Friday, August 31, 2012

BLog 1: Is Circumcision a violation of human rights?

The article i chose was about is circumcision a violation of human rights among young men. Circumcision is when a young male baby is born and the foreskin is cut preventing any types of bacteria or germs forming in that area. Although this is a very common practice done world wide some say some men are speaking out stating that its an abomination.  Countries such as Germany have outlawed this practice and in other countries the rate of circumcision is below 40%. This medal procedure is also a religious practice done among the Muslim community, who do circumcise their young males, and the Jewish community, who do not, which is causing a heated debate in countries who no longer allow this practice. The U.S military conducts many circumcisions done in third world countries,such as African nations, in order to keep the rate of HIV from spreading through African males, they argue that this is just a way for Americans to come and rule their lives taking what little bit of manhood they've worked hard for and stripping it away. In order to voice their opinions on how they feel, men are holding rallies such as “Foreskin Pride”held in San Francisco and “ The Revolution Will Not Be Circumcised” held in Canada. They are also filing lawsuit against doctors hospitals and even their own patents in the defense that circumcision was not done to benefit them in any way.  This violation of rights issue can be also looked through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that basically everyone was born with certain who rights, but the question that everyone is asking is to what extent does a person body being altered can only be their decision.

While reading this article at first I didn't understand why these men were making a big deal out of something that happens to thousands of male babies every year, obviously their parents would do anything that would hurt them in any way or put them in harms way they were only doing what they thought was best for their child. The more I read into the article I started to understand the males point of view that this body altering decisions should not be left into the hands of a parent but more so the child, but the fact is that its a child how do they know what at that given point in time in their life is right or not. The reason circumcisions are done is to prevent certain diseases and even in some areas, like the article stated, lowering the spread of HIV. The overall question is whose right is to make the decisions for the young male child, although I understand the concerns of what the men of today are saying, I believe that it should be the parents chose in whether or not to do so. The other factor that plays a role in this situation is religion, I think that the countries who outlaw this practice should at least allow it to be done for religious purpose, denying someone the right to practice their religion is a violation of Human Rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although some may view this situation is a violation, it is all left up to the parents of the parents of the male child.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-m-obarr/circumcision_b_1840060.html

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