And yeah, verily, as it is written, shalst the male child of the tribe, on his eighth day of life, undergo the ritual of circumcision, fulfilling the Covenant of Abraham, in accordance with the Jewish tradition, duty, mitzvah and… and… well, you do it, that’s all.

So to get this straight, some old geezer (99 years old and possibly senile) who apparently heard from God (hmmmm, hearing voices), that he should circumcise himself and ‘his household’, which apparently includes me, set a precedent which became a rule in the intervening 3000 years. During which time, old people who self-harm have been approached differently. Like secure units with constant monitoring. Why is it done? Because…

Because it is
Because Abraham did it
Because its always done
Because you have to
Because the Royals do it too
Because its healthier

There’s a divide. Obviously. There’s always a divide in anything. And whilst circumcision isn’t Brexit, in many ways (and to the circumcisee) its more important. And remember, in Jewish tradition, for every three debaters there are 7 sides to any argument.

And now its Kevin’s turn. He passed his 8th day upon which he was still a little jaundiced so received a stay. But only temporary. So now all the wonderful arguments as to the pros of circumcision (as listed above) all move from the abstract to the immediate and very concerning when its YOUR baby (I use the term collectively because any baby born within the sphere bordered by 3rd cousinhood twice removed is MY baby). And Kev is my baby and he’ll be hurt. Not a lot (because apparently it doesn’t when you’re a baby, or are they just telling you that????) and the after-effects are generally really limited. Other than the shape of his nob, obvs.

But there are ‘benefits’. Its cleaner, healthier (I googled it and it prevents a disease so rare I’ve never heard of it nor can remember its name) and its… prettier. And IT IS DONE!

And its not MGM. Which is like Female Genital Mutilation but for boys. Because there is no accepted medical procedure for FMG, which is an evil thing, whereas circumcision is ok and actively encouraged in some hospitals.

The voice of my dear, departed mum comes back to me at such times. Whenever I justified doing something (stupid) just because someone else had. She’d say: ‘oh, so if he sticks his head in the oven you’d to that too?’ Therefore, ‘because everyone else does it’ is not really, on its own, justification. Yet the pressure on Jews, and Muslims, ok, and Royal Family, is the pressure of history, of continuation, of culture. And it is big. So big that the default question shifts from ‘should we have our child circumcised’ to ‘well, give me 3 good reasons why I shouldn’t’.

So I’ll conclude that it must be a good thing. Abraham had it. I had it. And now Kev’s gonna get it. And get a new, proper name in the process. Kevin had a foreskin. ******* doesn’t.

Happy Wednesday

A xxxx