Keep an eye out for Hitchen's next book: How to make religious people really uncomfortable.

Circumcision is foul and disgusting, Chris is right about that!

Well that was a lot more than I bargained for...

Of course Christopher is absolutely right, the foreskin sometimes either shrinks or grows in a way that requires removal, but to do so as a standard practice or rite of passage is quite a barbaric/mediaeval/religious thing to do.

New Commandment for the religious: Cut Off the Head* of Thine Newborn as the Sun Rises. Remove one of your other Commandments or holy rules in favor of this new one. (I've no doubt that it won't be missed, anyway.)

* This proposed edition comes with footnotes, to urge folks to keep them strictly to what is on the page and not what they think is written there. Thus: Head means "that which can be neatly severed at the neck; be sure to use sterilized kitchen utensil to prevent infections." See, you got to really rub their faces in it, or they will squirm out their duty, these religious folks. The deluxe edition contains a whole collector's section detailing various advice from God to His subjects, ranging from "It is Good to Live Deep Down Under the Earth, where the Sun Never Shines" to "The Sun Welcomes Thee with Its Generous Warmth (study page 1103 for how to build spaceships that automatically transfer you to the nearest star, one-way only)."

I think it's an interesting and relevant point to relate male circumcision to female genital mutilation (FGM), but it don't think the two practices are on the same level of human rights violation. I do think male circumcision is a unnecessary ritual with little or no medical benefits, however the pain and sexual oppression involved in FGM exceeds this. I don't think it is right to decide for your infant son what to do with his body when he is too young to consent (as circumcision can be performed at a later age as well), but as to the argument that it reduces libido, I'm not sure how valid that is. As someone with sexual experience with both circumcised and uncircumcised men, I haven't noticed a difference in sexual desire or performance, but I don't refute this as a general phenomenon. There can be, however, little argument that FGM negatively effects female sexual pleasure and physical wellbeing when in the most extreme cases all of the exterior parts of the female genitalia is removed and the vagina is sewn up to a very small opening only allowing for menstruation. I do agree with the statement that both are morally questionable practices enforced by religion and culture, I just wanted to point out that the two practices are not exactly parallel.

I apologize, my above comments don't add anything constructive to the site.