经济学人:德国实施割礼 须征求孩子意见

 　　Circumcision in Germany

　　割礼在德国

　　Incisive¹ arguments

　　激烈的争辩

　　A row over a ruling that circumcision for non-medical reasons is a crime

　　法院对出于非医疗原因实行割礼构成犯罪的裁定引发争议

　　The parents, both Muslims, wanted their four-year-old son to be circumcised. They found a Muslim doctor to do the operation. But there were complications, and the boy ended up in hospital. A prosecutor² accused the doctor of injuring the child, and the case went to court in Cologne. The court decided³ that, although the doctor was innocent, circumcising an infant fornon-medical reasons violates Germany’s constitutional protection of every person’s bodily integrity—and should thus be a crime.

　　一对穆斯林的父母想让他们四岁的儿子接受割礼，他们找来了一位穆斯林医生做手术。然而，男孩因手术后并发症最终被送往医院。检察官以伤害孩童罪指控医生，并将此案诉诸至科隆法院。法庭认为，尽管医生是清白无辜的，而其在非医疗原因情况下对婴幼儿实施环割术的行为，违反了德国宪法中对公民人身完整的保护，综上理由，法庭判断医生的行为构成犯罪。

　　Cue the sort of controversy⁴ Germany hates most, one that offends Jews as well as Muslims. As it happens, the movement against circumcision is spreading, from California, where “intactivists” have tried to ban it, to Israel, where some parents now optfor brit shalom (the “covenantof peace”) as a ritual alternative. But the Cologne verdict breaks new ground. Sweden has a law setting medical rules over who may conduct male circumcisions.

　　要知道，德国人最讨厌这种既冒犯犹太人，又得罪穆斯林的宗教争端。无独有偶，反割礼运动正从加利福尼亚蔓延至以色列——加利福尼亚是“反割礼分子”试图取缔割礼的活动阵地；在以色列，一些家长如今选择用“命名礼”（“和平契约”）来替代割礼仪式。然而科隆法庭的裁决却是别出心裁。瑞典已立法对男性割礼的实施人员制定了医疗准则。

　　The outrage⁵ over the Cologne ruling was immediate⁶ and immense. Dieter Graumann, president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, asserted that the verdict, if it is upheld, would make Jewish life in Germany,just as it is blooming again, practically impossible.

　　科隆法庭的裁决随即引发了公众的强烈愤慨 。德国犹太人中央委员会主席迪特尔·高曼肯定的说，犹太人正试图重回德国，倘若法院维持原判，犹太人几乎不可能再在德国生活。

　　Both sides have arguments. One one hand, Germany’s constitution, written after the second world war to prevent any repeat of Nazi⁷ horrors, assures the rights of parents and of religious freedom. But on the other hand, it guarantees the physical inviolability of every person. The court felt that the boy’s right to inviolability trumped⁸ the religious and parental⁹ rights of his mother and father.

　　辩论双方都有理由。一方面，二战后制定的德国宪法旨在防止任何形式的纳粹复苏，确保父母的权利以及宗教自由的权利。而另一方面，宪法又保护每位公民的人身不受侵犯。法院认为，男孩人身不受侵犯权要高于宗教信仰，高于其父母享受的父母权利。

　　Holm Putzke, a law professor in Passau who wrote an essay on the topic in2008, says there would be no controversy if parents waited for their sons to come of age (14 years in religious matters) so that the young men could decide for themselves whether to be circumcised. But he adds that it is wrong to make an exception for involuntary male circumcision when female circumcision is seen as barbaric. And he maintains that arguments which lean on tradition alone are inadequate¹⁰, for the same reason that tradition cannot, nowadays, justify¹¹ polygamy or footbinding.

　　帕骚的法律教授霍尔木·普茨克曾在2008年就此话题撰文一篇，他在文中称，如果父母们能等到儿子们成年时（宗教规定为14岁）行割礼，那么年轻人便可以自行选择是否接受割礼，这自然不会引发任何争议。但他又补充道，在女性割礼被视作残暴行径的情况下，容许对男性实施非自愿割礼是错误的。他断言，在当今社会，人们无法以传统作为实行一夫多妻制或是裹小脚的理由，同理，那些仅仅靠传统为论据是论证是站不住脚的。

　　Muslim theology might, in theory, allow for some flexibility¹² in the age of circumcision. The Jewish Torah, however, is inconveniently¹³ specific: God told Abraham to circumcise his heirs on the eighth day. That timing¹⁴ is non-negotiable, says Mr Graumann. He wants the German Bundestag to step in with a statute¹⁵ to clear up any doubts or anxieties.

　　理论上讲，伊斯兰教教义对受割礼年龄的调整上略为灵活。然而，犹太律法则明确规定：神吩咐亚伯拉罕，在其子嗣出生第八天时为他们行割礼。在这个时间上是没有商量的余地，高曼先生说。他希望德国众议院介入此事，通过法令来澄清对割礼的一切质疑或担忧。

1 incisive   

adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的

参考例句：

• His incisive remarks made us see the problems in our plans.他的话切中要害，使我们看到了计划中的一些问题。
• He combined curious qualities of naivety with incisive wit and worldly sophistication.他集天真质朴的好奇、锐利的机智和老练的世故于一体。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

8 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

10 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

12 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

13 inconveniently   

ad.不方便地

参考例句：

• Hardware encrypting resists decryption intensely, but it use inconveniently for user. 硬件加密方法有较强的抗解密性，但用户使用不方便。
• Even implementing the interest-deferral scheme for homeowners has proved inconveniently tricky. 甚至是对房主实行的推迟利息的方案，结果证明也是极不方便的。

14 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

15 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。