Regarding the intentions to place anti-circumcision initiatives on the ballots in Santa Monica and Berkeley:
In ancient Israel, a stillborn male baby's corpse had to be circumcised at the graveside.
If there was a history of hemophilia in the family, the third son was excused from the operation, but only after two previous sons had hemorrhaged to death — ample proof that the rite was nothing more than a superstitious blood sacrifice performed without anesthesia on a helpless infant.
The real tragedy of this, the most frequent surgical procedure in the U.S., is that many parents do not understand that it is an elective procedure not required by hospitals for their birth services and that it is irreversible.
Only later in life does a man become aware that he was a hapless victim of misguided parents thinking that it was a beneficial procedure.
Mr. Akerley may be contacted at benakerley@aol.com
