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== Historical background ==
The [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] is a very old ritual, whose exact origin cannot be verified beyond doubt. Circumcision is believed to have originated in east Africa near the Red Sea well before the dawn of recorded history.<ref name="demeo1997">{{REFbook
|last=DeMeo
|first=
|author-link=
|year=1997
|title=The geography of sexual mutilations
|url=https://www.academia.edu/4212007/The_Geography_of_Male_and_Female_Genital_Mutilations
|work=Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy
|editors=George C. Denniston, Marilyn Milos
|edition=
|volume=
|chapter=
|pages=
|location=New York
|publisher=Plenum
|isbn=0-306-45589-7
|quote=
|accessdate=2021-11-13
|note=
}}</ref> Medical historians assume that circumcision already served in ancient history as a way to control the sexuality of slaves and members of the lower classes without compromising their ability to reproduce. In religious history circumcision may be seen as a substitute for human sacrifice. In prehistoric times it was not uncommon to placate the gods with human sacrifice. Castration of slaves or conquered enemies was common as well. Following religious changes this sacrifice was altered, and only a part of the very organ responsible for the creation of new life was sacrificed.
[[Image:Circumcision Sakkara 3.jpg|200px|right]] For the [[Aborigines]], the [[Australia| Australian]] natives, the tradition of circumcision is said to go back to 10,000 BC. On the African continent, the first circumcisions are assumed to have emerged around 6000 BC. From ancient Egypt hints of various forms of circumcision date back to the time around 3000-2000 BC. The oldest known depiction<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circumcision_Sakkara_3.jpg
|title=File:Circumcision Sakkara 3.jpg
|accessdate=2019-10-12
}}</ref> is an Egyptian tomb relief from the 6th dynasty, approximately 2300-2000 BC. It is not known precisely who was circumcised and why in those times.
In many cultures circumcision during puberty serves as a rite of passage, bringing adolescents into the community. As with other painful or humiliating initiation rites, proof of courage and mastering of critical situations are the key motivations. From some African tribes it is also known that the [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]] is seen as the removal of an inborn piece of femininity from the boys, thus making them men.
===Judaism===
In [[Judaism]], the tradition of [[Brit Milah| circumcision]] goes back to the [[Abrahamic covenant]] in a passage in the Book of Genesis (17:10-14). It was seen as a covenant between God and man, dating back to the patriarch Abraham.<ref name="garrett2023-11-10" /> The validity of this passage is increasingly being questioned.
{{Citation
|Text=10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any [[uncircumcised]] male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
|Author=Bible
|Source=Gen 17, 10-14, NIV
}}
According to the anthropologist and sociologist Rabbi Nissan Rubin, the [[Jewish circumcision| Jewish form of circumcision]], called ''[[Brit Milah| brit mila]]'', during the first two millennia did not include the later customary ''[[periah]]'', namely the complete scraping of the inner [[foreskin]] from the [[Glans penis|glans]]. This was only added around 135 AD, to make it almost impossible to restore the [[foreskin]] by [[stretching]], which became popular in the wake of Hellenic influence. While originally only the tip of the [[foreskin]] was cut off, ''[[periah]]'' removes the entire [[foreskin]].
In the Greek society of the day, a denuded [[Glans penis|glans]] was considered obscene and risible. In ultra-orthodox communities, circumcision is followed by the ''[[mohel]]'', the ritual circumciser, sucking blood from the wound with his mouth. This practice is highly controversial, as it can result in an [[infection]] with [[herpes]] simplex type 1. In New York City, between 2000 and 2011 eleven children were infected with [[herpes]], 10 of whom had to be treated in hospital. Two of them suffered permanent brain damage, two others died. In the 12th century, the Jewish philosopher and doctor [[Moses Maimonides| Maimonides]] claimed that circumcision was necessary, as it diminished sexual desires and reduced the pleasure to a degree just sufficient for mere reproduction.
===Christianity===
Jesus was born into a Jewish family in [[Israel]], where [[Judaism]] was the prevailing religion, so He was [[circumcised]] on the eighth day.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A21&version=NASB
|title=Gospel of Luke
|last=Luke
|first=
|publisher=NASB
|website=Bible Gateway
|date=
|accessdate=2019-11-10
|format=
|quote=And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
}}</ref>
The first Christians had been born Jewish, so a question arose whether one must be [[circumcised]] to be a Christian. When Christian leaders met at the [[Council at Jerusalem]] in the First Century to decide what was required to be a Christian, a letter was written to explain the requirements, but circumcision was omitted from the requirements.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+15%3A1-30&version=NASB
|title=Acts 15:1-30
|last=Luke
|first=
|accessdate=2019-11-10
}}</ref>
In Christianity, circumcision is practiced only in the Coptic denomination. There is no general belief that circumcision is a requirement of Christianity.<ref name="hill2004">{{REFweb
|url=https://www.cirp.org/pages/cultural/christian.php
|title=The Holy Bible, Circumcision, False Prophets, and Christian Parents
|last=Hill
|first=George
|author-link=George Hill
|publisher=Circumcision Reference Library
|website=
|date=2004-08-29
|accessdate=2019-11-10
|format=HTML
|quote=The falseness of those who advocate circumcision is a recurrent theme in the New Testament.
}}</ref>
Nevertheless, Christian moral notions had decisive influence on the spread of this practice. In the puritan influenced USA, circumcision of children was popular in the 19th century as a means to prevent [[masturbation]]. In those days, this so-called ‘self-abuse‘ was not only considered immoral, but was supposedly responsible for a variety of diseases. Masturbation, however, is not mentioned anywhere in the Holy Bible, so there is no support for the belief that it is somehow immoral or sinful.
Even the mere existence of a [[foreskin]] was falsoly linked to many illnesses. Among them one could find syphilis, epilepsy, paralysis of the spine, bed wetting, scoliosis (spinal deformity), paralysis of the bladder, club foot, nerve pain in the lower abdomen, tuberculosis and lazy eye. One of the best known advocates of child circumcision was [[John Harvey Kellogg]], co-inventor of the corn flakes bearing his name. In 1888, he wrote:
{{Citation
|Text=A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision, especially when there is any degree of [[phimosis]]. The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anaesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. In females, the author has found the application of pure carbolic acid to the [[clitoris]] an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement, and preventing the recurrence of the practice in those whose will-power has become so weakened that the patient is unable to exercise entire self-control.
|Author=[[John Harvey Kellogg]]
|Source=
|ref=<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Kellogg
|first=John Harvey
|init=JH
|author-link=John Harvey Kellogg
|url=https://archive.org/details/plainfaorold00kell/page/290
|chapter=Treatment for Self-abuse and Its Effects
|title=Plain Facts for Old and Young
|location=Burlington, Iowa
|publisher=F. Segner & Co.
|year=1888
|page=107
}}</ref>
}}
===Islam===
In [[Islam]], circumcision is also religiously founded, even though there is no mention of it in the Koran itself. According to tradition, the Prophet Mohammed was born without a [[foreskin]]. It is seen as a sign of prophets that they are born without a [[foreskin]] already. It is considered an honour to "resemble the example of the Prophet", meaning to be [[circumcised]]. In Islam, unlike [[Judaism]], there is no specific age at which the circumcision should be performed. Most circumcisions take place at ages between 6 and 10 years, but the range goes from birth to adulthood.
→Historical background
Circumcision is classified as a form of [[genital mutilation]].
== Rationale ==