Islam in Europe reports that perhaps 50% of families who have relocated
to Norway from African Muslim countries like Somalia are still practicing the
horrible tradition of female genital circumcision. Having a visceral
reaction to this subject, I am attempting to remain open-minded about
what has become an ethnic and cultural tradition rather than strictly a
religious one. But it's pretty hard.
Even if you do believe that there is a religious mandate
for this practice, there is no religious connection to some of the more
severe forms of what most westerners agree is senseless mutilation, the most severe of which is practiced by the Somali families now living in Norway.
Having
two daughters, I'm sick about what is being done at a younger and
younger age now to prevent notification to authorities, to little girls
ages two to four. Can you imagine having most of your daughter's
genitalia removed at the tender age of two, and then tying her legs
together for weeks while the huge hole heals? I hugely support all the
world's religions, but unless I'm missing something, there is no
religious necessity for the extent to which this is practiced, which
means that two million girls are being mutilated each year worldwide.
Excuse me, but I'm going to go hug my little girl now.
