Circumscribing the Body Politic:Circumcision, Religious Freedom and Identity in Europe

• Main Author: McIvor, Méadhbh
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen 2018
• Subjects: Circumcision; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/be3569dd-97cc-43d2-9e7b-647b59da047d; https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/be3569dd-97cc-43d2-9e7b-647b59da047d; https://www.rug.nl/research/centre-for-religious-studies/research-centres/centre-religion-conflict-globalization/blog/circumscribing-the-body-politic-circumcision-religious-freedom-and-identity-in-europe-29-03-2018?lang=en

In February 2018, Icelandic Member of Parliament Silja Dögg Gunnarsdóttir made international news by proposing a bill that would criminalise the circumcision of male children for non-medical reasons. The bill, which is supported by the ruling Progressive Party and Left-Green coalition, has sparked heated debates within Iceland (and beyond): while its supporters argue that circumcision is akin to child abuse, and ought, therefore, to be subject to the penalties of criminal law, its opponents point to the particular burden the law would place on Jewish and Muslim families seeking to parent within their respective religious traditions. Gunnarsdóttir, for her part, has argued that the bill is about “child protection and children’s rights”: “I don’t see it as a religious matter.” If the bill is passed, Iceland will become the first European country to ban all forms of infant circumcision. Yet it is not the only European country considering doing so. A recent survey suggests that over 80% of Danes would support a similar ban, while Norway’s Child Ombudsperson Anne Lindboe has said she is “rooting for Iceland.” Outside of the Nordic region, a German regional court in Cologne declared in 2012 that child circumcision could be considered grievous bodily harm. While concerns over child safety are, no doubt, genuine, it is hard to ignore the fact that calls for infant circumcision to be criminalised coincide with rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, both within and beyond Europe’s borders. As Iceland’s Parliament debates the issue, The Religion Factor asked scholars of law, religion, and ethics to comment on the proposed ban. Our contributors have engaged with the following questions: How does the category of “religion” get framed in debates about religious freedom? Does infant circumcision expand or limit a child’s right to an “open future”? Is there something particularly “Nordic” about the proposed circumcision ban (and, if so, is this rooted in these countries’ secular-Protestant religious heritages)? What role does ...