In 1952 Wilhelm Reich said,
“Take that poor penis. Take a knife--right? And start cutting. And everybody says, “It doesn't hurt.” Everybody says, “No, it doesn't hurt.” Get it? Thatʼs an excuse, of course, a subterfuge. They say that the sheaths of the nerve are not yet developed. Therefore, the sensation in the nerves is not yet developed. Therefore, the child doesn't feel a thing. Now, thatʼs murder! Circumcision is one of the worst treatments of children. And what happens to them? You just look at them. They canʼt talk to you. They just cry. What they do is shrink. They contract, get away into the inside, away from that ugly world.” This quote appeared in the book “Reich Speaks of Freud” (1967).
Now, more than sixty years later, there are organizations in countries around the world that educate people about circumcision. Their message is that the procedure is cruel, medically unnecessary, and has lifelong consequences.
There are hundreds of websites speaking out against circumcision. Beyond the Bris: Questioning Jewish Circumcision is an intactivist site with Jewish contributors:
http://www.beyondthebris.com/An article I wrote for Beyond the Bris in February led Intact America, in March, to ask me to be their intactivist of the month:
http://www.intactamerica.org/schwartzmanI am honored to now be a member of their Board of Health Professionals.
