German Court Calls Circumcision Grievous Bodily Harm
In a landmark ruling in Germany, a court ruled that a child’s rights to have an intact body free from grievous harm outweighed the right of the parents to enforce their religious beliefs on their child by cutting his penis:
Circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to grievous bodily harm, a German court ruled Tuesday in a landmark decision that the Jewish community said trampled on parents’ religious rights.
The regional court in Cologne, western Germany, ruled that the “fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents”, a judgement that is expected to set a legal precedent.
Unsurprisingly, members of the Jewish community have defended what they believe to be purely a religious act, the cutting off of son’s foreskin:
The head of the Central Committee of Jews, Dieter Graumann, said the ruling was “an unprecedented and dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination.”
The judgement was an “outrageous and insensitive act. Circumcision of newborn boys is a fixed part of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for centuries,” added Graumann.
“This religious right is respected in every country in the world
You’ve got to admit that simply arguing that it’s been done before, and even done a long time ago, isn’t a stellar argument. Slavery was supposedly acceptable just 200 years ago, and it’s not anymore in America. The concept of child brides is now derided as child rape, and this was part of supposed religious custom, as well. Female circumcision has been found to be a human rights violation, but some argue it’s a religious decision.
Pretty much the idea of a parent cutting a child’s genitals to mark them as part of the parents’ religious group removes the right of the child.
There was pending legislation in California, with the caption of something like ForeskinMan, designed to limit circumcising young boys. You can view the link here: http://www.foreskinman.com/characters.htm
The California legislation didn’t get far, largely due to the significant Jewish population in the area, so it looks like the Germans are ahead of us on this one. (Get it? A head? Get it?) Let’s keep those heads intact.
Related articles
- German court outlaws circumcision for infant boys (rawstory.com)
- Religious circumcisions are crimes says court (thelocal.de)
- Outraged German Jews slam court for prohibiting circumcision (timesofisrael.com)
- Boys circumcised for religious reasons are victims of assault, says German court (freethinker.co.uk)
- German judges rule parents can be brought to court for circumcising children (timesofisrael.com)
