Yet Another Attempt to Ban Circumcision Ban

In San Francisco, a certain retired hospitality worker Lloyd Schofield managed to place a ban on circumcision for infants on the election ballot this November.  Apparently, all he had to do to accomplish this was collect 12,000+ signatures on a petition.  The bill would make it illegal (a misdemeanor only--phew!) to circumcise persons under 18.

Luckily, a judge did the right thing and banned the ban, citing freedom of religion (of course).  I find it interesting that the placement of the bill on the ballot was picked up by all the major media, while its blocking was only reported by bloggers and Huffington Post.  I guess this is because the fact that 12,000 anti-semites can potentially outlaw a thousands-year-old practice is news, while the obviousness of the decision made it too mundane to report (it would be like reporting a dog biting a man).

While apparently there is a humanistic alternative to the circumcision ritual, b'rit milah, called b'rit shalom, until it becomes commonplace, this is what makes a person Jewish in the eyes of most Jews.  Our ancestors fought for this right against Antiochus Epiphanes or Epimanes and the Roman emperor Hadrian.  While I couldn't believe less in the covenant between Yahweh and the circumcised Jews, I think it is between the parents and the pediatrician to decide on whether circumcising a child is a good idea.