GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
Speaking of genitalia .. muslim women are now allowed to keep theirs intact. Finally, ten of the highest ranked muslim scholars from all over the world met under the patronage of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Prof. Dr. Ali Goma'a at the Azhar University on 22-23 November. After listening to several international physicians, they pronounced the sensational decision to classify the custom of female genital mutilation (FGM) as punishable aggression and crime against humanity. As a result, female genital mutilation can no longer be practiced by Muslims. Now awareness of this decision has to be spread in the 33 affected countries.
Cited story.
Comments
I feel that it's worth pointing out here that FGM is really a cultural practice, and not a religious one. There are plenty of muslim cultures out there that don't practice this (e.g. Arabs, Persians, Turks.) This is primarily practiced in Africa and is not viewed as a religious thing as much as a tradition that, among other things, prevents lustfulness or distraction by women. It's also worth pointing out that women contribute greatly to doing this to women, and support this as a practice, albeit in the frame of a patriarchal culture. Having some experience with dealing with women from these countries, it's often the grandmother that insists the child get it done, for example here in the US.
Posted by: anon4 this | December 4, 2006 7:54 PM
What anon4 this said... this is more of an example of a religious rationalization being cobbled together to excuse a barbaric local cultural practice than an example of the religion itself being barbaric.
Sort of like the way Biblical rationalizations were found to justify the practice of chattel slavery here in the USA.
Frederick Douglass had some interesting observations about Christian slaveowners as compared to non-religious slaveowners in My Bondage and My Freedom
Posted by: Ktesibios | December 4, 2006 8:03 PM
Even granting that it's primarily cultural and not religious (which is clearly true), it's still good that religious pressure to stop the practice will be added to the secular humanitarian pressure.
Posted by: Joshua | December 4, 2006 10:13 PM
How centralised is Muslim theology? I wasn't aware that there was a central authority who could make such a decision (as there is with the Catholic Church, for instance). I'm a bit worried that this will just be dismissed and ignored by the Muslim religious leaders in the parts of the world where FGM is carried out.
But kudos to Grand Mufti of Egypt for the effort: I hope I'm wrong.
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | December 5, 2006 1:42 AM
Bob, Islam has no centralized authority. It's very much like Protestant Christianity, or at least its strands that insist on educated clergy.
Posted by: Alon Levy | December 6, 2006 2:41 AM