This post will definitely fall into the realm of controversy, so put on your big kid panties and read on, if you dare. We live in an interesting time. A time filled with causes, not unlike that of the 60’s. The problem with people who adopt causes is that it takes time for them to understand how to react to people who hold differing opinions. That said, let me tell you about the most recent cause to which I was introduced…the "intactivists". They believe that circumcision is evil and abusive to children. I applaud them for their avid belief in protecting children; however, one evening, while on a popular social forum, I found myself being inundated with comments because I “liked” someone’s status about praying for a child with “RIC”. Who doesn’t want to pray for a child?? I thought that RIC was an illness of some sorts. I felt so sad for this poor child, so I “liked” and said a little prayer for him/her. Little did I know that the status was about circumcision. (I still don’t know what RIC stands for, but I’m guessing the “C” means circumcision) The next thing I know my phone is going berserk with comments about how terrible, abusive, and irresponsible parents are, who circumcise their sons. I thought, "Hey, my son was circumcised!" I hardly feel like any of those things, because I love him to pieces, BUT nevertheless, there they were shouting insults to and fro, about people like me.
Now, I know that they did not mean to directly insult me personally. I understand that their intent is to educate and NOT infuriate, but the first lesson in advocacy that these childish women need to learn is TACT! If teachers’ lesson plans involved verbally abusing and humiliating children who failed to memorize their multiplication tables or yelling the dreaded "T-T-T-TODAY Junya!" as a child stutters through his sentences being read aloud in class, then no one would become educated about anything. Tact, ladies. If ending circumcision is so damn important to you, put yourself in other people’s shoes before you start slinging your judgmental word vomit in their faces. The second problem I found with their cause is that many of them seemed to be pro-choice in one form or another. One girl even admitted that more "intactivists" she knows are pro-abortion. I happen to be pro-life, so when I saw comments about how foreskin is healthy, functional, and valuable tissue that should be saved and not removed. I thought, “Damn, we’ve been going about this all wrong! Instead of referring to unborn babies as ‘fetuses’ we should start calling them ‘foreskin’, since that is a tissue worthy of being saved and a fetus is not.” I attempted once or twice to interject a couple of questions about it into the conversation, as the whole issue seems like putting the cart before the horse in my opinion, but it was insisted that my questions were off topic, so I just dropped it.
My point is that a person’s beliefs define who they are. Attacking anyone for the way that they feel is not only ineffective but counter-intuitive to the objective of educating them. I make my opinions known because I am not afraid of them but I refuse to go the route of others by name calling and letting emotions take me over. I used to be that way when I first became passionate about my personal causes, until I learned how to properly approach people who disagree with me. I put information out there and if you choose to read it, great, if not, that’s fine too. If you advocate for any cause, please remember that your cause is only as strong as the love and respect that you show others in your quest.
