Islamophobia

I’m still on the religious bit, guys so if it offends you, or bores you silly, skip today’s Blog and wait for a more interesting episode. After all what is this about that is so important? Well, a little bit of skin the good Lord gave us and then demanded certain peoples take it away. But was it really God who demanded it or was it simply a matter of practicality where personal hygiene is concerned? Interesting don’t you think that circumcision took off and took on a religious aspect in countries hot, dry, and without water to waste on such matters as washing cocks. The ancient Egyptians used to laugh at the Greeks for being uncircumcised and the Greeks laughed at the Egyptians who walked around half-cocked as it were. The fact is smegma, that secretion from glands beneath the foreskin, there’s no point in denying it, does not rate highly in the olfactory sense and I feel sure the ancient prophets thought, aha, the way to get rid of this awful aroma is to cut away the prepuce and be done with it, the smegma will be naturally rubbed off in contact with clothing etcetera, no need to waste precious water and, if there is any objection, we will say the order came from God. Excuse me for being an ignorant goy but does that not make a lot of sense? Like why didn’t those ancients keep pigs? Of all animals pigs require a lot of water. Goats, no, camels, no, but in a desert situation pigs are definitely out and, without refrigeration, pork will go off a lot quicker than goat or camel. Practicalities again. So why, as the aforesaid ignorant goy, am I writing this? It has nothing whatsoever to do with me. With no religious belief of my own and with all due respect to ancient tradition I find the whole thing a storm in a very small teacup; a demitasse even, so why am I bothering? Well, as it was only to be expected, the German court ruling has caused such ructions that for the first time in goodness knows how many years, if not centuries, Jews and Muslims have actually banded together to defend their rights and their religious practices. But evidently the circumcision of infants has become something of a cause celebre in Holland too, as well as the banning of Halal meat (that would include Kosher I suppose) and the Bhurka. Ibrahim Wijbenga said “The motivation is plain Islamophobia. It is not a discussion about medical ethics.” Presumably, following his argument, it is anti-Semitic as well. Maybe Ibrahim is right. Western nations are at last waking up to the fact that as the Muslim population in their midst increases so their way of life becomes a bigger and bigger bone of contention.

But let’s stick with what motivated this Blog. I have personally met more than one adult Jew angry and  bitterly resentful of what was done to him as a babe and I wondered what would happen if one of these gentlemen decided to sue for damages his parents and the mohel who performed the operation? Hey! Here’s a thought – supposing it’s a scam, the parents and the mohel in on it and they all share the pay out. But before my Jewish friends blow a gasket and take exception to my flippancy, with all the brouhaha caused by the courts it may be forgotten that there are, or so I am led to believe, a great many Jews in Europe and the Americas who do not practice circumcision. In America the majority of circumcisions are not performed ritually but take place in a hospital – a good source of revenue. The fact also is that circumcision by removing the protective sheath over the glans reduces sensitivity and to put it in a nutshell, as Rabelais said, ‘foreskin- the only wrinkles that please.’

Now I see Gauleiter Merkel, that woman of steel who has virtually single-handedly brought Greece to its knees – “There is no alternative to austerity” (this, despite the fact that Germany owes billions in reparation for the atrocities of World War 11 and refuses to stump up citing time lapse) has entered the fray on the side of the circumcisers as have various members of her government. Okay for her. She’s neither Jewish nor Muslim and she’s only in it for the votes. And that is quite enough of that. The subject grows tedious and hopefully will never be mentioned again.