Category Archives: The Rape of Innocence

Depression is not irrational – Suicide is not a solution

I was depressed from an early age. As a child, I always wanted to be dead. I know now that it was probably after my clitoridectomy. I was bereft. Life didn’t seem worth living. I went to the kitchen to get a knife to cut out my heart, but I was too small to reach the sharp knives – I didn’t even know where they were kept.

When I went back to my bed that night, I heard a voice say, “What makes you think it would be any different if you were to die?” I had to admit I had no guarantee. But I saw the implication was that I would have to live through those early childhood years again – no way! – and so I have stayed. My teen years and early twenties were no better. But after that, each year my heart has grown more full and rich and happy. I have no external possessions to brag about, but peace of mind and joy are my priceless treasures.

Depression is not irrational. It is a diagnosis that is like that drawer in the kitchen where you put everything you don’t know what to do with. Depression is an accumulation of legitimate, but unreleased fears, angers and sorrows. Our society does not allow grieving and does not offer anything much better than “you are born, life is for suffering, technology advances, and then you die.”. Religion often makes life on earth sound like a prison sentence, a valley of tears, after which – if you are perfect – you get to go to “heaven” and experience something that might or might not be all that much better than what you have known on earth… but there are no guarantees on any level.

lovely lady in flowersWhat finally brought me out of my depression was the discovery that when I was very very quiet, I could feel my heart.

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer… no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” ― Albert Camus

Another way to say that is, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” It is! And it can be known NOW. But only one thing can exist in one place at one time, so as long as we hold on to negative feelings from the past, we do not feel that beauty that already exists in our own hearts.

I came to understand that I had something important to do here on planet earth. Until I released all that old baggage, I might just come back over and over again – no way! And so I began to do my work and began to let go of all that old and ugly stuff.

We are fortunate in this age to have lots of help – from people and healing systems like Jed Diamond, Byron Katie’s “The Work”, Gary Craig’s “EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique”, Hale Dwoskin’s “The Sedona Method”, and many others. It’s all about healing – letting go of fear/anger/sorrow. It’s why we’re here and why “stuff happens” – so that we feel the old stuff and release the past – to “forgive”, which is “for giving ourselves peace of mind, joy and health.” Feelings got stuck when we held our breath in fear. So whatever feelings come up, breathe into them… that’s how we tell ourselves that we’re safe here and now.

See the “Tools” tab, above and release one little thing today, here and now. You will be so glad you did. Then move to another… and let it go…

Quotes on Circumcision by Atheists

What do atheists say about circumcision?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali…

“The foreskin is cut off the penis. That’s a form of mutilation. You should leave the child as he is, as he comes out of the womb. Hes finished, hes complete. You shouldn’t take things off, especially when there’s no medical reason. I think male circumcision is worse than an incision of a girl. With boys, a lot of skin is removed. The consequences can be worse for boys than for girls.”

George Carlin…

“I also survived circumcision, a barbaric practice designed to remind you as early as possible that your genitals are not your own.”

Richard Dawkins…

“Creator of the Universe went to great trouble to create the foreskin. Then insisted that you cut it off. Makes sense.”

“If circumcision has any justification AT ALL, it should be medical only. Parents’ religion is the worst of all reasons –– pure child abuse.”

Christopher Hitchens…

“Handed a small baby for the first time, is it your first reaction to think, beautiful, almost perfect, now please hand me the sharp stone for its genitalia.”

“I can’t find the compulsory mutilation of the genitals of children a subject for humor… It’s designed to repress sexual pleasure… The full excision, not just the snip but the full mandatory covenant is fantastically painful, leads to trauma, leads to the dulling of the sexual relationship. And can be, in itself life-threatening at that moment. We have records, I can show them to you, of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds in the United States of boy babies who died or had life-threatening infections as a result of this disgusting practice.”

“The vast majority of the world knows there’s no reason to circumcise. Someone should tell the doctors.”

Penn & Teller…

“Shouldn’t our son have the choice whether he wants to wear a condom or cut off part of his dick? Put down the knife. Step away from the baby.”

Joe Rogan…

“People mutilate their kids dicks because of visuals. That’s what circumcision is about. Look, Im circumcised, I didn’t ask to be. I’m sure a lot of you are circumcised. I’m sure a lot of you circumcised your kids. When you really stop and think about it, its kinda fuckin’ crazy… I would never circumcise my kid.”

“I think its stupid. If I had a boy I wouldn’t circumcise him… I got robbed. I got robbed. Sliced. I think its a fuckin’ gross tradition man… I just think its a weird fuckin’ tradition that we need to end. People get like, really bad infections. Its not completely innocuous – kids have lost their penises because of circumcision… It’s a dick it’s not a Jack-O-Lantern alright? You don’t have to chop parts off of it to make it look better.”

Howard Stern…

“I am circumcised, and I tell you something, I despise it. I despise it. I despise it… I am completely pissed off that I’m circumcised.”

via Famous Atheist Quotes on Circumcision – The WHOLE Network: Accurate Circumcision & Foreskin Information.

Purchase “The Rape of Innocence” ebook & paperback

The revised edition of my book, The Rape of Innocence: Female genital mutilation and circumcision in the USA (released May 2010) is now available as an ebook for the price you choose – and as a paperback at amazon.com.

See the special ebook offer and receive FREE ebook with your purchase of a paperback.

Ask your local library and bookstores to buy copies. Tell friends, family, doctors, nurses, physical therapists and psychoanalysts, parents. They have all been caught in a cruel meme, a socially transmitted practice detrimental to children, that sticks like glue to the adult he or she becomes.

It is the lingering trauma and programming that concerns me, and that should concern us all. Circumcision is a quality of life issue. It is a human right denied. Every child who is cut leaves not only with a physical scar, but with PTSD, a legacy of terror, a host of psychological scars that can last a lifetime.

Read the book. If you like it, please go back to amazon.com and leave a review.

Please join the movement to end this socially sanctioned abuse of children. In the Resources section at the back of the book are many organizations that will welcome your help.

Purchase “The Rape of Innocence” ebook & paperback

The revised edition of my book, The Rape of Innocence: Female genital mutilation and circumcision in the USA (released May 2010) is now available as an ebook for the price you choose – and as a paperback at amazon.com.

See the special ebook offer and receive FREE ebook with your purchase of a paperback.

Ask your local library and bookstores to buy copies. Tell friends, family, doctors, nurses, physical therapists and psychoanalysts, parents. They have all been caught in a cruel meme, a socially transmitted practice detrimental to children, that sticks like glue to the adult he or she becomes.

It is the lingering trauma and programming that concerns me, and that should concern us all. Circumcision is a quality of life issue. It is a human right denied. Every child who is cut leaves not only with a physical scar, but with PTSD, a legacy of terror, a host of psychological scars that can last a lifetime.

Read the book. If you like it, please go back to amazon.com and leave a review.

Please join the movement to end this socially sanctioned abuse of children. In the Resources section at the back of the book are many organizations that will welcome your help.