Jewish clergy godwinning is one of the more annoying practices to be witnessed in the wake of the recent court ruling in Germany that declared male circumcision for religious reasons to be unlawful.
But I have to say that the Chief Rabbi of Britain clearly takes the cake for worst godwin, and generally worst argument to be presented for why we should mutilate male infant’s genitalia. A few choice quotes from Chief Rabbi Sacks’ own blog :
It is hard to think of a more appalling decision. Did the court know that circumcision is the most ancient ritual in the history of Judaism, dating back almost four thousand years to the days of Abraham?
I’m sorry, who? There is no credible evidence that any Abraham ever existed, and we don’t tend to hold onto harmful and dangerous practices just because our forebears 4000 years ago thought it was a good idea. We also wash our hands after going to the loo these days, although god obviously didn’t think that would be a useful piece of advice to put into the Bible or Torah at the time.
Did it know that banning milah was the route chosen by two of the worst enemies the Jewish people ever had, the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV and the Roman emperor Hadrian, both of whom set out to extinguish not only Jews but also Judaism? Either the court knew these things or it did not. If it did not, then how was it competent to assess the claim of religious liberty? If it did, then there are judges in Germany quite willing to say to religious Jews, in effect, “If you don’t like it, leave.” Do judges in Cologne today really not know what happened the last time Germany went down that road?
Fallacy of guilt by association, and of course another godwin. The decision of the court in 2012, based on medical evidence, has fuckall nothing to do with Hadrian or Antiochus, the argument is ludicrous, and the Chief Rabbi should be ashamed of himself for making it. Also, I didn’t find the faintest hint of “If you don’t like it, leave” in the court ruling. It’s a bit similar to a rapist complaining that because the state considers rape verboten, that is just like asking all rapists to leave the country.
That is what the court in Cologne has done. It has declared that circumcision is an assault on the rights of the child since it is performed without his consent. It ignored the fact that if this is true, teaching children to speak German, sending them to school and vaccinating them against illness are all assaults against the rights of the child since they are done without consent.
Seriously, Chief Rabbi, how did you get to hold the job you’re in? Noone can be this dumb, surely. Just answer me this. When was the last time a child bled to death or died of infection from having their bleeding cock sucked by a Rabbi with herpes, from learning German or going to school?
