Pretty much its a 'Because God said so' sort of thing. Circumcision is a symbol of the pact made between God and Abraham. Once the child has undergone the process, they are a member of that covenant and, thus, are now Jewish. In theory it's possible to be uncircumcised and Jewish but you're pretty much banned from doing most of the traditional stuff.

As for an atheistic-historical perspective; it may be one of many reasons, including:

• Helps keep it clean in a dusty environment, reducing disease and infection.
• Some tribal societies use circumcision as a coming-of-age test at puberty. Perhaps it started off that way and then became ritualised and transferred to newborns.
• Theoretically, it reduces the impulse to masturbation.

If we're going to go down that route, why not lop off our little toes, remove the appendix, saw off nipples on males, etc? There are plenty of human parts that are leftovers from millions of years of evolution - yet we do nothing about them.

As for the cleanliness argument, as as already been stated, I don't know of any male who doesn't play (and by play, I don't mean masturbation) with themselves in the shower, even for the shortest of periods. I can honestly say that I have never had issues with cleanliness, even when I used to be the typical teenager who bathed once every fortnight :p

Anyhoo, I believe circumcision is a barbaric practice, whether carried out in a religious context or not.

Alcar...

Yeah, but you'd be considered a freak if any of that shit got removed. If it were standard practice, then I would argue that it doesn't matter. Also, little toes are important for balance, yes?

Edit: I read wrong. Yeah, I agree. I'm just repeating what I've heard.

Yes.

Pssssh. Yeah. Ok.

Common acceptance is rarely a good argument.

It's the big toe that we need for balance. Interestingly, you break your little toe(s) on average six to eight times during your life - yet you probably won't notice.

Alcar...

Sure it is! Especially considering the fact that some people prefer a cut dick.

As they've grown up with it being the norm, one could argue it is conditioning.

What are your thoughts on female circumcision?

Alcar...

I tend not to think about it.

I've never thought about it. Cunninglingus would be pretty superfluous.

The difference is that female circumcision has a much higher rate of complication and makes sex actually painful. Male circumcision may make sex less fun, but it's not near as evil as that.

Shush. I meant... Leave it till they're old enough to decide.

By then it will prove too painful and pointless a task; by the age they decide to be snipped, their foreskins are likely not to have been stretch enough to allow the head to be completely uncovered. as such, the head would be extremely sensitive, ie simply touching it would prove painful. Now, imagine it touching something, 24/7 for the rest of your life until it becomes used to the pain.

not that any child in their right mind would choose to be circumcised.

I believe it takes about 3 days to a week for the sensitivity to die down.

Of pure pain!

Perhaps. I've never tried it. Or, rather, I did but I was 8 days old at the time.

I wasn't disagreeing with your thesis, just the implication that the pain never goes away, you just get used to it.

Must...... discuss.................... D-D-DICKSKIN!!!!

I have nothing worthy to add at this time, but I'm going to ask what everyone is secretly thinking:

Ever fellatio'd a dude who has their foreskin intact? I haven't, just wonder what it's like.

Anyone tried both? Preference? Ladies?

Oh LAWD yes, I totally just went there.

I didn't think it was actually possible, but I think I just single-handedly degraded this thread by one more notch.

Oh my.

Penis penis penis.

Say, that's the spirit Leto! :)

Source.

There isn't much of a difference in my experience.

Alcar...

Well of course it's conditioning. So is language. I don't follow.

I don't really have any.

The streets

Yup, that's what I was thinking about. I'm always thinking about going down on a guy. Good thing this is a gay forum.

Oh wait.

I believe he is asking the GAY PEOPLE KIND SIR.

In other news, I still have a mutilated penis.

How can anyone forget why this forum is called "Oddworld Forums" :D

No I am not circumcised and my veiw on female circumcision is that if it can kill the women and does basically nothing to the women in the first place then it should be outlawed forever

Intact here, and highly prized. I can barely tolerate metal buttons on my fly. I'm not letting a scalpel near it. not again

You got your small print wrong. It should read ‘Or anything else.’ :|

"Candiru" comes to mind.