea is largely the result of American cultural and military influence following the Korean War.Template:Cn
The origin of circumcision (tuli) in the Philippines is uncertain. One newspaper article speculates that it is due to the influence of Western colonisation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, Antonio de Morga's 17th-century History of the Philippine Islands documents its existence in pre-Colonial Philippines, owing it to Islamic influence.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Circumcision is not a religious practice of the Bahá'í Faith, and leaves that decision to the parents.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Like Judaism, the religion of Samaritanism requires ritual circumcision on the eighth day of life.<ref name="Mark-2003">Template:Cite book</ref>
OceaniaEdit
Circumcision is part of initiation rites in some Pacific Island, and Australian aboriginal traditions in areas such as Arnhem Land,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} </ref> where the practice was introduced by Makassan traders from Sulawesi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Circumcision ceremonies among certain Australian aboriginal societies are noted for their painful nature, including subincision for some aboriginal peoples in the Western Desert.<ref>Template:Cite journal </ref>
In the Pacific, ritual circumcision is nearly universal in the Melanesian islands of Fiji and Vanuatu;<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> participation in the traditional land diving on Pentecost Island is reserved for those who have been circumcised.Template:Citation needed Circumcision is also commonly practised in the Polynesian islands of Samoa, Tonga, Niue, and Tikopia. In Samoa, it is accompanied by a celebration.
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Template:Reflist Works cited:
- Glick, Leonard B. Marked in Your Flesh: Circumcision from Ancient Judea to Modern America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. (Template:ISBN)
Template:JewishEncyclopedia The rabbinic literature and Converts to Judaism are sections are an evolution of the corresponding article which gives the following Bibliography:
- Pocock, Specimen Historiœ Arabum, pp. 319 et seq.;
- Millo, Histoire du Mahométisme, p. 350;
- Hoffmann, Beschneidung, in Ersch and Gruber, Encyc.;
- Steinschneider, Die Beschneidung der Araber und Muhammedaner, in Glassberg, Die Beschneidung;
- Jolly, Etude Critique du Manuel Opératoire des Musulmans et des Israélites, Paris, 1899.