Circumcision, Religious Freedom and Germany

Judaism and Christianity... the two witnesses spoken of in Revelation.

We are the two burning lamp posts which bear forth the Light of the True God to the world.

As such, we are the ones who the evil one attempts to snuff out the most.  We're the ones zeroed in on for attack.  Ours are the religious freedoms that produce the greatest threat to his darkness.

Germany has just made circumcision illegal (save for medical emergencies).  That means that faithful Orthodox Jews can no longer live out their faith without fear of the government taking their children / finding themselves in jail.

Now, truth be told, I'm on the fence regarding circumcision.  When Vince was a baby, I'd read up on it and found all sorts of conflicting reports.  After talking with three different doctors (two of which said the risk for UTI dropped significantly), I made the decision to go forward with the procedure for Vincent.  However, I revisited the issue about a year later and learned even MORE information that made me second guess myself.  I even found a blog entry written by a level-headed Jewish man who tackled the topic, too.

Truth is, I'm still on the fence and feel somewhat guilty for having made Vincent go through the procedure just because the majority of people said it was "right" to do. 

However, this article isn't about the rightness or wrongness of circumcision.  It IS about religious freedoms that are once again being taken away by governments around the world.

For faithful Jews, circumcision is an outward sign of a spiritual covenant with God.  Through this 4000+ year old sacred tradition, Jewish boys are accepted into the line of the Chosen Ones.... to remove this sacred custom is to remove their ability to enter into communion with their God. 

How is that okay?

The reasoning is that children cannot consent to what is seen as an invasive procedure that has lasting consequences.  Does this mean that parents would need to wait until their child is 16 in order to be treated for a cleft lip? 

*Sigh*

Regardless of your feelings on circumcision, this is cause for alarm because it's the government once more revoking personal choice from parents / families.  It's once more squashing religious freedom to appease a fickle public opinion.

Yet because people no longer understand religious beliefs to be static, they grumble and push for change because, to them (the kings and queens of everything fluid), anything stationary and revered is antiquated.  Anything that doesn't fall in line with their newest fad in thinking is seen as unnecessary and foolish.

There are simply some religious beliefs that are sacred and rooted in Truth.  These unalterable tenets cannot and will not change simply because the public decides it's time for them to.  They are God-given mandates and as such, they will not bow out to public pressure.

My prayers are with Germany's Jews... just as they lose their rights across the pond, we Catholics here in the US are losing ours to the new mandate.  May God have mercy on us.

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