Zen Fascist Gov. Jerry Brown Smacks Down San Fran Circumcision Ban
Remember back when male political candidates were simply asked about boxers and briefs? A simpler America, yes, though also one in which Arsenio Hall ruled the airwaves….
Bay Area "intactivists" agitating for a ban on male infant circumcision have been brought up short (god, make it stop):
Religious groups applauded Governor Jerry Brown's signature Sunday of a bill which prevents cities and counties from interfering with parents wishing to circumcise their sons.
The move comes amid renewed debate over the ritual, which is a cornerstone of the Jewish and Muslim faiths.
Earlier this year, a group of San Francisco "intactivists" gathered the 7,000 signatures required to put before voters a ban on young male circumcision….
Proponents of the ban drew widespread criticism this summer with their "Foreskin Man" comic book series, which featured a blond, blue-eyed superhero fighting caricatured Jewish villains.
Despite the backlash, intactivists said Monday that they are undeterred.
"Human rights takes a long time for people to understand," said Lloyd Schofield, the retired hotel worker who has been at the helm of the San Francisco campaign.
"When you have a collusion of religious and politics it's a hard thing to overcome," he said. "There are always roadblocks along the way."
Reason Science Correspondent Ron Bailey previously noted that the circumcised boys have lower chances of various infections but perhaps less feeling down there.
Tim Cavanaugh noted that the Foreskin Man comic seemed more like Ernst Rohm fan fiction than something Stan Lee (nee Leiber…hmm…) would get all "Excelsior" about.
And I've written about a Filipino attempt to set a Guiness World Record in mass circumcisions (reach for the stars!) and Reason Contributing Editor and critic of the "therapeutic state" Thomas Szasz's analysis of secular circumcision as a misguided attempt to reduce masturbation (as if!).