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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Thanks to the last three posters for those comments, I appreciate it. 11:55, I will definitely look into the book. I love the idea of a peaceful covenant -- I knew there were debates within Judaism about this, but not an alternate ritual.

Thinking about this more, I wonder about why the covenant was based on this specific act. Is it because one naturally protects one's genitals (and the survival of one's bloodline through reproduction) from injury and thus suffering an injury there represents turning one's survival over to God? I think in the time this practice began there were surely a lot more risks from circumcising than not, all kinds of infections and amputations...and the covenant has so much to do with God's protection of the Jews, their survival. I just wonder why it was not some other body part like an earlobe, something men and women could do. Seems like there must be a meaning behind it.

Ultimately it doesn't accord with my spiritual beliefs to think that God's protection will only be promised if my son undergoes circumcision. I thought at first of looking into medical benefits, but when I think historically about the risks of a medically unnecessary procedure it seems that the practice must have arisen and been maintained solely according to some other mode of thinking. I feel more and more that this would not be the right thing for us to do. DH and I have had some pretty interesting conversations about this, and we will check out the book and other viewpoints.

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Same NP as above.  Blood-letting or male circumcision is a very common pagan ritual (which would have existed long before the invention of Judaism).  Our ancient human ancestors worshiped the female because of her power to reproduce -- create another human being.  They believed this power came from her menstrual cycle (probably because it stopped when she was pregnant and would start again when the miracle occurred).  Since women got this "power" during puberty, it became custom for men to cut themselves (self-circumcise) during the same time.  You can read about Nelson Mandela's self-circumcision experience online as an example: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2352015/Nelson-Mandela-Circumcision-ceremony-teenage-boys-presidents-Xhosa-tribe-South-Africa.html (Fire shooting through my veins).

Of course, there were males who did not like this tradition, so to make sure it wasn't abandoned (perhaps to appease the "gods"), circumcision in many cultures was done as an infant.  Indeed, when I visited Ghana, one thing that struck me as very interesting was that the circumcision their male infants after 7 days (the 8th day) -- the same as Jews.  They say that this tradition was alive way before the advent of Judaism:  https://berniceagyekwena.wordpress.com/2010/02/16/is-the-cultural-practice-of-male-circumcision-justifiable/

So, to make Judaism digestible to these cultures, they had to include many of their pagan rituals, including Sukkot (harvest festival) and bris (circumcision).  Judaism originally had animal sacrifice, as well (which was a huge progress from the human sacrifice some other cultures were practicing at the time).

If you view Judaism in light of this history, it was one of the most progressive ideologies of its time.  The fact that it allows debate (and both sides to be equally "right") over issues including gay marriage (there are Jews who believe that this is acceptable even under strict Torah scripture), feminism, and circumcision, it is a rarity in world religions today.

Weirdly, what got me obsessed with this history was the Da Vinchi Code (by Dan Brown) which interweaves a lot of history about the female god, etc that is factual in ancient pagan culture.[/quote]

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