Catching up on the Circumcision Question

       The New York Times was a few days late and a few dollars short, but they finally admitted that Germany doesn't want to put an end to Jewish and Muslim traditions.  They acknowledged that religious circumcision will be legal in Germany as long as it is performed under sterile conditions.  I think we should be able to put the lid on this one.
       Shmuel Rosner doesn't agree.  He believes that the German ruling against circumcision (and its swift reversal) are just another example of how Europeans are systematically attacking Jewish heritage.  The Israeli columnist writes in his Views from Around the World column of August 27, Nip and Tuck?:

I am, however, open to discussing with Jews the benefits and the vices of the practice, including the argument that circumcision should be abandoned or altered to accommodate contemporary understandings of health and human rights.
That said, I am a bit prejudiced. When it comes to the human rights of Jews and to protecting Judaism, I’m still not quite ready to trust non-Jewish Europeans.

Essentially he states that secular governments have no place interfering in Jewish religious rituals.  I understand that he feels his religion is being attacked, but secular governments have not only the right - but the duty - to step in on behalf of citizen and resident children if they believe that abuse or neglect is taking place.  Yes, Judaism is a religion with a great deal of cultural legitimacy and a history of horrific persecution.  But that does not mean that Jewish parents should get to do whatever they want to their children as long as they can find a Rabbi who will back them up. 
       The New York Times is currently covering the story of New York City's new possible regulation of metzitzah b’peh, or the practice of a mohel cutting off an infant's foreskin and then using his wine-filled mouth to suck the blood from the wound before dribbling wine on the infant's bleeding penis.  New York City's one regulation, which will be voted on this week, would be that both parents have to sign a consent form before the procedure.  Why?  Well, eleven babies have gotten herpes from this procedure since 2004, two died, and two suffered brain damage as a result.  Although the consent form sounds like a minor inconvenience, plenty of mohels insist they will perform the procedure as they always have, regardless of New York City's laws and codes.
       I know it's a religious practice, but I still think it's fair to say it should be illegal for an adult to put his wine-filled mouth on a bleeding baby penis.  And, I'll let you in on a little secret, Shmuel Rosner.  I'm a fairly secular person and a weak a feeble woman, but I'm among the group that wouldn't have done so well in 1937 in the very city where I live now.  My father was circumcised.  My grandfather was circumcised.  My father's grandfather was circumcised in the shtetl before getting on a boat headed west.  I don't know if Rosner would consider me worth listening to, but here's my opinion on the issue, "NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!  Please please please, secular authorities step in and keep wine away from a child's open wound.  Please keep herpes ridden mouths away from an innocent child's penis.  Please please please, if a child dies or suffers brain damage because of getting herpes in this way, prosecute that child's parents for abuse.  No book or ancient tradition comes before the adequate care of a child!"
       If there is to be a sensible debate about circumcision, it must be about the medical and psychological benefits of the procedure - not just the religious ones.  There are cases to be made for and against, but to say that anything should be allowed, because it is a religious practice, is just morally lacking.  Because for some, a religious practice is allowing an old man to fill his cold sore ridden mouth with wine and give herpes to a baby, causing that baby to actually die of the disease.  For some, it is a religious practice, defended by scripture, to hit a seven month old infant with a switch when he cries at night.  For some, it's a religious and cultural tradition to slice into the genitals of little girls so that they will not be able to take pleasure in sex when they are adult women.
       So please, governments, religious leaders, health care providers, human rights specialists - let's talk about circumcision.  Let's do studies, let's interview adult men, let's get statistics written down.  Let's talk about community and religious heritage.  And then let's talk about if it should be legal and, if so, under what circumstances.  This is about the treatment of children and their bodies, and secular governments do have a duty to step in and protect them when needed.  We can't just step aside and say that every religious custom should be accepted without question.  Because that way leads to innocent children dying of herpes.


Also - Shmuel Rosner, Germany is building (and partly financing) Israel's nuclear submarines.   It sounds to me like in the 21st century, they've got your back, Jack.