Comixio Religionis Ethos

Comixio Religionis: Ethos Socialization of Violence and Abuse Dr. Richard L. Matteoli A Mandated Report to the Social Body Preliminary 1 Mother binds father Father binds Mother We are Spawn of their Argument 2 ETHOS Civilization’s Rule of Law becomes abdicated to Cultural Convention Ethics is a system of moral principles and rules of conduct regarding the rightness and wrongness regarding the motivations and desired ends of actions. Morality is being able to conform to the social ethic of what is culturally considered right and wrong behavior. The culture and social body is the group the individual resides in whether interpersonal, local, national or religious affiliation. Socialization requires implied consensus and demands negotiation. Here we enter the world of ethos, and the methods used to reach agreement. Agreements in social rituals as genital mutilations involve interpersonal, familial, and tribal associations. As these rituals become acculturated there arise, in transference, groups of specialized agents who dictate and perform action. Part, and only part, of this process involves movement from matriarchal identity power to patriarchal enforcement action. This is true regardless of who performs the act. As an example, Margaret Thatcher acted patriarchally during England’s Falkland War with Argentina. In primitive cultures sexual rituals are same sex perpetrated by elders. If one sex refuses to participate the other sex will enforce. This occurred when Jewish men under the Greeks refused circumcision and the mothers then performed the ritual. When cultures become complex victim age decreases. And later, as with our modern medicine, sexual barriers to professions drop. There are two forms of postured argument: Altruistic Ethos and Selective Ethos: ALTRUISTIC ETHOS: a postured form of argument or discussion to enhance a belief or position as it relates to humanity in general SELECTIVE ETHOS: a postured form of argument or discussion to enhance a belief or position that usually separates one person or group of persons from another person or group of persons usually via perceived innate differences between them, and often contains deceptions from altruistic posturing with subsequent actions in Situation Ethics, which is a fallacy 3 These two postured forms of argument are used by both sexes in socialization of psychosexual power relations. Yet as one observes religions there is a distinction between feminine and masculine emphasis of ethic and morality. It is as if the sexes are mirror images. The two approaches to ethics, that also include theological expression, may be defined with: FEMININE ETHICS: ethics in accordance with Nature to Action where emphasis is within the existence and relationships of nature. MASCULINE ETHICS: ethics in accordance with Action to Nature where emphasis is within the meaning and results of action The male role is to sacrifice himself for the social.1 The social is the feminine. And feminine social order is the theological entity where sacrifice plays through in the Wild Woman’s Life/Death/Life cycle. This circularity, particularly regarding the socialized organization of violence including Female Genital Mutilation, is seen in psychosexual power relations contrary to the masculine ethic that argues strictness of ethical behavior regardless of social demand, as stated by Aisha Samad Matias with:2 “In summary, all of these functions emphasize the superiority of group needs over those of the individual and tie the individual to the group of birth.” The ethos that Matias is contradicting in her child advocacy is false religious ethics based on scripture. The following definitions apply to the religious pitfalls the three Jerusalemic relitions have taken from the origination of scriptural meaning, both in the meaning of the word circumcision as well as passages that apply to circumcision. A phylactry is an amulet with a piece of scripture inside and used in prayer. BABELIAN IMPERATIVE: 1. The act of deceiving through use of a euphemism. 2. The use of language in deception through obfuscation PHYLACTRY FALSE: false and improper use of scripture 4 LEGAL TRIANGLE Legal basis of ethics and morality is a bipolar triangle of working out discord. The center is value. Laws against female genital mutilations and violence against women demand male’s equal protection. This is evidenced by cases of medical experimentation on males.3 , 4 , 5 Circumcision is a perfect crime. JUSTICE (Judge) INJUSTICE / \ Administrative / \ Congressional morality / value \ ethics /_______\ RIGHT (plaintiff) WRONG < > LEGAL (defendant) ILLEGAL QUESTION If a woman is given the Date Rape drug Rohypnol,6 and she doesn’t remember the rape, did a rape really occur? Rohypnol is an addictive drug given for short term insomnia. It causes impaired judgement and motor skills. One side effect is a blackout with memory loss. This pertains to the genital assaults. Anesthesia is now recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to mediate pain7 and reduce latent memories. Also, many advocate genital surgeries be performed early on the neonate and infant so they do not remember. This socio-medical action adheres to the denial and deferral aspects that ritual and child abuse have in common. American law, science, and social convention preclude protection of male genital integrity. The law ensuring female genital integrity is S. 1030; Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1995. Bollinger states, “Laws which selectively protect or prohibit one gender over another lead to sexism elsewhere in our culture.” He has set forth a proposal to modify S. 1030 to gender neutral language allowing equal rights to all minors. Unequal equity is common. One woman received $117,500 for having been shaved by a jealous wife. The prepuce is worth about $60,000. 5 DIFFUSION OF RESPONSIBILITY A. M. Rosenthal wrote, THIRTY-EIGHT WITNESSES: The Kitty Genovese Case. It documents Kitty’s 1963 murder when witnesses did not act in coming to her aid or calling police when they saw her attack and heard her screams. In its subsequent film documentary Rosenthal stated:8 , 9 “Very few stories transfer immediately their essential meaning from the victim, or the participant, to the reader. This bit. There were two questions: How did it happen? And the second question was: What would I have done? ~ Would I do such a thing? Never! And then, as I was writing the book, I realized that was not the question. But the question was: Would I do it again?” Latane and Darley, in 1968, defined social non-action as Diffusion of Responsibility. It concludes that: The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely each is to act. In the documentary Dr. Harold Takooshian stated: “It’s almost as if the bystanders are knowing accomplices of the criminal. There is something about that existential fact that makes this case so wanting.” Rosenthal sums with: “How far away from, do you have to be from, a murder in order to get absolution for doing nothing?” Any participation, whether active or passive, parental or otherwise, in genital mutilation is similar to the Nazi doctor’s agency. This includes actions and inactions within the legal, law enforcement, and judicial communities. In socializing denial and deferral sacrificers procure ill gotten gains by the ritual itself. It is in the manipulation of the object to feel a kind of accomplishment within an otherwise overwhelming existence. 6 PARADIGM SHIFT The 18th Century paradigm shift was circumcision leaving religion into the secular world. Religious communities rationalized with erroneous medical explanations. Margaret Murray in The GOD of the WITCHES realized:10 “There is, however, a continuity of belief and ritual which can be traces from the Paleolithic period down to modern times... No religion dies out with the dramatic suddenness claimed by the upholders of the Complete-Conversion theory... The great masses of the people followed the old gods, and practiced Pagan rites.” SOCIAL CONTRACT Any alteration from origin is a blasphemy to Judaism and Islam. The myth of Abraham and Sarah’s Covenant of Circumcision was not for man to change for the sake of social convention to further any other psychosexual power relations as occurred in Judah’s alteration creating glans exposure. Inclusion of any genital alteration in Christianity is a blasphemy. Summarizing with Rousseau from The Social Contract:11 “The articles of this contract are so precisely determined by the nature of the act, that the slightest modification must render them null and void; they are such that, though perhaps never formally stated, they are everywhere the same, everywhere tacitly admitted and, recognized, and if ever the social pact is violated, every man regains his original rights...” RELIGIOUS LAWS There are three types of religious laws in the Old Testament 1) Civil 2) Ceremonial and 3) Moral. Christianity removed the first two forms of the Mosaic Law but morality in the Ten Commandments was kept. Islam, like Christianity, originally did not require circumcision but was incorporated after the death of Muhammad. Abusive Theology The psychosexual Jerusalemic entities, like a dysfunctional family, are abusing themselves, each other, and their neighbors – which is to say the rest of the world’s inhabitants. As men in patriarchy can 7 When a merchant speaks of sheep he means the hide. Swiss proverb become abusive, women in matriarchy can become abusive; and so too the child. It is a series of backlash upon backlash upon backlash whith no positive or constructive balance as well as no knowledge of origin. Their actions against their children in circumcision constitute a cycle of violence that becomes social, eventuates into the cultural, and lashes out at the world within Munchausen transference. All three Jerusalemic entities are improper in their turmoil that extends from their egocentricity of their respective Selfs as the assumed chosen one’s in and of themselves. Their respective clergys with their religious are into the who of their existence. It is as if all they perceive is the hallway, the Hallowed Hall, is the paragee of a combined institutional building. Religious leaders cannot seem to apologize for their forefathers. It is up to them to come to terms with the realities of their respective faiths or face the possible consequences from their flock. Psalms 73:6-9 (The Trial of the Just) Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence. James 4:1 (Submit Yourselves to God) What causes fights and quarrels among you?.. from desires that battle within you. The race of man, while sheep in credulity, are wolves for conformity. Carl van Doren Surah 6:132 And all have degrees according to what they do; and your Lord is not heedless of what they do. Blasphemy The Jerusalemic faiths of Judaism, American Christianity and Islam constitute a psychosexual family living a shared moral and ritualistic lie in their rituals of circumcision. All three religions have perverted word of their God and improperly altered the imago Dei, the image of God, for their respective descendents as well as their imago Vivendi, their way of life. Isaiah 28:15d (Woe to Ephraim): For we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place. Romans 1:25a (God’s Wrath against Mankind): They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Surah 83:7 Then it shall be said: This is what you gave the lie to. 8 How do you expect someone to respect a child when they themselves were not respected as a child. Aaron Mosaic Law Religious law is not as kind as secular law. Moses never circumcised. The myth tells his wife Zipporah circumcised their son with a flint knife, yet the myth referes to Hathor worship. Zipporah’s father was a Midianite priest and the Midianites worshipped the goddess Hathor and her moon god-son Horus – who was also the son of Isis in Egyptian myth. Horus was a falcon headed god and Zipporah’s name means bird. When Horus transformed into animal form one of his front paws was a flint knife. The god mentioned that was coming to kill Moses was Horus. This real message of the myth has been lost. To understand Mosaic Law in genital mutilations one must filter history and the participants. Next is the time-line within epos and the Torah in their religious evolution. Israel’s movement into Egypt, in the story of Joseph and his brothers, coincided with the Hyksos’ migration from the area of Canaan into Egypt. The Hyksos eventually came to rule Lower Egypt around 1650 BC. This provincial rule over a portion of Egypt gives credence to Moses being a Prince of Egypt. The Egyptians drove them out of Egypt around 1550 BC where they then made their way back to Canaan. Moses’ movements after leading Israel out of Egypt existed around 1550 through 1500 BC. Nubia has gone under many names. These include Yam, Irem, Ta-sety, and Kush. Nubia was the region south of Lower Egypt. Nubia’s Kerma culture reached its apex when the Hyksos ruled Lower Egypt. After the Egyptians removed the Hyksos, they then absorbed most of Nubia. By 1000 BC Egypt again began to wane and Nubia consolidated. They eventually absorbed Egypt to make the Kushite 25th Dynasty of Egypt. This rule was between 747656 BC.12 Previous Egyptian mummies were not prepuce amputated. Their hieroglyphs showed prepuce bleedings in the fashion of Re. Nubia enforced prepuce and clitoral amputations when its powerful princesses exerted cultural control in Egypt.13 History becomes irrelevant after 50 years, and transforms to epos by 300 years. Epos consolidates and transforms movements of people to singularity in the leadership of one individual.14 Solomon reigned 450 years after Moses with Israel’s establishment back into Canaan. The earliest Torah record is The Book of J written during Solomon’s reign. Abraham’s circumcision story is not present in The Book of J. The theory is that a woman in Solomon’s court or harem wrote it. When later Torah scripture was written it incorporated history, and confused 9 contemporary ritual with Abraham’s Covenant. The confusion is the various times of ritual change. Egypt at first only bled the prepuce. Abraham’s Covenant only removed a portion of the prepuce as it extended beyond the glans. They referred to this as the foreskin. Then, the Torah was written recording Mosaic Law from the Code of Hammurabi in comparison to Egyptian practices at the various times of writing. Judah next changed Abraham’s Covenant to prepuce amputation in 140 AD. The verse that pertains to Mosaic Law and its punishment for prepuce amputation as a form of sexual relations, as well as any full human sacrifice and other improprieties, is Leviticus 18:-5. Leviticus 18: 1-5 (Unlawful Sexual Relations) “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.’” Judaism blasphemes Yazhweh as well as Sarah and Abraham with their genital mutilation rituals. They further blaspheme humanity, as a crime against humanity, by continuing their mutilations as practiced today. Some of their physicians are pariahs to their patients and falsifiers to the parents of their patients. Individuals blaspheme their neighbors because even wanting the loss of a body part of another individual is a form of coveting. Above all a rabbi and mohel should, and it must be assumed that they do, possess the knowledge of the origin of their tradition and the changes thet have taken place. There are an increasing number of rabbis who understand and perform only a brit shaloam which does not involve any form of genital assault. It does not matter what is professed juxtopposed to historical facts that contradict mythology. Actions speak louder than words and this is especially true of genitally assaulting infants and children. Circumcisions are acts of sexual immorality. According to rabbi Dr. Shmuel Himelstein the Law of Moses dictates the penalty of death by stoning for acts of sexual immorality. Rabbi Himelstein uses his death penalty dissertation with the verses that follow the above Leviticus 8:1-3 with Leviticus 18:4-5. He states the death penalty is inferred by ‘not 10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond all care. Jeremiah 17:9a living by his God’s decrees:’15 Dr. Rabbi Shmuel Himelstein’s discussion in his text The Jewish Primer states the position taken after 140 AD:16 “The circumcision consists of the removal of the foreskin, and is supposed to be performed on the eighth day after the child’s birth (i.e., if a child was born on Saturday, the circumcision is held on the following Saturday). If the child is underweight or jaundiced, the circumcision is postponed until the doctor finds that he is ready for the operation. Where the child is really sick, Jewish law requires one to wait for seven days after the doctor pronounces him well enough to undergo the circumcision. Here, we have a cardinal principle of Judaism: as the Sages put it, basing themselves on the verse (Lev. 18:5), “You shall live by them” (i.e. the Torah laws): “You shall live by them, and not die by them.” In other words, the maintenance of human life takes precedence over all the commandments, except for three. And these three are self-explanatory: a person may not save his life if the only way he can do so is by violating the laws of murder, idolatry or sexual immorality.” The words of Rabbi Himelstein are biblically correct. What he fails to define is the biblical use of the word ‘foreskin’ as it pertains to only that portion of the prepuce extending beyond the glans penis. Full prepuce amputations certainly do cause death. The incidence is more prevalent than recorded. Such mistakes given the diagnosis of Failure to Thrive are mostly caused from resultant shock to the traumatic event. Idolatry involves graven images. But idolatry is metaphorical and totemistic. In primitive cultures the blooded penis becomes the clan totem. In polytheistic theology it is also a deity representation that metaphorically extends to the individual. It is as a girl who first menstruates becoming the living image of The Great Mother, the Mother Goddess, and Mother Earth. Circumcision’s Sexual Impropriety is obvious and connective when understanding Abraham’s Covenant in its proper perspective. Rabbi Himelstein thus gives the death penalty, through an act of sexual impropriety as the Mosaic Law’s punishment for full prepuce amputation. It is in Leviticus 27:29. Leviticus 27:29 (Redeeming what is the Lord’s) “No person devoted to destruction may be ransomed; he must be put to death.” 11 Catholic Doctrine Again, there are three types of religious laws in the Old Testament: 1) Civil, 2) Ceremonial, and 3) Moral. Christianity removed the Torah’s civil and ceremonial laws while morality in the 10 Commandments were kept. Romans 7:6 (Freedom from the Law): But now we are released from the law, dead to what held us captive, so that we mat serve the newness of the spirit and not under the absolute letter. More blasphemous than Judah’s alteration is the American Catholic adoption of circumcision. Judah’s contemporary use is in ignorance of historical ritual change. American Catholic use is explicitly forbidden. Also, Philippine Catholics are aiding the practice in that country at an alarming rate. This may be from fear because it is occurring in an island chain which is vastly Islamic. The fear is from the forced abductions and mutilations which are occurring in Indonesia and other areas where Muslims become enough of a majority to force their perceived customs at will. In the past American Catholic hospitals included female mutilations, but have since ignored these procedures since insurance companies have eliminated coverage. There are many numerous New Testament references denouncing genital mutilation. The Christian is not to hold to this teaching because of its historical association with feminized human sacrifices. This is cross referenced to historical Cretan and Minoan bull rituals in Isaiah 66: 3a, and Hindu myth. Bull rituals involved full child sacrifice and are related to the Canaanite Golden Calf ceremony. At the beginning of Christianity the change to full prepuce amputation was starting. Ritual change starts long before the ‘new’ change becomes official. Priests of Great Mother fertility goddesses, as Artemis and Cybele, had to be castrated. Castrated males belonged to these goddesses. Circumcision is an attenuated form of castration. Christian punishment is self-castration in Galatians 5:12. These references are: Isaiah 66:3a. (Judgment and Hope) But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man. Galatians 5:12 (Freedom in Christ) Would that those who are upsetting you might also castrate themselves. 12 The Vatican re-established its authority with the Council of Basle. It was initiated by Pope Martin V in 1431, and ended in 1449. This was to counter the following of the Antipope. During this time the Catholic Church also convened the Council of Florence in 1438. It lasted until 1445. Partly, it was meant to negotiate unification with the Eastern Orthodox Church. It is here that Dracul was a representative of the Hungarian king. The Council of Florence included the 1442 Papal Bull to the Coptic Christians giving the church’s doctrine regarding circumcision. Circumcision was deemed a Mortal Sin. A Bull is considered an Apostolic Letter which is ritually sealed in lead. It is issued by the Pope and his authoritative title on the document is episcopus, servus servorum Dei. The Coptic’s lived in Islamic Egypt and adopted circumcision. As shown by Vlad Dracula’s experience, as well as those living today in Indonesia, Serbia, and the Holy Land, circumcision is often forced or coerced acquiescence. Bull of Union with the Copts It [The Holy Roman Church] firmly believes, professes and teaches that the legal prescriptions of the old Testament or the Mosaic law, which are divided into ceremonies, holy sacrifices and sacraments, because they were instituted to signify something in the future, although they were adequate for the divine cult of that age, once our lord Jesus Christ who was signified by them had come, came to an end and the sacraments of the new Testament had their beginning. Whoever, after the passion, places his hope in the legal prescriptions and submits himself to them as necessary for salvation and as if faith in Christ without them could not save, sins mortally. It does not deny that from Christ’s passion until the promulgation of the gospel they could have been retained, provided they were in no way believed to be necessary for salvation. Therefore it denounces all who after that time observe circumcision, the Sabbath and other legal prescriptions as strangers to the faith of Christ and unable to share in eternal salvation, unless they recoil at some time from these errors. Therefore it strictly orders all who glory in the name of Christian, not to practice circumcision either before or after baptism, since whether or not they place their hope in it, it cannot possibly be observed without loss of eternal salvation. According to the Catholic Church circumcision is a mortal sin 13 I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable. Ezekial 34:10 when practiced as a matter of faith. Many American Catholics, and other American Christians, have come to believe that circumcision is a religious requisite. Such a false religious requisite has been perpetrated under the guise of “Because God was” which, in the case of nuns who belong to the Sisters of Mercy, told little boys when they questioned what had happened to them. The Catholic Catechism distinguishes between therapeutic and non-therapeutic surgical procedures. Therapeutic procedures are treatments for a curative result where disease is present. A nontherapeutic procedure is an elective surgery with no pathology present. Socialized genital alterations are non-therapeutic exercised psychosexual Power Relations. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Paragraph 2297 Except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, directly intended amputations, mutilations, and sterilizations are against the moral law... The Catholic Church’s unforgivable sin is blasphemy and denial of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is equivalent to the feminine Hebrew Shekina and the moving force to moral living. After the death of Jesus to Revelation the Christian testament emphasizes the Holy Spirit. Revelation is Jesus returned. Life, death, life and circumcision are in feminine power. It was the Holy Spirit that impregnated Mary mother of Jesus. Practicing circumcision is denial of the Holy Spirit’s teaching, thus a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Mary’s impregnation and the Christian unforgivable sin are in: Luke 1:35: (The Birth of Jesus Foretold): The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’ Mark 3:2 (Jesus and Beelzebub): “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” 14 Islamic Ideology ‘Tis not the dying for a faith that’s so hard, ‘tis living up to it that’s difficult. Thackery Circumcision is not mentioned in the Qu’ran, and was brought into Islam in a similar manner to circumcision came to Christianity. Islam is the last component of the psychosexual Jerusalemic family. True Islamic discussion of circumcision must come from the analysis of Jewish and Christian Testaments from whom Islam recognizes the authors as prophets. Islam kept the Jewish three forms of religious law: 1) Civil, 2) Ceremonial, and 3) Moral. Islam is bound by the Hebrew and Christian laws regarding genital alteration. Muhammad did not repeat what did not need repeating. By their mutilations Islam blasphemes Muhammad and their God Allah. Recently Islam has declared that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is absolutely against their theology and religious practices.17 , 18 The problem for Islam, as well as Christianity and the average Jew, is deciphering the truth in the Hebrew testament regarding male circumcision. As with many Jewish and Christian theologians regarding their respective faiths, there are many Islamic theologians who realize circumcision is not part of Islam.19 , 20 The Qu’ran states that Satan will command people to distort the creation of God. Yet, as with Christianity, Islam states creation’s perfection and implies that the human body should not be altered. The Qu’ran also states: 25:2 He created everything in exact measure; He precisely designed everything. 40:64 He designed you, and designed you well. 64:3 He created the heavens and earth for a specific purpose, designed and perfected your design. 95:4 He designed man in the best design. Many questions are being discussed within Islam as it is leaving its medieval existence and entering the 21st Century. Dr. Sami Aldeeb documents that circumcision, originally a goddess ritual, was officially introduced to Islam long after its inception.21 , 22 Khaled Ahmed’s recent article states:23 “According to “Jang” (26 April 2003), Council for Islamic Ideology (CII) declared such ceremonies as birthdays, ‘mehndi”, engagement, 15 circumcision (khatna, drinking milk (doodh pilai), and many other rituals as being against Islam. It disapproved of the feasts attached to these rituals. Only “walima” (feast from the boy) was found to be Islamic.” PSYCHOSEXUAL ETHICS Robert Solomon wrote The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy from which the following will be used as a source. He relates that Ethics is the study of right vs. wrong and good vs. bad for following the good life in the rules of moral principles that allow a person to live with clarity and confidence. The ethical battle is between egoism and altruism in which each has a psychological component. This discussion of philosophy by Robert Solomon, including the debate between Gillian and Kholberg leads to the different psychosexualities of Ethos. Thus when men and women eventually reach the same conclusion, their conclusion is based on different avenues of approach. To repeat the two approaches to ethics for the following, that also include theological expression, are: FEMININE ETHICS: ethics in accordance with Nature to Action where emphasis is within the existence and relationships of nature. MASCULINE ETHICS: ethics in accordance with Action to Nature where emphasis is within the meaning and results of action Feminine morality is used to intellectualize individual, social and cultural balance for the cause of maintaining relationships. In relation to feminine Life/Death/Life there is no difference to any reasoned sacrifice in theology – they are all the same. Robert Solomon related in his text the retort of Carol Gillian to Lawrence Kholberg. Kholberg basically stated, in the sense of Emma Jung, that women do not have the capacity to use logic to the depth of the Kantian extent to arrive at the difference between right and wrong. Then Gillian retorts by basically saying to the male is that there is no absolute morality but rather that morality is negotiable for social order. Yet, her retort only confirms Kholberg. If she would be discussing male genital rituals she would defend them on the basis of social continuity. Her argument would basically be a Selective Ethos posture hidden in Altruistic Ethos. The question to the quote below, from Solomon’s summation in his text The Big Questions: 16 A Short Introduction to Philosophy is the who, what, when, where, why and how is the interpersonal relationship to benefit?24 “Rather than thinking of ethics in terms of impersonal, abstract, moral principles of right and wrong, claimed Gillian, women tend to think of ethics in terms of moral personal responsibility. While men understood a moral dilemma posed by the experimenter as a problem having a right and wrong answer, women understood such a dilemma as the result of an interpersonal conflict in need of resolution, not a right-versus-wrong answer. Gillian hypothesized that in addition to the moral reasoning grounded in abstract principles of right and wrong described by Kant and Kohlberg, there is also a more ‘feminine’ but equally valid type of moral reasoning that is grounded in maintaining the stability of interpersonal relationships… The feminine ‘ethics of care’ is a superior, more mature type of moral reasoning than that which appeals to abstract ideas.” Solomon relates that Ethics is the study of right vs. wrong and good vs. bad for following the good life in the rules of moral principles that allow a person to live with clarity and confidence. The ethical battle is between egoism and altruism in which each has a psychological component expressed by:25 Psychological egoism: All acts are basically selfish Ethical egoism: You ought to act selfishly Psychological altruism: Some of our acts are naturally altruistic Ethical altruism: You ought to act for the good of others With either egoistic or altruistic action, to live with a clear conscience requires justification. Justifications of perceived truth are arrived at through either of two schools of philosophy. These are Rationalism and Empiricism. Their positional statements are respectfully termed a Necessary Truth or an Empirical Truth: Rationalism: Knowledge is based on reason Necessary Truth: A statement that is true because of reason Empiricism: Knowledge is based on experience Empirical Truth: A statement that is true because of the facts 17 Yet, the workings of truth may be expressed through three theories. We are led to our decisions and resultant actions on whether the truth appears to work for us, coheres to occurrences that connect, or is based in empirical experimented fact. What works is pragmatic and is in no way related to real truth for exercise. Coherence may deduce from experience, but does not rely on fact. Correspondence relies on fact, but problems arise when science is limited and does not truly know the facts but assumes them. These three theories are defined as: Pragmatic theory: True beliefs are those that ‘work.’ Coherence theory: True beliefs, including beliefs about experience that appear to cohere to each other. Correspondence theory: True beliefs corresponding to the facts. So, conclusions are based upon the type of thinking, argument, philosophy and truth one uses. These correlate to the types of logic used by either egoistic rationalism or empirical altruism, and are termed Inductive or Deductive Logic. Inductive logic corresponds to reason and pragmatism with no guarantee to actual truth; thus is more susceptible to selfish wants and desires. Deductive logic guarantees the truth only if the perimeters are correct; thus, it is dependent on accurate science and technology. Inductive logic does not guarantee the truth of the conclusion, but only makes it more reasonable for us to believe the conclusion compared to other possible conclusions Deductive logic guarantees the truth of the conclusion, if the premises are true. Our complex personal uses of the elements discussed are taken to, and become part of, the social structure. From these we structure our justification in morality. And, morality itself means different things to different people depending on the process taken. Morality may be perceived relative to the situation, or absolute in universal principle. When morality is relative to a people, so too are their extensions into their ethical and cultural value systems. Solomon described these as: 18 Moral Relativism: the thesis that there are no universal and essential moral values, that morality is ‘relative’ to particular societies or peoples. Cultural Relativism: the thesis that different people in fact have different values. This leaves open the question as to which (if any) is correct. Ethical Relativism: the thesis that whatever a culture or a society holds to be right is therefore right, or, at least ‘right for them.’ Moral Absolutism: the thesis that there are universal and essential moral values. If some society or people do not accept these values, then they are not moral. Ethical relativism applies moral standards to both individuals and society and when applied by the individual within the society any such behavior is contrary to criticism or evaluation. The final result, whether as individuals or a society, is that our actions may be right or wrong, as well as good or evil. And evil itself may be perceived as a direct moral issue, or an indirect happenstance. They are described as: Moral evil is a product of our actions and intentions Nonmoral evil is a product of natural disasters and ‘acts of God’ Now, the question arises as to whether or not ethical processes are predominantly or, more likely inherently used differently by the two sexes. Since Greek patriarchy feminine thought has been excluded from philosophy in western dominance. This turned in the 19th Century with reintroduction of feminine thought. Carol Gillian in Different Voice observed: As we have listened for centuries to the voices of men and the theories of development that their experience informs, so we have come more recently to notice, not only the silence of women, but the difficulty in hearing what they say when they speak. Yet in the different voice of women lies the truth of an ethic of care, the tie between relationship and 19 responsibility... To understand how the tension between responsibilities and rights sustain the dialectic of human development is to see the integrity of two disparate modes of experience that in the end are connected. Gillian’s statement is that feminists acknowledge innate sexual differences in modes of morality. And, that they are connected with the feminine stressing social and interpersonal relationships at the costs of rights. Munchausen Syndrome is not fully a feminine phenomenon. Munchausen Syndrome with Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is about 60% feminine and 40% masculine. Body realm is the feminine avenue to genital mutilation. Solomon stated: The idea that women are more often represented as part of nature comes in part from the idea that women are more identified with their bodies than men. COGNITIVE DISSONANCE Cognitive Dissonance is a condition where inner conflict and anxiety may result from an inconsistency between one’s beliefs and one’s actions. This occurs when there is concern by the caregiver about the appropriateness of subjecting those under their care to circumcision. Justifications must be given for action to occur. But for some, especially those advocates that present themselves as Benefit Providers there is no inner conflict. This is similar to child molesters that believe they are doing no wrong and often state that their actions were actually beneficial to the child. Also, child molesters often state the child initiated their molesting actions. This reasoning is the same as a man stating a woman was asking to be raped because of what she was wearing. With circumcision, the victim wears intact genitals and the intact genitals are perceived by the perpetrator as an invitation to their behavior on the child. CENSORSHIP Censorship is a function of protecting abusive behavior. It is common with the child molester to threaten a child if the child discloses the Dirty Little Secret. Censorship is also used when there is dissention to basic social acts. Acculturated rituals are basic social acts. Circumcision is a basic social act. 20 An instance of censorship occurred when Marilyn Milos and her non-profit organization NOCIRC requested a presentation booth at a Le Leche League’s international conference. Her group advocates that circumcision disrupts breast feeding. NOCIRC was initially granted a booth but within 24 hours about many Jewish and Muslim women stated they would boycott the conference if NOCIRC was granted a booth.26 NOCIRC now presents regularly at Le Leche League events. This attempt by a few to censor Marilyn Milos illustrates the teachings of Dr. Catherine Bell when she wrote:27 Any ritual performance must be seen as based on and legitimized by the ‘superior authority’… In the fixity of ritual’s structure lies the prestige of tradition and in this prestige lies its power.., formalization effectively determines content, transforming the specific into the general terms of a natural and preexisting order.., formalization not only produces a form of authority, ‘traditional authority,’ rooted in the appeal to the past.., formality puts people in a situation that discourages challenge and compels acceptance. INTACTIVISM Intactivism is the term for those in the movement to stop genital mutilations of both sexes to infants, children, and adolescents. They have increased our knowledge on their causes and effects. They are a very diverse international group. Members include all three Jerusalemic religions. Causes may be specific, as Muslim women advocating against Islamic and African Female Genital Mutilations, while supporting male circumcisions. The legal organization involved is the Attorneys for the Rights of the Child. Also, there are two specific resolutions being proposed. One is by Dan Bollinger to include male protection within the SchroederCollins Bill. The other is a petition by Dr. Ashley Montagu, in association with Dr. James Prescott. This petition, open for all to sign, will be presented to The World Court in The Hague. Its basis extends from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights issued by the United Nations on 10 December 1948. Circumcision is quite possibly the topic of many future lawsuits. Fathers have successfully stopped intended circumcisions of their sons directed by estranged wives.28 And, settlement has been awarded for a circumcision performed at birth, though with consent, by a 19 year old man.29 21 Endnotes ETHOS 1 deMause, Lloyd, Restaging Prenatal and Birth Traumas In War and Social Violence, Chapter 4 “The Emotional Life of Nations.” 2 Matias, Aisha Samad, ‘Female circumcision in Africa,’ Africa Update, Spring, 1996. 3 Hornblum, Allen, Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison. Lederer, Susan E., Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America Before the Second World War. 5 Miss Evers’ Boys, Film. 6 The National Women’s Health Information Center, “Date Rape” Drug (Rohypnol),” The Office on Women’s Health - US Department of Health and Human Services, 01 December 2000. 4 7 All Africa, “Bamasaba Want King,” New Vision, Kampala, 03 December 2002. 8 Rosenthal, A. M., Thirty-Eight Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Case, University of California Press, 1999. 9 Silent Witnesses: The Kitty Genovese Murder, The History Channel, ‘Histories Mysteries,’ (A&E Television Network), 1999. 10 Murray, Margaret, The God of the Witches, pp. 13, 17, and 18. 11 Rousseau, Jean-Jacque, The Social Contract, p. 60. 12 Shaw, Ian and Nicholson, Paul, The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press, 1995. 13 Women Pharaohs, Discovery Channel Video, Providence Pictures, 2000. 14 Eliade, Mircea, Myth of the Eternal Return, Princeton University Press, 1954. 15 Himelstein, Dr. Rabbi Shmuel, The Jewish Primer: Questions and Answers on JewishFaith and Culture, pp. 42-43. 16 Ibid, p. 143. AP, “The Age, Muslim Scholars rule female circumcision un-Islamic,” 24 November 2006. 18 Cairo (AFP), “Egypt outlaws all female circumcision,” 28 June 2007. 19 Abu-Sahleih, Dr. Sami Aldeeb, Male & Female Circumcision: Among Jews, Christians & Muslims, Shangri-La, 2001. 20 Abu-Sahleih, Dr. Sami Aldeeb, To Mutilate in the Name of Jehova or Allah: Legitimization of Male and Female Circumcision. 21 Farah, Caesar, Islam, Barron’s Educational Series, p. 13. 17 22 22 Williams, John Alden, The Word of Islam, p. 180. Ahmed, Khaled, “Second opinion: When in trouble go Medieval,” Daily Times Urdu Press Review, Pakistan, 29 June 2003. 23 24 Solomon, Robert C., The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, p. 326. 25 Ibid, p. 251, 150-151 and 147, 173, 18-19, 266-167, 84, 326-327. From: Carol Gillian, ‘Different Voice,’ pp. 173-174, 326-327. 26 NOCIRC, Newsletter, Fall, 2003, pp. 1-2. 27 Bell, Catherine, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice, pp. 121. Shoemaker, Crissa, “Parents Battling over Circumcision of Son to Discuss Settlement Today,” Courier News, Somerset, New Jersey, 18 January 2001. 28 Francescan, Christopher, “Serviceman Sues over Doc’s ‘Unkind’ Cut at Birth,” New York Post, 23 December 2000. 29 23