I explained why I think the procedure is barbaric and should be called mutilation, and how it has affected me throughout my life, and the insistence upon the procedure by Jewish people is what drove me from the religion entirely. She said that because she was Jewish she had always thought of it as a necessity and had never questioned it once. We ended up having a nice conversation about it.

The other night, she came up to me at a party, hugged me, and told me she would never cut her children. She then thanked me for showing the other side of the argument in a logical way that most people don't have the courage to talk about, and asking the questions she had never bothered thinking about.

So, for me, it is nice to know that even though I have to deal with people who think of circumcision as a non-issue in the US, or think that opposition to the practice is equivalent to antisemitism, or think that by bringing up the issue I must have nothing better to do, in the end, by opening up the dialogue, people who are rational and thoughtful will listen and it will open their minds.

Most people are not willing to admit that male circumcision is a pervasive, pointless, and harmful aspect of US society, and most of them are too sensitive, close-minded, or insecure to engage in a discussion about it. But times are changing, slowly, and part of that changing is opening ourselves up to discussing things that others will deem inappropriate, offensive, or pointless.