Circumcision

How is removing foreskin from a guy's penis a 'rite of passage' and religious requirement? :O

"Circumcision in the U.S. sprang from an erroneous belief among physicians that it cured masturbation."

"The WHO has estimated that 664,500,000 males aged 15 and over are circumcised (30% global prevalence), with almost 70% of these being Muslim. Circumcision is most prevalent in the Muslim world, parts of South East Asia, Africa, the United States, The Philippines, Israel, and South Korea. It is relatively rare in Europe, Latin America, parts of Southern Africa, and most of Asia and Oceania. Prevalence is near-universal in the Middle East and Central Asia."

"It is considered of such importance that in some Orthodox communities the body of an uncircumcised Jewish male will sometimes be circumcised before burial."

"Milos and Macris (1992) argue that circumcision encodes the perinatal brain with violence and negatively affects infant-maternal bonding and trust."

Creepy.

p.s. Clarification - this is part of a reading for 1 of my modules. I'm not so randomly pervy.