Why is circumcision so popular in US, Australia and Canada?

[KostasLT]

So having looked at several forums in US I was surprised to see many people say they were circumcised. I thought all my life that circumcision is only a Jewish and Muslim thing. Afterwards I decided to inform myself on the popularity of this practice around the world and found this map:

This displays the estimated percentage of men in every country that is circumcised. As you can see uncircumcision is the norm rather than the exception in the world, and especially among Christians. In Latin America circumcision is virtually unexistent. In Europe only Muslim minorities in the Balkans and Russia + massive Muslim immigration in the western part bring the figures to somewhat visible, otherwise hardly above 1%. Southern Africa, New Zealand and the Oceanian islands have low figures as well. Circumcision is also uncommon in India and much of eastern and southeastern Asia, and Christian minorities in these countries are no different is this respect. Even among Christians in the Middle East the practice is more uncommon than what you might think, and you can see this being the case in Lebanon (the little light blue country north of Israel): 40-49% of uncircumcised men and 40-49% of Christians according to most estimations.

US, Australia, Philippines and some African countries are the only predominantly Christian ones to have a majority of circumcised men, with Canada not far off. And we have to note pre-Christian influences are the driving factor in the latter two cases (in the Philippines Muslim influence, in Ethiopia Jewish influence and in the rest of Africa tribal influence). This leaves the former English colonies of US, and to a lesser extent Australia and Canada as the only Christian societies where circumcision is a tradition without older roots.

So what is the explaination for this?

 

[Lynx]

Before you tear down a fence, inquire why it was built.

In this case the practical reason is sanitary. There's a good practical reason for everything God told the Israelites to do.

 

[Lanolin]

well the USA has a large Jewish population and probably a lot of Jewish doctors. Not sure about Australia. I wouldnt say many Australians are christians.

It doesnt matter anyway as the Bible tells us that for christians, physical circumcision means nothing. Spiritual circumcision of the heart is what matters, for both male and female.

 

[Runningman]

So having looked at several forums in US I was surprised to see many people say they were circumcised. I thought all my life that circumcision is only a Jewish and Muslim thing. Afterwards I decided to inform myself on the popularity of this practice around the world and found this map:

This displays the estimated percentage of men in every country that is circumcised. As you can see uncircumcision is the norm rather than the exception in the world, and especially among Christians. In Latin America circumcision is virtually unexistent. In Europe only Muslim minorities in the Balkans and Russia + massive Muslim immigration in the western part bring the figures to somewhat visible, otherwise hardly above 1%. Southern Africa, New Zealand and the Oceanian islands have low figures as well. Circumcision is also uncommon in India and much of eastern and southeastern Asia, and Christian minorities in these countries are no different is this respect. Even among Christians in the Middle East the practice is more uncommon than what you might think, and you can see this being the case in Lebanon (the little light blue country north of Israel): 40-49% of uncircumcised men and 40-49% of Christians according to most estimations.

US, Australia, Philippines and some African countries are the only predominantly Christian ones to have a majority of circumcised men, with Canada not far off. And we have to note pre-Christian influences are the driving factor in the latter two cases (in the Philippines Muslim influence, in Ethiopia Jewish influence and in the rest of Africa tribal influence). This leaves the former English colonies of US, and to a lesser extent Australia and Canada as the only Christian societies where circumcision is a tradition without older roots.

So what is the explaination for this?

It's most likely two-fold as far as I can tell. Circumcision not only makes the male part easier to clean, but removing the foreskin also removes some of the surface area of a highly sensitive and easily aroused part of the male body.

The idea being that if there is less sensitivity on that part of the male body then it is less prone to being stimulated and therefore predisposes youth to learning self-control relatively easier.

This is along the same lines as why Jesus said "For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." The idea being is that a eunuch will be physically disabled from committing some sexual sins. In like manner, the circumcised are given a bit of an advantage for learning self-control, just as not as much as the eunuchs.

So you may also have noticed the birth rates in countries where circumcision is higher compared to countries where circumcisions is lower. In Western countries the birth rate is typically lower than non-Western countries and it also varies depending on demographics as well. It's related to whether one has circumcision or not.

 

[Lynx]

It's most likely two-fold as far as I can tell. Circumcision not only makes the male part easier to clean, but removing the foreskin also removes some of the surface area of a highly sensitive and easily aroused part of the male body.

The idea being that if there is less sensitivity on that part of the male body then it is less prone to being stimulated and therefore predisposes youth to learning self-control relatively easier.

This is along the same lines as why Jesus said "For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." The idea being is that a eunuch will be physically disabled from committing some sexual sins. In like manner, the circumcised are given a bit of an advantage for learning self-control, just as not as much as the eunuchs.

So you may also have noticed the birth rates in countries where circumcision is higher compared to countries where circumcisions is lower. In Western countries the birth rate is typically lower than non-Western countries and it also varies depending on demographics as well. It's related to whether one has circumcision or not.

Odd... I always thought that birthrate thingy was linked to whether or not the woman had a say in whether she was in a marriage and wanted to have a baby. Birthrates seem to be higher in countries where the woman doesn't have a say in the matter.

 

[Lanolin]

FGM female genital mutiliation was practiced in a lot of African Islamic countries am not sure if it still widespread. But I remember reading about it in a book called Desert Flower.

Of course, its not really counted in mulim countries because their religion is such that females dont count at all. In Judaism, women are also not counted and their witness was not valued. Orthodox Jewish men would pray 'Thank God He didnt make me a woman'

 

[KostasLT]

well the USA has a large Jewish population and probably a lot of Jewish doctors. Not sure about Australia. I wouldnt say many Australians are christians.

It doesnt matter anyway as the Bible tells us that for christians, physical circumcision means nothing. Spiritual circumcision of the heart is what matters, for both male and female.

Barely 7 million out of 331. Not enough to influence the figures.

With Christian countries I meant countries with a Christian tradition, not countries where a majority is practising. If we actually classified countries through the latter measure sure we would probably have to take out the vast majority of countries.

And agree 100% with the second part.

 

[KostasLT]

It's most likely two-fold as far as I can tell. Circumcision not only makes the male part easier to clean, but removing the foreskin also removes some of the surface area of a highly sensitive and easily aroused part of the male body.

The idea being that if there is less sensitivity on that part of the male body then it is less prone to being stimulated and therefore predisposes youth to learning self-control relatively easier.

This is along the same lines as why Jesus said "For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." The idea being is that a eunuch will be physically disabled from committing some sexual sins. In like manner, the circumcised are given a bit of an advantage for learning self-control, just as not as much as the eunuchs.

I don't think this is much of a factor anymore in the age we are today where you can easily find porn with two clicks and even "normal" websites are packed with over exciting imagery. Truth is self control is way harder today than in any period of history and especially for men. No matter if circumcised or not. Isn't US the 70% circumcised country the one that imported Hollywood, Netflix, sexual liberalism, the alphabet cult and all this garbage to the world?

So you may also have noticed the birth rates in countries where circumcision is higher compared to countries where circumcisions is lower. In Western countries the birth rate is typically lower than non-Western countries and it also varies depending on demographics as well. It's related to whether one has circumcision or not.

Not a strong relation. Did you note many of those uncircumcised countries with low birth rates used to have much higher ones even with minimal circumcision rates? As it has been pointed out many times, birth rates are much more related to the role of women in the given society than to anything. Not poverty, infant mortality or whatever else. The only reason I like Israel is because it ruins the arguments of the feminist liars.

 

[Lanolin]

what role women are given lol

what about what role men are given?

In the Bible, Egypt was worried that the Hebrew population would overtake their own. So the Eyptians tried to drown all Hebrew babies, but only the boys. They didnt drown the girls.

 

[Moses_Young]

FGM female genital mutiliation was practiced in a lot of African Islamic countries am not sure if it still widespread. But I remember reading about it in a book called Desert Flower.

Female genital mutilation is banned in most countries these days, because of the permanent and serious harm it does to the female features/lips - there is no purpose for the mutilation, other than barbarism and misogeny. Circumcision just removes excess skin from the male, and is often done for health and hygiene reasons. There is no permanent or serious damage done by circumcision, if done properly.

Of course, its not really counted in mulim countries because their religion is such that females dont count at all. In Judaism, women are also not counted and their witness was not valued. Orthodox Jewish men would pray 'Thank God He didnt make me a woman'

It might be that there is more data for a routine medical procedure than an internationally recognised crime against women. I'd argue this is more the reason for the poor records on FGM, rather than females not counting in other cultures. (Sure, females might not be worth as much in some cultures, but even slaves are worth something to their masters).

Barely 7 million out of 331. Not enough to influence the figures.

With Christian countries I meant countries with a Christian tradition, not countries where a majority is practising. If we actually classified countries through the latter measure sure we would probably have to take out the vast majority of countries.

And agree 100% with the second part.

Circumcision has been practiced since ancient times, by many cultures, not just Jews (possibly many of these cultures were influenced by God's covenant with Abraham). These days, it is known that there are health and hygiene benefits from circumcision (even for the wives of circumcised men), with no real long term damage. I doubt God would have commanded circumcision for his people if it caused problems. I think God's laws were for the benefit of His people, and I don't believe circumcision was any different. Probably the (once) Christian countries of Australia, the US and Canada realise that physical circumcision was given by God as a symbol of the process that must take place in our hearts, and therefore whether from a health, hygiene or religious perspective, aren't scared of weighing up the benefits for getting it done on their males.