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[Free Thinker]

I am atheist my parents are Catholic and tried several times and ways to raise me and my siblings as such, I am the only one that didn't become religious. My 'education' about catholicism had me come across these passages and while it didn't confirm for me what I knew to be true it did greatly reinforce my position. So with the below passages how do you square what a book tells you and what you inflicted on your children? Keep in mind only countries that violate these passages find secular reasons to force it on kids. Heck my parents religion even had Papal Bulls telling them not to do it. A friend even attended a service where the Priest directly called out doing it, violating the Titus passage below. I also understand this is directed more at American Christians as the rest of the world isn't so barbaric.

"Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you be circumcised, Christ will be of no advantage to you." – Gal 5:2

"And even those who advocate circumcision don’t really keep the whole law. They only want you to be circumcised so they can brag about it and claim you as their disciples." – Gal 6:13

"For there are many who rebel against right teaching; they engage in useless talk and deceive people. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation. They must be silenced. By their wrong teaching, they have already turned whole families away from the truth. Such teachers only want your money" – Titus 1:10-11

"Watch out for those wicked men – dangerous dogs, I call them – who say you must be circumcised. Beware of the evil doers. Beware of the mutilation. For it isn’t the cutting of our bodies that makes us children of God; it is worshiping him with our spirits." – Phil 3:2-3

"And I testify again to every male who receives circumcision, that he is in debt to keep the whole Law. You who do so have been severed from Christ...you have fallen from grace." - Gal 5:3

"As God has called each man, in this manner let him walk. And thus I command in all the churches. Was any man called in the circumcision [Old Covenant]? Let him not try to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in the uncircumcision [New Covenant in Christ]? Let him not be circumcised! Circumcision is nothing. And uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let each man remain in that condition in which he was called." - 1 Cor. 7:17

"And some men came and were teaching the brethren, 'Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.' But Paul and Barnabas together had great dissension and disputing with these men. . . Then Peter stood up and said to them 'Why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?" - Acts 15:1-2, 7, 10

"But if I still proclaim circumcision. . . then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished." - Gal 5:11

"I wish that those who are pushing you to do so would mutilate themselves!" - Gal 5:12

[jimwalton]

These are a lot of verses to comment on in one post. Basically, circumcision was considered by the Jews to be the sign of your relationship with God, and not to be circumcised was a travesty. When Jesus died and rose again, a relationship with Jesus was to be the sign of one's relationship to God, making circumcision unnecessary and meaningless for what it used to mean. The Jewish people didn't accept that change in a friendly way. Paul repeatedly insisted, however, that it wasn't circumcision or non-circumcised that mattered any more. What mattered was one's relationship with God—what he called "the circumcision of the heart." Paul's idea was that if you still depend on circumcision to define your relationship with God, you've missed the whole point of Jesus, his death, resurrection, and salvation by faith through grace. We can talk further about any of these concepts in verses in specific, but that's the gist.

[Free Thinker]

So why do some still force it on their children for any reason? My parents religion said don't, and they did. If I am reading them correctly I could NEVER be a Catholic even if I wanted, at least one that only had to follow the new laws, I would still have to follow all of them.

[jimwalton]

There are many reasons parents still have their sons circumcised: (1) religious tradition; (2) perceived health benefits; or (3) family tradition. Christianity doesn't mandate whether parents should or should not circumcise their sons. What Christianity does say is that circumcision has no effect on one's relationship with God—it just doesn't matter any more, but it's not like it's a sin to circumcise one's sons, either.

[Free thinker]

I honestly find that ironic.

[jimwalton]

What part?