Angela Merkel intervenes over court ban on circumcision of young boys (in Germany)

[reorg]

147. you should try and find out what authoritarian means

Definition of AUTHORITARIAN
1: of, relating to, or favoring blind submission to authority
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/authoritarian

authoritarianism
authoritarianism, principle of blind submission to authority, as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action. In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people. Authoritarian leaders often exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing bodies of law ...
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/44640/authoritarianism

True believers in Abrahamic religions claim they have to blindly follow the commands of a nebulous entity they label "god". Some of them apparently believe they are called upon to cut the foreskin of their sons at a certain point in time. If they are honest (and I believe most of them are), they don't even discuss the supposed benefits or drawbacks of such an operation but simply state: it is a command by our god, period, end of discussion.

The court decision in Germany is based on a thorough reading and interpretation of existing German law and fundamental rights in the German constitution. Everyone has the right to life and physical/bodily integrity (article 2 GG), which goes for adults as well as children. A surgical procedure, if not medically indicated, constitutes bodily harm and violates article 2 GG, a fact which is undisputed. The constitution also guarantees freedom of religion, and the rights of parents to care for and educate their children. However, at the same time, parents have an obligation to act in the best interest of their children.

Whether or not certain religious rituals are in the best interest of children has been decided by the court in Cologne with the known result. Other courts may decide differently. It'll be interesting to see how their argument goes. Quite possibly, there will be a Supreme Court (Verfassungsgericht) decision at some point.

Since you asked my personal opinion on forcibly stopping MGM for ritual reasons: no, I don't think it is necessary to prosecute parents and probably not possible to stop or convict them since they appear to sincerely believe they act in the best interest of their children*. However, I think legal avenues must be open to their children to seek damages from those who infringed on their right to bodily integrity.


*On edit: There also appears to be a sizeable portion of Muslims who follow this tradition due to social pressure, even though they are not really convinced it is in the best interest of their sons. A public discussion on the topic may already have some beneficial effects in those cases, even while the legal questions remain unsolved.