Berlin – Child ear-piercing has become the latest parental right under attack in Germany following the Cologne court’s determination that circumcision is illegal.
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A Berlin court is now considering whether or not piercing an infant’s or toddler’s ears should be illegal as well.
The DIE WELT (http://bit.ly/Sw1Dlp) reports that the parents of a three-year-old girl who pierced their daughter’s ears at a tattoo studio may face criminal charges for causing their daughter an “inordinate amount of pain.” The tattoo studio which performed the piercing may be prosecuted for piercing the little girl’s ears instead of refusing to do the procedure. Doctors have said that “the child was still manifesting a traumatic reaction” even three days after the piercing. Many physicians have seized on this latest controversy to bolster their claims that like ear piercing, circumcision causes not only great physical, but also psychological harm to the child.
On Thursday, the German National Ethics Council unanimously agreed that circumcision should not be prohibited, but said that it must be conducted under “qualified medical supervision, with anesthetic,” and a full disclosure to parents about the potential risks.
Council Member Reinhard Merkel said it was “bizarre” to allow religious groups to dictate how and when a human body can be wounded. Merkel said a “child’s right to bodily integrity” should be weighed against “religious requirements.” He added, however, that because the world has “indebtedness” to the Jews, a “special law” should enable Jews to practice circumcision.
Other council members such as Colonge-based Wolfram Höfling, said that the decision to circumcise a child should be left to the parents to determine what is in the best interests of their child and that their decision should be respected, especially since circumcisions have been performed numerous times without any suffering or difficulties.
This might sound far fetched, but L’Halacha, you must do Metzitza B’peh on an infants ear, after piercing. The reason is to avoid the Secanah of spreading infection just like by Milah.
And since it’s Pikuach Nefesh, you’re allowed to do the Metzitza B’peh even on Shabbos.
Now THIS I agree with. I really dislike seeing babies with pierced ears. There is no reason why a 6 month old child needs earrings.
Why doesn’t Germany just get it over with and ban children?
Only correct now if the child must turn 16 to consent to piercing.
Why any Jew would live in this cesspool of socialism is beyond me. Do they not understand the concepts of FREEDOM and LIBERTY? Next thing you know, they’ll just take your kid from you when he/she is born and bring them back at age 18 so that you can’t do anything to them that the nanny state doesn’t agree with.
The people advocate police (state) control over our personal lives are the REAL danger in this world.
I wonder how Jewish people would react to the some of the Muslim tradition of doing a Female genital mutilation. It has been called barbaric.
A bris, if not for the fact that we have to do it, can be called barbaric too, so besides for religions reasons, whats the difference?
There is no reason for ear piercing to be painful if the right equipment is used. I have watched little girls get their ears pierced with the “gun” and they are so surprised it didn’t hurt that they are grinning ear to ear right away.
They can do us all a favor and ban tramp stamps, though. (tattoos)
So it’s not German anti-Semitism at work. It’s a consistent legal principle of avoiding unnecessary invasive procedures on kids. Jews may not like it, but we can’t scream about how we’re being victimized. You’ll also note the circumcision bans also apply to Muslims and traditional African cultures.
This (banning ear-piercing of a child), I agree with.
ChareidiMan, you need to read up more instead of spouting nonsense. Female circumcision is absolutely barbaric, in all ways.
Put simply, on a female, these savages don’t circumcise foreskin, with relatively extremely few nerve endings, unlike what is done by a male. Just the opposite.
As well, there is no medical purpose in tampering with the female side (even in a sterile environment), whereas there is a medical benefit to male circumcision, even if there are studies on both sides.
I have a great solution for Germany, why don’t they kill all the children like they did 65 years ago and that way they’ll get rid of all their problem Bris milah and ear piercings etc.?
the “soft hearted” Germans who gassed, killed and maimed children want to outlaw bris or ear piercing?????? give us a break
I am wondering what the point of the ChareidiMan’s post is? Perhaps to garner negative attention? Chareidi, if you don’t want to have your family in the fold, don’t perform a bris and leave.
ChareidiMan Says:
I wonder how Jewish people would react to the some of the Muslim tradition of doing a Female genital mutilation. It has been called barbaric.
A bris, if not for the fact that we have to do it, can be called barbaric too, so besides for religions reasons, whats the difference?