Sierra Leone's first Ebola-hit community reconsiders its traditions

Yahoo –AFP, Jennifer O'Mahony, May 12, 2016

Bendu Alliou sits with her infant daughter outside a hospital in Kailahun, eastern
Sierra Leone (AFP Photo/Marco Longari)

Kailahun (Sierra Leone) (AFP) - Violently coughing up blood, the woman was close to collapse when brought to Kailahun hospital in eastern Sierra Leone from her village close to the Guinean border.

For nursing staff, the spectre of the killer Ebola virus had returned.

"My staff went into PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)," said Samuel Massaquoi, medical superintendent of the hospital. "People said that if she came from near Guinea she had Ebola."

Hard hit by the Ebola virus the capacity

of the small hospital in Kailahun, Sierra

Leone, has been stretched over the 

course of the epidemic (AFP Photo/

Marco Longari)

Urging calm, the doctor immediately implemented the screening measures used at the outbreak's height, when Ebola cases arrived on a daily basis.

That was one month ago -- the patient was instead diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis -- but it is a clear example of how the the fear of Ebola still grips the heart of this community.

The district was the first in the country to record cases back in May 2014 after the initial outbreak in southern Guinea.

The virus killed around 230 people in Kailahun but its impact did not end when the area was declared Ebola-free a year ago: residents say entrenched attitudes to health and tradition have changed significantly.

"The outbreak started here. Every patient at that time was considered a suspected case," Massaquoi said, standing metres from the now empty triage building, where health workers in hazmat suits once worked in scenes resembling a horror film.

His hospital received a real boost, he said, with extra funding for equipment from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and targeted training for staff from Britain's Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

"It was not like this two years back. It has improved significantly," the general practitioner said. That was reflected by an uptick in the number of patients admitted post-Ebola, many of whom previously viewed the hospital as a place of death, not healing.

Traditions upended

Kailahun's first spate of cases is believed to have originated from the funeral of a traditional healer in a village close to where the Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone borders meet.

Ebola sufferers were crossing to see her from Guinea before she too succumbed to the virus. Many west Africans believed Ebola was a curse, and turned to their local witchdoctor rather than attempt the long distances and meet the elevated costs of government health facilities.

"Ebola came, but it came with lessons. Most of them who treated Ebola patients died," Massaquoi said.

"It was only when the powerful healers started dying that people started believing this is real. We lost quite a good amount of them," he said, with many no longer as convinced of their invincibility.

Health workers in Sierra Leone are battling a teenage pregnancy epidemic that 

peaked when the Ebola crisis was at its height late in 2014 (AFP Photo/Marco Longari)

The Red Cross sought to engage the healers in the fight against the virus, persuading some to advise visitors that they could not cure Ebola, and pointing them to dedicated treatment centres.

Prevention in the form of better hygiene is highly visible in the proliferation of hand-washing stations at the string of villages that dot this rural district.

Another influential group has altered its activities post-Ebola in Kailahun: the female secret societies that dominate rural life in this part of west Africa, whose primary role is to initiate girls into womanhood.

Traditionally they would carry out female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice performed on 90 percent of girls in Sierra Leone, according to UNICEF.

But in 19-year-old Baindu Alie's village, they have stopped.

"(Families) are afraid, so there is less trust in the societies," she said.

The girls' loss of blood during the excision, usually performed with a razor, was now known to be a possible transmission point for Ebola, medical professionals in the community confirmed to AFP.

Survivor communities

Naima Morie, 20, lives down the road from the district hospital and is an Ebola survivor. Three of her family members were not so lucky, including a sister who died in her arms.

Morie had symptoms of fever, headache, vomiting and diarrhoea when she arrived at the Ebola treatment unit (ETU), and was driven there semi-conscious.

When she came round, "my whole system was very hot, boiling hot inside," she told AFP.

Morie made a full recovery, and in February gave birth to a baby boy named Joseph.

Health workers carry the body of a suspected Ebola victim for burial at a cemetery

in Freetown December 21, 2014. Reuters/Baz Ratner/File Photo

"When I was out of the ETU and went back home they were all rejoicing," she said, describing the reaction back in her village. "Now babies that are sick, they visit the hospital after seeing me survive."

Not everyone is so accepting. The stigma of Ebola remains a problem, and survivors have held protests in recent months against the government, claiming free follow-up treatment and scholarships for their children have not been delivered as promised.

According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) there are more than 4,000 Ebola survivors living in Sierra Leone, and the virus killed many of country's already limited number of health workers.

Ebola is one in a long list of epidemics that have ravaged this community, each leaving its own generation of survivors and broken families.

Huge roadside signs in the district now proclaim: "It's not the end for Ebola survivors; it's the end for stigma", alongside more faded billboards that read "An HIV test saved my life".

Health workers assist a patient suspected of having Ebola on their way to a

 treatment centre run by the French Red Cross in Patrice, Guinea, on

November 21, 2014 (AFP Photo/Kenzo Tribouillard)

Related Articles:

WHO declares Ebola outbreak over

"Revelations of Darkness" - Oct 1, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ .. The Role of Gaia in Human Consciousness

One of those times might be frightening for you to know about, since it was a full cooperation with Gaia for your termination, and a pandemic almost wiped humanity off the map. A pandemic! Now, you say, "What has that got to do with Human consciousness, Kryon?" Pay attention, dear ones, because this is the day where the teaching was given by my partner, and he put together the Nine Human Attributes. One of the attribute sets included three Gaia attributes and one of them was the consciousness of the planet. Gaia is related to Human consciousness!

Are you starting to connect the dots? You are connected to this planet in a profound and spiritual way. As goes humanity goes the planet's consciousness. Gaia, Mother Nature, whatever you want to call it, cooperates with Human consciousness. If you spend 1,000 years killing each other, then Gaia will do its best to cooperate with your desires! Gaia will look at Human consciousness and try to help with what you have shown you like to do! Did you know this role of Gaia with you? It's a partner with you, fast tracking what you give to it. You may wish to review what the indigenous of the planet still understand. Gaia is a partner!

Pandemic: Don't you find it odd that in the last 50 years, when you have a population of seven billion Human Beings, with up to 2,000 airplanes in the air at any given moment, going between almost every conceivable place, that there has not been a pandemic in your lifetime? There have been five starts of potential pandemics over the last 20 years, yet none became serious. Did any of you put this together? Dear ones, when the world was far less populated a few hundred years ago, with no mass travel to spread a virus, there were still millions wiped out by a pandemic. With the increased population and mass travel, there is far more danger today than before. It doesn't make sense, does it? What happened to stop it?

When you know humanity's relationship to Gaia, it makes sense. Gaia is a life-force that is your partner, watching you change the balance of light and dark and reflecting what Humans want. It has polarity, too! Perhaps it's time to start your meditations with thanking your planet Earth for supporting you in the spirituality of your Akash, for always being with you, a life-force that is always present. The ancients started their ceremonies in that way. Have you forgotten?

Ebola

Now, I've just set the stage for the next subject, haven't I? Ebola. Are you afraid yet? Gaia is a life-force that is a part of Human consciousness. My partner put it on the screen today so you could see the connections [during the lecture series]. Now it's time to connect the dots. Dear one, Gaia is in the battle, too, for here comes something scary that you haven't had in your lifetime and you're afraid of it - the potential of a pandemic on the planet.

There's a very famous film that has some dialogue that my partner will quote. Some of you will know it and some of you won't, but here it is: "Have a little fire, scarecrow?" What are you afraid of? Darkness? Gaia is in the battle with you and is actively pursuing solutions through light. The energy of the planet is with you in this fight! The ebola virus is a shock and a surprise. It is propelled by ignorance and fear, so it can flourish. Look at where it started and look at how it gets its ability to continue. It expands its fear and power easily with those who believe it's a curse instead of those who understand the science.

Villages are filled with those who refuse to leave their family members because they believe the disease is a curse! FEAR! Instead of understanding that they should be in isolation from the virus, the family dies together through ignorance and fear. This represents how darkness works. Are you going to become afraid also? Dear ones, ebola will be conquered. Know this and be at peace. Pray for light for those in the villages who are afraid, that they can know more about how to keep the spread of this disease and live to see their families. .”

Australian court rules against PNG abortion for asylum-seeker

A federal court has said a pregnant asylum-seeker cannot be forced to have an abortion in Papua New Guinea, rather than Australia. The woman claims to have been raped in an offshore detention center on Nauru.

Deutsche Welle, 7 May 2016

In his ruling late on Friday, Justice Mordecai Bromberg said the African asylum-seeker, who has sought an abortion in Australia, could not be forced to have the operation in Papua New Guinea because it was both unsafe and illegal.

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton had ordered that the pregnant African woman, identified in court documents only as S99, be sent to Papua New Guinea for the procedure in line with the government's hardline policy on immigration, under which refugees trying to reach the country by boat are told they will never be settled in Australia.

Instead, they are sent for offshore processing to camps on Nauru and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

Under the policy, such refugees can only be brought to Australia under "exceptional circumstances" - and Dutton has said the woman's case is not exceptional enough.

In a 150-page judgment, Bromberg said that the "abortion in Papua New Guinea made available to the applicant is attended by safety and lawfulness risks that a reasonable person in the minister's position would have avoided."

Dutton says the woman's circumstances are not exceptional enough for
treatment in Australia

Papua New Guinea allows abortion only in case of danger to a woman's life. The woman has claimed she was raped while she was in Nauru, where abortion is also illegal except to save the life of the woman or to preserve her physical or mental health.

Bromberg also rejected Dutton's argument that he had no duty of care toward the woman, saying she had been, and still was, reliant on the minister for all her basic needs.

He said the woman had serious neurological, physiological and psychological conditions that required expert care.

The camps are a controversial issue in Australia as well

Policy under fire

A spokesman for Dutton said the court ruling was "under consideration," and suggested that the government might appeal.

The camps on Nauru and Manus Island have come under widespread criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups, amid reports of harsh conditions and systemic child abuse.

Papua New Guinea last month after the country's Supreme Court ruled it illegal, while on Nauru, two people have set themselves on fire this month to protest against conditions there.

A 23-year-old Iranian man died of the injuries he sustained, and a young Somali woman remains in critical condition in an Australian hospital.

Australia doctors demand children be freed from #immigration detention http://t.co/oSHkZyvn5V pic.twitter.com/s9yLBKHA2Z

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 12, 2015

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Papua New Guinea announces Australian refugee center closure
Australia doctors demand children be freed from immigration detention

Nauru opens gates at refugee detention center



"New Systems" - Feb 27, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

Uganda jails five for genital mutilation

Yahoo – AFP, 21 Nov 2014

In Uganda it is illegal to carry out genital mutilation or discriminate against
any woman who hasn't had it done

Five men and women in Uganda have been jailed for mutilating the genitals of girls, a rare conviction in the country which is trying to stamp out the often deadly practice.

The five, including those who carried out the mutilation -- which can range from hacking off the clitoris to the removal of the entire female genitalia -- were arrested in eastern Uganda's Kapchorwa district last week.

All pleaded guilty to aiding or procuring female genital mutilation (FGM), which was outlawed in 2010. They were jailed for four years, according to the Daily Monitor newspaper.

Uganda's law makes it a crime to not only carry out FGM or participate in any event leading to its practice, but also to discriminate against a woman who hasn't had it done.

While dozens of arrests have been made since the law's introduction, there have been few prosecutions.

Police spokesman Fred Enanga said although the practice was "dying out" in some regions, it was still considered "a tradition" in Kapchorwa district and many continued to practise in secret.

"The law has created fear within communities, you won?t find them having these cultural days where families bring out their girls," he told AFP. "It is no longer a cultural event like male circumcision."

Florence Auma from the UN population fund UNFPA, which campaigns to end FGM, said any arrests and convictions were welcome.

"It shows the law is catching up with them and they're implementing the law," she said.

Apart from the intense pain itself, immediate dangers include bleeding and infection. In the longer term, risks include infertility and complications during childbirth, sometimes resulting in the death of the baby.

Earlier this month UN chief Ban Ki-moon launched a global campaign to end FGM within a generation.

Related Article:

Watershed moment for Egypt's FGM ban

Watershed moment for Egypt's FGM ban

Sohair el-Batea died after her father took her to a rural Egyptian doctor to have her genitals cut. The two men are the first to go on trial under Egypt's FGM ban, which could be a turning point. Kristen McTighe reports.

Deutsche Welle, 19 Nov 2014

When Sohair el-Batea's father took her to Dr. Raslan Fadl's clinic in the Nile Delta village of Dierb Biqtaris to have her genitals cut, her family thought it would make her like most Egyptian girls. The vast majority of women in her community had undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), the illegal procedure done in the name of promoting chastity.

But when news spread that an allergic reaction to penicillin killed el-Batea during the operation and her father confessed that the procedure was done at the family's request, local activists and international rights groups began to campaign for justice. And when the country's chief prosecutor agreed to take up the case, el-Batea became the center of a seminal trial and the first of its kind since Egypt banned the practice in 2008.

With a further court date on Thursday in the trial of the doctor who performed the FGM procedure and el-Batea's father, activists hope a precedent for justice and accountability will finally be set. But in a country where the practice remains widely accepted and deeply entrenched, others say the trial and criminalization will do little to eradicate FGM.

Impunity for doctors and families

"It is a deep-rooted tradition in Egypt, a cultural tradition that has been going on for years and years, as it has in Africa," said Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Middle East and North Africa consultant at Equality Now, the international women's rights group that led, the push to bring el-Batea's case to trial.

According to Egyptian government figures, 91 percent of women ages 15 to 49 have been subjected to the procedure. UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency, estimates that one-fifth of the 125 million women worldwide who have undergone FGM are from Egypt. Only three countries - Somalia, Djibouti and Guinea - have a higher rate.

Following the death of a 12-year-old girl in 2008, Egypt passed a law banning the practice in all its forms. But doctors continued to practice FGM in private in both rural and urban areas, and little has been done to enforce the law. The death of al-Betea in June of 2013 brought FGM back into the spotlight.

FGM defenders

While this time around many believe the doctor and father will be convicted, members of al-Betea's community have said they will continue the practice and have supported the doctor and her father.

"People in Dierb Biqtaris practice this ugly habit and they think it's an Islamic tradition that should be followed and practiced," Reda Al Danbouki, a lawyer and local activist, told DW. "And for that they are sympathetic with the doctor and the father of Suhair and say that her death was [the will of God and no one can stop it]."

Although many in Egypt's poor, rural communities continue to defend FGM, citing religious reasons for the practice, there is no basis in religion. In other Arab Muslim countries like Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the practice is nearly non-existent. Practiced by both Muslims and Christians in Egypt, it has been condemned by leading religious figures.

"I don't think very many people are taking the law seriously; they think the law is just something that is there that they can ignore - and the alarmingly high numbers are proof of that," said Mona Eltahawy, an activist, writer and author of a forthcoming book on the fight for gender equality in the Arab world. "I think it is something that Egypt uses to show the international community that the law is on the books."

The doctor in al-Batea's case continues to see patients in the girl's hometown
of Dierb Biqtaris

Still, other activists see the trial as an important opportunity for the government to send a clear message that the ban will be enforced.

"Sohair's case is very, very important in terms of implementing the law in Egypt," said Abu-Dayyeh, adding that it is the first time since the legislation was passed that anyone has been prosecuted for FGM. "We believe - and we hope - that the judge will sentence the father and the doctor under the FGM law."

Apart from setting a precedent for accountability in a country where very few people speak about the practice, Abu-Dayyeh said the trial has received considerable coverage in local media.

"The Egyptian media was very much interested [in the trial], and were with us in some of the sessions in court," she said.

Regardless of the impact of the trial and the criminalization of FGM, people like lawyer al-Dankoubi say more needs to be done to educate and raise awareness. While civil society groups have been working to do this, he says the state must do more to train preachers within the ministry of religious endowments to educate people about the dangers of FGM. In addition to enforcing the laws, he said punishments should be tougher.

Female sexuality

And for Eltahawy, it is what she calls "society's desire to control female sexuality" that needs to be addressed.

"What we need to confront in Egypt is our obsession with female virginity, because this is ultimately what FGM is about," she said. "FGM is a way that families control their girls' sex drives, and a way for society to control women's sexuality, and unless the conversation about FGM is carried out within those parameters, we stand no chance of eradicating it."

"You can have all the court cases you want and people will still do it, because they don't believe women have the right to sexual pleasure," she said.

Related Articles:

Worldwide FGM ban sought at 'Girl Summit' in London

Muslim Council of Britain says female genital mutilation is 'un-Islamic'

Ban Ki-moon: FGM a 'human rights violation' that must end

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear and beloved Kryon: What should we know about "Brit-Mila" (Jewish circumcision)?

Answer: All circumcision was based on commonsense health issues of the day, which manifested itself in religious-based teaching. That basically is what made people keep doing it. This eighth-day-from-birth ritual is no more religious today than trimming your fingernails (except that Brit-Mila is only done once, and it hurts a bit more).

It's time to start seeing these things for what they are. Common sense is not static. It's dynamic, and related to the culture of the time. Yesterday's common sense about health changed greatly with the discovery of germs. It changed again with practices of cleanliness due to the discovery of germs, and so on. Therefore, we would say that it really doesn't make a lot of difference in today's health practices. It's done almost totally for cultural historic and traditional purposes and holds no energy around it other than the obvious intent of the tradition.

This is also true for a great deal of the admonishments of the Old Testament regarding food and cleanliness, and even the rules of the neighborhood (such as taking your neighbor's life if he steals your goat, or selling your daughter in slavery if you really need the money... all found in scripture). The times are gone where these things matter anymore, yet they're still treated with reverence and even practiced religiously in some places. They're now only relics of tradition, and that's all. If you feel that you should honor a tradition, then do it. If not, then don't. It's not a spiritual or health issue any longer.

Be the boss of your own body and your own traditions. Follow what your spiritual intuition tells you is appropriate for your own spiritual path and health.

Worldwide FGM ban sought at 'Girl Summit' in London

Yahoo – AFP, Danny Kemp, 22 July 2014

British Prime Minister David Cameron mets campaigners and activists at the

 'Girl Summit 2014' at Walworth Academy in south London on July 22, 2014

(AFP Photo/Will Oliver)

London (AFP) - British Prime Minister David Cameron called on Tuesday for a worldwide ban on female genital mutilation and child marriage as he launched the first UN-backed "Girl Summit" on issues that affect millions around the globe.

Cameron announced that parents in Britain would face prosecution for failing to prevent their daughters from being subjected to FGM, while setting out steps to tackle both practices in developing nations.

"Our aim is to outlaw FGM and child marriage everywhere for everyone," Cameron told the summit in London, to applause from an audience of experts and campaigners from around the world.

Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai (L)

 listens to British Prime Minister David 

Cameron as he speaks at the 'Girl Summit

 2014' at Walworth Academy in south London

on on July 22, 2014 (AFP Photo/Oli Scarff)

FGM, which affects tens of millions of women, particularly in the Horn of Africa, ranges from removal of the clitoris to the mutilation and removal of other female genitalia. It can leave girls at risk of prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility and even death.

Cameron acknowledged that ending FGM and child marriage was no easy task, saying they ranked alongside the global health threats of polio and tuberculosis in terms of the commitment needed to tackle them.

But he argued: "All girls have the right to live free from violence and coercion, without being forced into marriage or the lifelong physical and psychological effects of female genital mutilation.

"Abhorrent practices like these, no matter how deeply rooted in societies, violate the rights of girls and women across the world, including here in the UK.

"I want to build a better future for all our girls and I am hosting the Girl Summit today so that we say with one voice -- let's end these practices once and for all."

The summit, which is co-hosted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), will produce an "international charter" calling for the eradication of FGM and child marriage within a generation.

The summit will also launch new programmes to prevent child and forced marriage in 12 developing nations.

Speakers at the event included Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who recovered from being shot in the head by the Taliban and is now a campaigner for girls' education.

"We should have the right to change traditions and we should make the changes. We ask that there be no more FGM or child marriage," Malala told the summit.

"We should not be followers of traditions that go against human rights... we are human beings and we make traditions."

Map of Africa showing countries where female genital mutilation

is most prevalent, created on February 19, 2014 (AFP Photo)

'Accelerate our efforts'

UNICEF warned in a new report that while the rate of FGM and child marriage has fallen over the past three decades, population increase in developing nations alone could reverse this trend if "intensive action" is not introduced.

More than 130 million girls and women have experienced some form of FGM in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is most common, it said.

More than 700 million women worldwide were married as children, UNICEF added.

"The numbers tell us we must accelerate our efforts," said UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake.

Indian actress and Plan International Girls' 

Rights Ambassador Freida Pinto listens

 to speakers at the 'Girl Summit 2014' at

 Walworth Academy in south London on

July 22, 2014 (AFP Photo/Oli Scarff)

"FGM and child marriage profoundly and permanently harm girls, denying them their right to make their own decisions and to reach their full potential."

Cameron confirmed that Britain would introduce legislation under which doctors and teachers would be required by law to report FGM, while parents who allow their daughters to be cut will be prosecuted.

British lawmakers earlier this month said the prevalence of FGM in the country was a "national scandal", warning that up to 170,000 women may have had the procedure and another 65,000 young girls were at risk.

A damning report from the House of Commons home affairs committee condemned the failure of the government, police, health and education authorities over many years to address what it said was an "extreme form of child abuse".

MPs slam 'national scandal' of FGM in Britain

Yahoo – AFP, 3 July 2014

A young woman walks past a campaign banner against female genital

 mutilation (FGM) at the venue of an International conference, on September 16,

2004 in Nairobi (AFP Photo/Simon Maina)

London (AFP) - The prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain is a "national scandal", lawmakers said Thursday, warning that up to 170,000 women may have had the procedure and another 65,000 young girls are at risk.

A damning report from the House of Commons home affairs committee condemned the failure of the government, police, health and education authorities over many years to address what it said was an "extreme form of child abuse".

FGM, which ranges from removal of the clitoris to more widespread mutilation, has been outlawed in Britain since 1985, but the first prosecution only took place this year.

The committee blamed "misplaced concern for cultural sensitivities" for the failure to address a practice largely associated with communities from parts of Africa.

It called for prosecutions to send a "clear message" that the practice was taken seriously in Britain, as well as increased checks by medical professionals on girls considered to be at high risk.

The lawmakers said that if there was no increase in the reporting of incidents of FGM in the next year, the failure to report should become a crime.

"FGM is an ongoing national scandal which is likely to have resulted in the preventable mutilation of thousands of girls to whom the state owed a duty of care," said committee chairman Keith Vaz.

The report suggests FGM is an increasing problem, a fact blamed on population growth and rising migration from practising countries, notably Somalia and the rest of the Horn of Africa.

Government figures from 2007 suggested that 66,000 women in England and Wales were living with the consequences of FGM, and a further 24,000 girls under the age of 15 were at risk.

Thursday's found that around 170,000 women and girls were living with FGM across the whole of Britain, and 65,000 girls under the age of 13 were at risk.

The report hailed France's pro-active approach, although it said it would be "disproportionate" to follow their example of examining all children from at-risk communities, which doctors are asked to do during routine health checks.

Crime prevention minister Norman Baker said the government was engaged in a new effort to tackle "this extremely harmful and misguided practice", working with communities affected as well as health and other professionals.

Prime Minister David Cameron will also be hosting a summit later this year aimed at ending FGM within a generation.

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, estimates that 125 million women and girls around the world have undergone FGM, the majority in Africa.

Related Articles:

Muslim Council of Britain says female genital mutilation is 'un-Islamic'
Ban Ki-moon: FGM a 'human rights violation' that must end

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear and beloved Kryon: What should we know about "Brit-Mila" (Jewish circumcision)?

Answer: All circumcision was based on commonsense health issues of the day, which manifested itself in religious-based teaching. That basically is what made people keep doing it. This eighth-day-from-birth ritual is no more religious today than trimming your fingernails (except that Brit-Mila is only done once, and it hurts a bit more).

It's time to start seeing these things for what they are. Common sense is not static. It's dynamic, and related to the culture of the time. Yesterday's common sense about health changed greatly with the discovery of germs. It changed again with practices of cleanliness due to the discovery of germs, and so on. Therefore, we would say that it really doesn't make a lot of difference in today's health practices. It's done almost totally for cultural historic and traditional purposes and holds no energy around it other than the obvious intent of the tradition.

This is also true for a great deal of the admonishments of the Old Testament regarding food and cleanliness, and even the rules of the neighborhood (such as taking your neighbor's life if he steals your goat, or selling your daughter in slavery if you really need the money... all found in scripture). The times are gone where these things matter anymore, yet they're still treated with reverence and even practiced religiously in some places. They're now only relics of tradition, and that's all. If you feel that you should honor a tradition, then do it. If not, then don't. It's not a spiritual or health issue any longer.

Be the boss of your own body and your own traditions. Follow what your spiritual intuition tells you is appropriate for your own spiritual path and health.

Muslim Council of Britain says female genital mutilation is 'un-Islamic'

Group issues explicit guidance for the first time, condemning practice which it says is no longer linked to religious teaching

theguardian.com, Alexandra Topping,  Monday 23 June 2014

Anti-FGM campaigners prepare to deliver a 250,000-signature petition to
 education secretary Michael Gove. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the Guardian

The Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim organisation, has condemned the practice of female genital mutilation as "un-Islamic" and told its members that FGM risks bringing their religion into disrepute.

The influential MCB has for the first time issued explicit guidance, which criticises the practice and says it is "no longer linked to the teaching of Islam". It added that one of the "basic principles" of Islam was that believers should not harm themselves or others.

The organisation will send flyers to each of the 500 mosques that form its membership, which will also be distributed in community centres in a drive to eradicate a practice that affects 125 million women and girls worldwide and can lead to psychological torment, complications during childbirth, problems with fertility, and death.

The MCB has collaborated with the African women's support and campaigning organisation Forward and the Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the NHS (MSCP) to raise awareness of the dangers of FGM and warn practitioners that they face up to 14 years in prison if they subject girls to the practice, which involves the removal of the clitoris, or in more extreme cases the removal of the outer labia and the sewing up of the vagina, with a small hole left for menstruation and to pass urine.

The leaflet states: "FGM is not an Islamic requirement. There is no reference to it in the holy Qur'an that states girls must be circumcised. Nor is there any authentic reference to this in the Sunnah, the sayings or traditions of our prophet. FGM is bringing the religion of Islam into disrepute."

It also states that there is "an increasingly high risk of being prosecuted" for carrying out mutilation, which has been illegal in Britain since 1985.

Dr Shuja Shafi, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "We at the MCB are pleased to address this very important issue of female genital mutilation. Working closely together we can end this practice and ensure it is no longer linked to the religion of Islam or the teachings of the prophet Muhammad."

Dr Soheir Elneil, chair of the African women's campaign group Forward, which helped to prepare the leaflet, said the publication was a step forward in the battle to bring FGM to an end within a generation. "This is the first time such a publication has been achieved with the full cooperation and support of the relevant parties, and we hope all those working in FGM will find it a helpful tool in the work that they do," she said. "It states that FGM is non-Islamic and is against the teachings of Islam, that it is putting the health of women and girls at risk, and informs the reader of the legal implications in the UK of carrying out the practice."

Last week the Home Office held a summit at which other religious organisations, including the Shia al-Khoei Foundation and the Muslim Women's Network UK, announced their support for a government declaration against FGM to be published next month.

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Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear and beloved Kryon: What should we know about "Brit-Mila" (Jewish circumcision)?

Answer: All circumcision was based on commonsense health issues of the day, which manifested itself in religious-based teaching. That basically is what made people keep doing it. This eighth-day-from-birth ritual is no more religious today than trimming your fingernails (except that Brit-Mila is only done once, and it hurts a bit more).

It's time to start seeing these things for what they are. Common sense is not static. It's dynamic, and related to the culture of the time. Yesterday's common sense about health changed greatly with the discovery of germs. It changed again with practices of cleanliness due to the discovery of germs, and so on. Therefore, we would say that it really doesn't make a lot of difference in today's health practices. It's done almost totally for cultural historic and traditional purposes and holds no energy around it other than the obvious intent of the tradition.

This is also true for a great deal of the admonishments of the Old Testament regarding food and cleanliness, and even the rules of the neighborhood (such as taking your neighbor's life if he steals your goat, or selling your daughter in slavery if you really need the money... all found in scripture). The times are gone where these things matter anymore, yet they're still treated with reverence and even practiced religiously in some places. They're now only relics of tradition, and that's all. If you feel that you should honor a tradition, then do it. If not, then don't. It's not a spiritual or health issue any longer.

Be the boss of your own body and your own traditions. Follow what your spiritual intuition tells you is appropriate for your own spiritual path and health.