[ ARC forum 2 ]
Written by chImp at 17 Jul 2003 20:00:50: Re: Mutilation...
As an answer to: Mutilation... written by AJ at 17 Jul 2003 17:32:47:
I understand what you're thinking, but go to "www.dictionary.com" and see for yourself. Nowhere does it say that only criminal conducts are mutilations. Even when a patient consents to a crippling operation, and the operation is performed flawlessly, he's still crippled/mutilated. Maybe "dictionary.com" is incorrect about this, I don't know.
PS, I have a couple of questions for you:
1) Do you think that infant circumcision can be called mutilation?
2) Is it morally right to do something that is illegal, but is likely to be made legal in the near future?
3) Is it morally right to do something that is legal, but is likely to be illegal in the near future?>Circumcision and mutilation are two different things. Sure, some of the definitions of mutilation may seem to fit the bill, but so do "removal", "amputation", "trim", "take" and a whole bunch of other words. However, mutilation does not fit with the context of adult circumcision, any more than perhaps "trim" would.