Bystander to a Crime Against Humanity

You'll have to forgive me. This is an issue that is extraordinarily personal, explosively controversial, and something I am both embarrassed and passionate about.

I am a victim of a crime akin to rape.

There, I thought that might get your attention. Even worse, this crime was child abuse, of a type that happens to billions of boys and girls across the planet. Worst of all, and this is something I may never forgive myself for, I was unable to prevent it from happening to my little brother and even my own nephew, because I was too ashamed to speak out. What is this horrendous crime, you might ask?

Circumcision.

There, I said it. And your reaction was to probably close this page, blush, laugh, *eyeroll*, dismiss, or something involving your eyebrows.

I am not kidding, not even a little bit. Amputation of the most sensitive erogenous zones on the human body, without consent, is almost worse than rape.

You'll notice I seem to be unfairly lumping male circumcision in with the recognizable atrocity that is FGM (female genital mutilation). They have the same means (removal of tissues with equal or greater sensitivity than our lips and fingertips) and, originally, the same goal (enforced sexual repression by elders). Both are monstrous atrocities perpetuated across countless generations.

Circumcision rates in the USA are dropping since their height in the eighties (when I was born, unfortunately). Instead of being taken for granted, now we give mothers and fathers a terrible choice: harm your newborn baby or have him be different from everybody else.

I find this question to be offensive by its very nature. I know all of the so-called reasons for and against. Completely Irrelevant. Routine Infant Circumcision (RIC) is evil not because it amputates healthy tissue and scars someone for life, as bad as those are. No, the heart of the issue is consent, or rather, the lack of it.

Their body, their choice. There is nothing so personal as ones sex life, and parents are making irrevocable anatomy decisions so the kid can look like his Dad? Really? I guarantee no adult getting this operation has placed that particular metric high on their decision list.

Circumcision of minors (who cannot give consent) should be made illegal. You heard me, illegal. There is no justification whatsoever for imposing this life-altering operation on a child legally unable to give consent and oblivious to the consequences. No, not even religious (I'm talking to you, Jews and Muslims). If an individual chooses to get circumcised after they turn eighteen, that is their business, and their right. Afraid they might choose otherwise? Why, that is exactly the point.

Individual choice, to live ones life as they see fit. You know, one of the cornerstones of our society.

I, myself, would have chosen otherwise.



Lurker

Wheel of Time chapter arc reading guide

Okay, so you want to start reading the massive Wheel of Time series consisting of 14+ books, a dozen primary characters, thousands of minor characters, 3 dozen plotlines, and by the end about 5 million words.

A bit daunting, to say the least.

So, on my last read-thru of the series, I set about to create a way of keeping everything straight. Originally, I constructed a timeline that would enable a network to produce TV episodes at the same rate events were happening in the books. Yes, squish 14 novels into the span of 3 and a half seasons of television (and that's still not compressed enough).

Long story short, I chopped up the series into little digestible bites, or arcs, if you will. Each arc has one obvious protagonist, one or two sub-plots (or thereabouts), and a beginning, middle, and resolution.

I made it easy. And if anyone ever dares to do a Wheel of Time television series, I can assure you this would be the episode guide they would follow.

And a completely different experience for WoT fans who've read it forwards and backwards already. Or if they want to skip those... less satisfying characters/plots.

Well, seeing is believing:

*Cut!* For the new guide, see:
http://astralspirit.blogspot.com/2010/11/wheel-of-time-arc-reading-guide-wotarg.html


Lurker