NOCIRC (National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers) was formed in 1986 to promote what its acronym suggests - the prevention of non-therapeutic circumcision of children. Started in California it soon became an international organization with a goal of educating parents so that circumcisions were only done for medically necessary reasons and by fully informed parents.

Whatever one may think about the group, there is a sense in which it is correct. There is a type of circumcision that is necessary and should be done by fully informed adults - circumcision of the heart. Today's Morning Minutes in the Bible on Throwback Thursday looks back nearly 40 years to a January 1981 Plain Talk Magazine article for a discussion of circumcision of the heart.

Vital Circumcision By Robert F. Turner

Baptism is often compared to the physical circumcision of the covenant with Abraham and his descendants. The assertion was often intended to compare the two in order to negate the necessity of baptism. However, literal fleshly circumcision was not a type of baptism in water. Rather, it typified the "cutting away" of sin from the thoughts and intents of our hearts, preparing us for baptism. Baptism is necessary, but meaningless without a circumcised heart.