My parents always told me that we as Jews were a very optimistic people. We cut it off before we know how long it’s going to be. In California, a group of “intactivists” want to ban circumcision altogether.
This is just a dumb-headed idea and shows the problem with citizen initiative process.
When a group of activists proposed banning circumcision in San Francisco last fall, many people simply brushed them aside. Even in that liberal seaside city, it seemed implausible that thousands of people would support an effort to outlaw an ancient ritual that Jews and Muslims believe fulfills a commandment issued by G-D. But last month, the group collected the more than 7,100 signatures needed to get a measure on the fall ballot that would make it illegal to snip the foreskin of a minor within city limits.
Seventy-one hundred out of a 465,857 registered voters can place something this stupid on the ballot.
First off, this initiative flies in the face of religious freedom. Jews and Muslims practice ritual circumcision as part of their core beliefs. This harkens back to when G-D made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17, verses 1-27). This is why 8-day old Jewish boys, and Muslim males usually between the ages of 10-12 (the age Ishmael was in Genesis), are circumcised.
This is akin to the anti-abortion movement – a bunch of self-appointed know-it-alls deciding they know what is best for everyone and are hellbent on foisting their moral beliefs on the population. Just as the anti-abortion crowd wants to ban abortion for every woman because they oppose it, these schmucks in San Francisco and Santa Monica want to ban circumcision because they believe it’s “genital mutilation.” BS!
As I tell my anti-abortion friends, if you don’t want one, don’t get one. The same for these “intactivists” – if you don’t want your child circumcised, then don’t get him one. Leave the rest of us alone to do as we please.