Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] [POLITICS][RELIGION] metzitzah b'peh

[Stephen Montgomery-Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Mike Miller wrote:
> "Metzitzah b'peh" is a ritual sucking of a baby boys penis after 
> circumcision by a "mohel."  The idea is to clean the penis by sucking 
> blood from it.  Anyway, it might not be as good of an idea as it seems:
>
> http://news.google.com/news?q=%22metzitzah+b%27peh%22
>
> Apparently, a Jewish text says something like this:
>
>    http://www.sexuallymutilatedchild.org/mohel.htm
>
>    The Mishnah, Shabbath 19:2
>
>    They may perform on the Sabbath all things that are needful for
>    circumcision: excision, tearing, sucking the penis, and putting thereon
>    a bandage and cumin. If this had not been pounded up on the eve of the
>    Sabbath a man may chew it with his teeth and then apply it.
>
> Though many Jews believe that a medical suction tool of some sort should 
> be used instead of a man's mouth, some others disagree and prefer to 
> rely on their ancient text to tell them how to live even though their 
> children may become sick or even killed.  Ah, the wonders of religion!

I think that this is where Jesus would distinguish between "true 
religion" and "man made religion."  If you read the gospels, you see 
that the one group of people that he really seems to hate are the 
pharicees - precisely the kind of people who write this kind of junk. 
(Jesus described them as "sons of hell.")

I also feel that a lot of the more extreme Christian fundamentalism is 
in danger of going the same route.  For example, my wife was raised in a 
small town Baptist church that would teach that women should not wear 
pants, or that men and women should not go in the swimming pool 
together, or that drinking alcohol is most definitely verboten.  Now I 
am not criticizing people who might feel that they personally need to 
follow such practices, but I would criticize people who preach that such 
practices are required to obtain the favor of God.

Colossians 2:6-23 says

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in 
him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were 
taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive 
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of 
this world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and 
you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power 
and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of 
the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but 
with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in 
baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who 
raised him from the dead.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful 
nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 
having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against 
us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the 
cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public 
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with 
regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, 
however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false 
humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a 
person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his 
unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection 
with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by 
its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, 
as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not 
handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish 
with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such 
regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed 
worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but 
they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

--

Stephen Montgomery-Smith
EMAIL:PROTECTED
http://www.math.missouri.edu/~stephen

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