Is this just the tip of the spear?

Banning Circumcision is Simply Banning Judaism
By Yaakov Kirschen | July 14th, 2011 | 81 Comments

Yaakov Kirschen / PoliticalCartoons.com

A bill to ban circumcision of all males under the age of 18 will be on the ballot in San Francisco this November. This is alarming because circumcision of all males is the single most basic ritual of Judaism. Banning circumcision is a direct attack on the practice of Judaism, even if it is presented as having other motives. In fact, history shows us that viral anti-Semitism always comes to town in disguise, usually portraying its motives as a need to protect innocent victims from demonic Jews.

More:http://blog.cagle.com/2011/07/banning-circumcision-is-simply-banning-judaism/


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Who knew there was so much literature on this topic out there? I guess maybe the guy whose article I've linked above knew. I sure didn't.

SO let me 'fess up. Yeh, I'm circumcised. So far as I know, I was never traumatized. I don't think my psyche or my sex life suffered. Anyway, as an old aunt used to say, you don't miss what you never had.

There are plenty of "Circumcision" jokes. Here are a couple that I know:

A doctor I know saved all the foreskins from all the circumcisions he performed over a long career. He kept them in a drawer in the bedroom. After divorcing he remarried and the new wife demanded he dispose of the collection. Not wanting to toss it, he took them to a leather craftsman and asked him to make them into something special. A month later he returned to the craftsman who presented him with a wallet. "That's the best you could do?" complained the doctor, "A wallet!" "Ah," said the craftsman, "A wallet, yes. But rub it a few times and it becomes a two-suit valise."

A guy goes to the doctor and insists he wants to be castrated. The doctor tries to dissuade him, but fails. Finally the doc agrees to perform the procedure. When the guy awakens from the anesthetic, the doctor tells him, "The operation went well. And by the way, while I was performing it, I noticed that you had never been circumcised, so I did that too. No extra charge."

The guy looks back, astonished. "Circumcised. Yeh, that's the word!"
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So what about this proposed San Francisco ordinance?

Here's the initiative language:

ARTICLE 50: GENITAL CUTTING OF MALE MINORS

SEC. 5001. PROHIBITION OF GENITAL CUTTING OF MALE MINORS.

Except as provided in SEC. 5002, it is unlawful to circumcise, excise, cut, or mutilate the whole or any part of the foreskin, testicles, or penis of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years.

SEC. 5002. EXCEPTIONS.

(a) A surgical operation is not a violation of this section if the operation is necessary to the physical health of the person on whom it is performed because of a clear, compelling, and immediate medical need with no less-destructive alternative treatment available, and is performed by a person licensed in the place of its performance as a medical practitioner.

(b) In applying subsection (a), no account shall be taken of the effect on the person on whom the operation is to be performed of any belief on the part of that or any other person that the operation is required as a matter of custom or ritual.

SEC. 5003. PENALTY.

Any person who violates any provisions of this Article shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction such person shall be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not to exceed one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

http://www.politicalforum.com/current-events/189814-prohibition-genital-cutting-male-minors.html

http://www.sfmgmbill.org/Site/Home.html

Here's where to contact the proponents: http://www.sfmgmbill.org/Site/About.html

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So where to from here? A Society to Save the Appendix and Tonsils? This whole movement sounds to me as goofy as some of the animal rights radical organizations. With so many serious health issues, from tobacco to cancer to drugs to obesity to heart disease, how does somebody wind up focused on this? What a weird species we truly are!