CIN (Circumcision Information Network) 2:4

Introduction
This weekly bulletin is a project of CIN, the Circumcision Information Network (formerly CIN CompuBulletin). The purpose of this weekly bulletin is to educate the public about and to protect children and other non-consenting persons from genital mutilation. Readers are encouraged to copy and redistribute it, and to contribute written material.
--Rich Angell, Editor.

BABIES REMEMBER THEIR BIRTH
I want to thank you for the stand you are taking on circumcision. About three
years ago, using a process that allows one to recover early memories,
(Reevaluation Counseling) I uncovered, and am still uncovering,  the feelings
associated with my circumcision as a baby. I would never have believed, prior
to the work I've done the last few years, what a profound effect it has had
on my life, and how much my fears of things in the present were just  replays
of the early terror I felt lying alone in my crib with the pain.

I'd be glad to help if I can, by sharing what I know of the effect on me, and
by encouraging others who have used the process to share what they know.
 --George Reiter, Professor of Physics, University of Houston, GReiter@UH.EDU

PROUD PARENTS
Q:  We are interested in finding out more information about your network.  We
have chosen not to circumcise our son and are ecstatic about our decision,
much to the chagrin of our family.  We are also interested in talking to
Jewish people who have chosen not to circumcise.  We are wondering if these
people are active in other aspects of the Jewish religion and what problems
they have encountered, and any solutions to these problems.  We are looking
forward to hearing from and talking to you.  --Proud Parents

A:  Thank you so much for writing, and congratulations!  Here are just three
Jewish contacts:

*Ronald Goldman, Circumcision Resource Center, PO Box 232, Boston, MA 02133
(617) 523-0088.

*Helen Bryce, Alternative Bris Support Group, (831) 475-3313.

*Moshe Rothenberg, 514 Ocean Pkwy #2K, Brooklyn, N 11230 (708) 859-0650.

These folks will be glad to inform you and support you.  --The Editor

CANCER, SCHANCER
Q:  I have been opposed to infant-circumcision for over ten years, having
barely averted the circumcision of my two male offspring in 1983 and in 1987
(that's a long story in itself).  I myself was circumcised at birth, with no
ill effects that I know of (and perhaps I just don't want to know). 

In any case, I preach non-circumcision of infants at every opportunity.  One
critic tells me that uncircumcized males experience penile cancer to the
degree of 3-4%, whereas the disease is not found among circumcized males. I
do not have any data to reply to this critic.  Any info or refs appreciated.
Thanks for what you're doing.  --Al Date

A:  Three to four percent of what?  About 3 out of every 100,000 men get
penile cancer (that's fewer than the number of men, let alone women, who get
breast cancer).  The cancer usually strikes men over 60, and is more
associated with factors such as promiscuity, smoking, and lack of personal
hygiene than lack of circumcision.  The idea of amputating 100,000 foreskins
to spare perhaps one or two men from cancer is just plain stupid.  Consider
this:  if it were proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that an intact clitoral
hood (female foreskin) increased a woman's chance of getting vaginal cancer,
would your critic then allow his daughter's foreskin to be amputated?
Hmmmmmmm?

As for info or refs, a good place to start is Dr. Thomas Ritter's book "Say
No To Circumcision!", Hourglass Book Publishing, Aptos, CA, 1992.  This book
is well-researched, and will answer most of your questions.

CIRCUMCISION PAIN
In the November 23, l994 issue of the Anchorage Daily News an article
appeared, based on a Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter, which
reported:  "Baby boys undergoing circumcision who sucked on a sugar-coated
pacifier cried only 30 percent of the time, while their less fortunate
comrades who had a pacifier dipped in water cried 50 percent of the time.
Woe to those with no pacifier--they cried almost 70 percent of the time."

These baby boys, according to the article, were part of a test run by
"investigators at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore" to determine if
sugar activates the pathways of the body's natural opiates and in so doing
lessens pain.

As reported, there was no question that the infant boys suffered pain during
the circumcision procedure, but only to what extent sugar might alleviate it.

That a university the calibre of Johns Hopkins could simply accept
circumcision as a given upon which it could build a test case on sugar's
opiate qualities I found almost beyond belief.  

My husband and I thank you and your network for including us on your mailing
list and for all you have done and are doing to question the accepted
practice in the United States of circumcising newborn males routinely.
 --Sallie Hogg

HANDS OFF
My youngest son is completely content at being "different" from his father
and older brothers.  When I explained circumcision to him, his face took on a
frightened expression as he cupped his hands over his genitals and loudly
declared "That is NEVER going to happen to me!!"  Wouldn't every baby say the
same, if only they too could speak?  --Rosemary Romberg, author of
Circumcision: The Painful Dilemma.

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