Re: Unbelievable
 

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At what point do you go "Man, these old customs sure are dumb" and move on to you know, 1960?

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um, freedom of religion?

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Freedom of religion is not absolute. Christopher Hitches pointed this out in an article on Slate.com today:

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Where to start with this? I could wish that Bloomberg were always so careful about keeping out of other peoples' business: He has made it legally impossible to have a cigarette and a cocktail at the same time, anywhere in the city. But I'll trade him his stupid prohibitionist ban if he states clearly that it is the government's business to protect children from religious fanatics. Female genital mutilation, for example, is quite rightly banned under federal law, and no religious exemption is, or ever should be, permitted. The Mormons were obliged to give up polygamy and forcible marriage before they, or the state of Utah, could be part of the United States. A Christian Scientist who denies urgent medical treatment to his or her children may well be hauled up for reckless endangerment, as may those whose churches teach redemption through violent corporal punishment. The First Amendment does indeed forbid any infringement of religious freedom, but it is not, as was once said, part of a suicide pact, let alone a child-abuse one.

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Basically, you can perform whatever strange (to non-believers) religious rituals you want, as long as you aren't endangering the health of others while doing so. Sucking on a baby's penis wound would seem like risky behaviour to me -- and this is borne out in the fact that 3 babies contracted herpes from a Mohel as a result, and one of the babies subsequently died.

Re: Unbelievable
 

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um, freedom of religion?


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I don't care about freedom of religion if you are putting someone's life at risk. Some things are just more important than others and protecting freedom of religion is not more important than protecting a childs life.

I can't go out a kill someone and then argue that human sacrifice is part of my religion. I realize this is an exaggeration but you get the idea.

Re: Unbelievable
 

this is borne out in the fact that 3 babies contracted herpes from a Mohel as a result, and one of the babies subsequently died

The article says that there's no proof that any of these three babies contracted herpies through Rabbi Fischer, it says, "Rabbi Fischer said through Mr. Kurzmann that the twin who died and the Staten Island boy both had herpes-like rashes before they were circumcised."

Of course it would be in his interest to say this. But, it should certainly be proven that herpes can be generated even with the precautions that mohelim take before performing circumcision before it's prohibited. And even then, surely it would make more sense to legislate that mohelim need to have regular tests to ensure that they are not carrying herpes or other diseases, rather than outlawing metzizah b'peh altogether?

Re: Unbelievable
 

babah-zitzer!

Re: Unbelievable
 

Let's keep the anti-religion posts in The Trainwreck, please.

Re: Unbelievable
 

Have you heard the one about the budget Mohel?

He works for tips.