OVO

John MacDonald: Mohels Give Non-Jewish Babies a Slice of Tradition [LINK-ZUM]

When his son was born, Reverend Louis DeCaro Jr. was dismayed to learn that none of the doctors on call at Manhattan's Allen Pavilion hospital had time to perform the circumcision. At a loss, the DeCaros turned for advice to their Manhattan pediatrician, Andrew Mutnick, who offered a simple solution: Hire a Jewish ritual circumciser, known as a mohel. [...] "When [a circumcision] is done by a mohel, you appreciate the gravity, the beauty of the religious connotations," DeCaro said. [...]

According to [Emily Blake in New York and Joel Shoulson in Philadelphia], non-Jews make up between 2% and 5% of their clientele. Some, like the DeCaros, are motivated initially by practical circumstances, but others seem drawn to the mohels for spiritual reasons, if not explicitly religious ones. Both Blake and Sherman have even been approached by "Torah-observant Christians" - those dedicated to observing Old Testament commandments - seeking to have their sons circumcised on the eighth day after the birth. In all cases, families say they are drawn to the intimacy and convenience of a nonritual circumcision performed at home.

[Article continues at link. Beautiful, religious, intimate, convenient - fine words to describe infant genital mutilation by untrained amateurs to satisfy a superstition dictated thousands of years ago by an invisible monster that lives in the sky. If these parents had a stranger play doctor with their babies for any reason other than religion, they would rightly be arrested, tried, and imprisoned. But because they do it for religious reasons, they are forgiven. Religion makes unnecessary cosmetic surgery somehow become a good idea. Religion makes everything okay, because it's ancient and sacred and stuff. Like the ancient and sacred tradition of performing circumcisions by chewing off parts of a baby's penis. Haw, ain't God good! - Trevor Blake]

Labels: judaism, krankheit

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