Why a foreign circumcision ban matters for us here

Germany’s banning of child circumcision should alarm Christians in the UK.

Not because we want to get our children circumcised for religious reasons. But because of the thinking behind the decision.

The judgment by the court in Cologne said: "The child's body is permanently and irreparably changed by the circumcision. This change conflicts with the child's interest of later being able to make his own decision on his religious affiliation."

So, a western, mainstream, democratic country (56% of German citizens agree with the ruling, according to a poll) has decided that a parent may not do anything, for religious reasons, which cause an irreversible physical change.

And it’s a small step to replace the word “physical” with “mental”. After all, a child’s mind is no less (and arguably) more important than his or her body. Granted, a human can change their mind once they’re older; but what we’re taught when we’re young is irreversibly part of our mindset, whether we decide to live in line with or in rebellion against it. That’s why militant atheists such as Richard Dawkins call bringing children up with a Christian worldview “child abuse”.

Logically, that doesn’t stack up. I have a three-month-old son, and at some stage I’ll teach him that it is wrong to steal, right to be grateful, good to go to school. All these are external value judgments, an imposition of a moral code that he may not end up agreeing with. Oh, and I’ll also teach him that Jesus is Lord (I’ve already started that one).

And I predict that by the time he is (I pray) raising his children, there’ll be serious pressure and legal challenges to a parent’s right to teach their child biblical truths such as the reality of hell, the exclusivity of Christ, God’s view of sex and marriage, and so on.

But those are no more and no less value judgments than it being wrong to steal, right to be grateful, right to go to school. Just as circumcision is no more and no less a “permanent change” to a child’s body than having their ears pierced.

No parent can bring their child up in a vacuum. If they try to teach them no moral code, then they’re teaching them that there is no moral code (which is a moral code of its own!) Every parent will influence their young child’s mind:

“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22 v 6).

The question is not whether we train our children, but which way we point them.

So it’s unlikely that you’re reading this as a German Jew or Muslim, who is directly affected by this court verdict. But if you’re reading this as a Christian of any nationality, it’s worth recognizing the thinking that lies behind the judgment. It’s a secular state imposing its own moral code in the name of protecting children from the imposition of a moral code.

And if you live in the west, chances are it’s coming soon to a legal system near you.