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Notes -
This is not totally true. Circumcision was unpopular throughout the majority of the anti-masturbation hysteria, and became widespread in the US with the idea that it prevented the spread of STD’s. The middle class adopted it in the interwar era and it became near-universal following WWII.
It is true that circumcision was viewed extremely negatively in the west prior to the very late 19th century, but a lot of the reasoning behind that negative view was antisemitism(I hate to break it to you, but medieval theologians were not particularly concerned with safeguarding sexual pleasure). Yes, the RCC defined it as mutilation and thus technically a sin, but the dominant reasoning for opposition to circumcision among laypeople was anti-semitism.
I’m not saying this to defend circumcision; I don’t intend to circumcise my sons and generally support moderate measures to reduce the circumcision rate in the US. However, I do think it is important not to take the claims of anti-circumcision activists at face value.
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