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	<title>Comments on: God is Not Great &#8211; Christopher Hitchens</title>
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	<description>handmade, clean living, free thought</description>
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		<title>By: noreply@blogger.com (Writings of a Liberated Mind)</title>
		<link>http://liberatedmind.com/2009/04/god-is-not-great-christopher-hitchens/comment-page-1/#comment-58</link>
		<dc:creator>noreply@blogger.com (Writings of a Liberated Mind)</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>Correct, the main vein of Christianity does not require male circumcision, however it certainly does not campaign against this form alteration in the male genitalia.  In America, which hosts the largest percentage of Christians when compared to other advanced nations, the rate of circumcision is equally as high.  In america, 16% of people claim no religious affiliation yet 77% of Americans identify as christian.  In America 54% of male babies are circumcised today in comparison to Europe&#039;s less than 20% (accompanied by a 48% non religious populace).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Routine infant circumcision never took off in Europe but circumcision enthusiasts promoted it in English-speaking countries from the late Victorian era.&lt;br /&gt;There are many stripes of fundamental Christians, especially in America to whom every word of the bible is to be followed.  The Ted Haggards, etc.  These people arguably do cherry pick by saying that the creation story is fact but owning slaves like the bible condones is no longer correct.  In the same fashion, they are forced to cherry pick around Moses&#039; laws of circumcision and what the book of Acts says about every part of the human body being &quot;sacred&quot;.  On a side note: if every part of the human body is sacred, what is the purpose for an appendix or a gall bladder?? Extra pieces?  Or evolutionary left-overs that will be phased out as we evolve?  I think you know what science says :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To your point, the most aggressive religion on male (and female) circumcision comes from Islam.  Arguably in areas where cleanliness is difficult to maintain or in the bronze age when a person bathed once a year, circumcision was a likely alternative. (Although today medical practitioners are in agreement that circumcision holds no claims to cleanliness over uncircumcised)  It is akin to bible passages that speak of bleeding a bird in order to heal a sick person or avoid eating certain types of animal.  Perhaps good advice in the dark ages, but no longer do bronze age texts apply to our scope of knowledge and medicine, science and the universe... especially not the bible (a storybook with some good fables). &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks for reading!&lt;br /&gt;WLM &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sources:&lt;br /&gt;http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/ &lt;br /&gt;http://www.gallup.com/poll/117409/Easter-Smaller-Percentage-Americans-Christian.aspx&lt;br /&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision#Prevalence_of_circumcision</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Correct, the main vein of Christianity does not require male circumcision, however it certainly does not campaign against this form alteration in the male genitalia.  In America, which hosts the largest percentage of Christians when compared to other advanced nations, the rate of circumcision is equally as high.  In america, 16% of people claim no religious affiliation yet 77% of Americans identify as christian.  In America 54% of male babies are circumcised today in comparison to Europe&#8217;s less than 20% (accompanied by a 48% non religious populace).</p>
<p>Routine infant circumcision never took off in Europe but circumcision enthusiasts promoted it in English-speaking countries from the late Victorian era.<br />There are many stripes of fundamental Christians, especially in America to whom every word of the bible is to be followed.  The Ted Haggards, etc.  These people arguably do cherry pick by saying that the creation story is fact but owning slaves like the bible condones is no longer correct.  In the same fashion, they are forced to cherry pick around Moses&#8217; laws of circumcision and what the book of Acts says about every part of the human body being &#8220;sacred&#8221;.  On a side note: if every part of the human body is sacred, what is the purpose for an appendix or a gall bladder?? Extra pieces?  Or evolutionary left-overs that will be phased out as we evolve?  I think you know what science says :)</p>
<p>To your point, the most aggressive religion on male (and female) circumcision comes from Islam.  Arguably in areas where cleanliness is difficult to maintain or in the bronze age when a person bathed once a year, circumcision was a likely alternative. (Although today medical practitioners are in agreement that circumcision holds no claims to cleanliness over uncircumcised)  It is akin to bible passages that speak of bleeding a bird in order to heal a sick person or avoid eating certain types of animal.  Perhaps good advice in the dark ages, but no longer do bronze age texts apply to our scope of knowledge and medicine, science and the universe&#8230; especially not the bible (a storybook with some good fables). </p>
<p>Thanks for reading!<br />WLM </p>
<p>Sources:<br /><a href="http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/" rel="nofollow">http://www.cirp.org/library/statistics/USA/</a> <br /><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/117409/Easter-Smaller-Percentage-Americans-Christian.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.gallup.com/poll/117409/Easter-Smaller-Percentage-Americans-Christian.aspx</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision#Prevalence_of_circumcision" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision#Prevalence_of_circumcision</a></p>
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		<title>By: noreply@blogger.com (PJ)</title>
		<link>http://liberatedmind.com/2009/04/god-is-not-great-christopher-hitchens/comment-page-1/#comment-59</link>
		<dc:creator>noreply@blogger.com (PJ)</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:31:00 +0000</pubDate>
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		<description>Male circumcision is practiced by Jews and Moslems, but male circumcision is NOT a religious requirement for Christians.  In fact, the New Testament speaks out quite forcefully against circumcision.  You can learn more by going to:&lt;br /&gt;http://www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org/     &lt;br /&gt;and&lt;br /&gt;http://www.acts15.org/</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Male circumcision is practiced by Jews and Moslems, but male circumcision is NOT a religious requirement for Christians.  In fact, the New Testament speaks out quite forcefully against circumcision.  You can learn more by going to:<br /><a href="http://www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.catholicsagainstcircumcision.org/</a>     <br />and<br /><a href="http://www.acts15.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.acts15.org/</a></p>
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