Circumcision is about sexual control, according to Toronto Rabbi (and it's a good thing too!)

I think Sam Harris would say that difference between MGM and FGM is "hair splitting". He would say FGM is way way way worse.

Which is not true, and I think that more and more people are realizing this.

It depends on what are the criteria for declaring some mutilation to be worse. Is it clitoris? I'm not sure whether clitoris is being cut in most FGM procedures. Even in infibulation (Somali FGM), clitoris is left untouched in most cases.

But, this is where things get ugly. How do we compare them in detail? How much is 1 gram of clitoral tissue worth vs 1 gram of foreskin tissue vs 1 gram of labia minora...? Do we count the actual numbers of cuts involved? Do we count the reduction in sexual sensation (extremely subjective and pretty much impossible to quantify)?

The best solution is simply to ban them all (or maybe allow only simple cuts and pricks, for ritual's sake, if some morons really don't wanna give up).

/r/samharris Thread Parent