“ They will not stop us...we support circumcision”, shouts Saad Yehiah, a teashop owner in Kafr Al Manshi Abou Hamar, Egypt. Yehiah is responding to the government shutdown of a medical clinic that performs genital mutilation on young girls.
Michael Slackman wrote an article titled, In Egypt, Shielding Girls From an Old Practice, which was featured on the front page of the New York Times on Thursday, September 20, 2007. The article begins with a story about a 13-year-old girl who recently died as a result of a clitoral removal surgery.
In 1996 Egyptian’s Health Ministry ordered an end to this practice, however allowing it to occur in cases of emergency. Unfortunately, this exception was broad enough that it still continues to happen on a regular basis. A survey in 2005 discovered that 96 percent of women had undergone the procedure.
The Egyptian government is attempting to end this practice by banning health care workers from performing the procedure, many official religious leaders have deemed it ‘harmful’ and ‘prohibited’, television advertisements have been shown to discourage it, a national hotline has been set up to answer questions and pamphlets have been published that say genital cutting is not necessary for the Islamic religion.
Unfortunately these measures are not enough. The tradition runs deep in the culture and in the religious practices of the Egyptian people. The men of the village especially seem to be protesting.
It is frustrating that the women in Egypt, and many other countries, have little voice. Their family members mutilate the women and they in turn pass the tradition on to their offspring. For many people they do not know anything different. However the procedure is very dangerous, many times there is no use of anesthetics or sanitary materials, and has serious consequences later in life. According to Britannica Online Encyclopedia, the consequences include severe bleeding, tetanus, urethral closure, long delays during childbirth, psychological trauma and many other unpleasant consequences.
UNICEF is also becoming involved in this cause. They have reported that globally 130 million women have undergone this procedure. Erma Manoncourt, UNICEF representative in Egypt, is very firm on the fact that there is, “no evidence in religious texts either in the Muslim tradition nor in the Christian tradition that promotes this practice”.
This is the frustrating aspect of religion. It doesn’t matter whether you are Christian or Muslim or Buddhist you still encounter legalism and misinformation. I realize that genital mutilation is a very extreme form of legalism, but I think it is an excellent reminder. Our views of religion and how that correlates with our faith can easily be skewed without even realizing it.
I would encourage you to look at your faith critically and truly understand where your basis of living is. Are you advocating issues that aren’t necessarily Biblically based? Are there areas of your life that are habit or that you have adopted because your parents did? Find out what you believe. Search for the Truth. Live the Truth.
