Thoroughly grossed out

Some of your Seinfeld addicts (aka Havoc) may remember the episode called, "The Bris". It's the one where Jerry and Elaine were asked to be the godparents of baby Steven. Anyway... here is a sample of the script:

STAN - The most important thing is to help with the bris.

Jerry - The bris?

Elaine - The bris?

KRAMER - A bris? you mean snip snip?

STAN - Yeah.

KRAMER - I would advise against that.

Elaine - Kramer. It's a tradition.

KRAMER - Well, so was sacrificing virgins to appease the gods, but we don't do that anymore.

He he he. Well, I'm not a big fan of the circumcision. We carefully considered both sides of the coin, so to speak and our Dr. finally convinced us that we shouldn't have Jack circumcised. (I am glad that he is 3 and not 13 because he would be mortified that I would be writing such things. But while I have my convictions on the matter, I understand that people have their own and in some cases, religion may dictate that this is necessary. (incidentally, for those of you interested in converting to Binglerism, there is no genital mutilation/modification required. Brazilian waxing is approved.) That being said, I was APPALLED, DISTURBED and SICKENED by the following article in the NY Times:

City Questions Circumcision Ritual After Baby Dies
By ANDY NEWMAN
Published: August 26, 2005

A circumcision ritual practiced by some Orthodox Jews has alarmed city health officials, who say it may have led to three cases of herpes - one of them fatal - in infants. But after months of meetings with Orthodox leaders, city officials have been unable to persuade them to abandon the practice.

The city's intervention has angered many Orthodox leaders, and the issue has left the city struggling to balance its mandate to protect public health with the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

"This is a very delicate area, so to speak," said Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden.

The practice is known as oral suction, or in Hebrew, metzitzah b'peh: after removing the foreskin of the penis, the practitioner, or mohel, sucks the blood from the wound to clean it.

It became a health issue after a boy in Staten Island and twins in Brooklyn, circumcised by the same mohel in 2003 and 2004, contracted Type-1 herpes. Most adults carry the disease, which causes the common cold sore, but it can be life-threatening for infants. One of the twins died.

Oral suction? Did I read that correctly? Why would you ever allow a man's mouth on your son's penis for ANY reason? I just can't understand this. This has got to stop.