I wonder why the lead angle wasn't promiscuity and lack of moral character. That is the true culprit. The discussion I heard brought up the same point. Promiscuity was mentioned but it was buried far down in the article.
I've always found it interesting that this incredibly ancient & primitive ritual is still followed today by almost every Jew, even atheists. And then to hear about a study like this. Well, that's what I thought about. No doubt. I was whopped upside the head (different one). No one is forcing you to celebrate the LORD's Passover Yeah, kind of. Do I think the creator of the vast cosmos takes a special interest in what a small tribe on an ordinary planet do with their foreskins? I would hope not (unless God has access to the WWW, in which case the above sentence is a joke).
Not to go all serious on this fun little thread...but I know you have a fair amount of biblical knowledge, hence I would remind that God has a whole lot better tracking system than WWW. The part about having the hairs on our head numbered comes to mind. But I just don't think that heaven will be populated only by those circumcised. I can't find that requirement anywhere in The Book. Sometimes, in our wizardry, we just seem bent on making things far more complicated than they really are.
The Hebrew bible doesn't have much to say about heaven. Of course, circumcision was a requirement to be part of Israel, not heaven (the two could never possibly be mistaken ). As the Jewish concept of heaven developed, it never was a "Jews only" club. According to Orthodox Rabbis, it's a lot easier for a non-Jew to go to heaven than a Jew since the latter not only has to be a moral person, but to follow all the Jewish laws (like the foreskin thingie).
Following all those 300 odd laws must be harder than for a camel to pass through the needle's eye. Christians have it much easier. We only have to follow 10. Guess I won't be seeing too many Orthodox Jews then.
Well, OBVIOUSLY, it was as a test of mankind. "Will they REALLY take a knife to their own penis if I tell them to do it?" Of course, the transcription got a little garbled. God meant the circumcision to be performed on the 18th year, not the 8th day, which clearly would have made it much more a test of faith!
No kidding! Glad my parents had it done, although I apparently gave the doctor hell. Just glad I don't remember it.
Only if you want the matzah. As much as you despise religion, even the ancient scriptures above only require it if (a) you're an Israeli or (b) you want to become an Israeli. The problem is that you're kind of like the fundamentalists, taking religion completely literally. The fascinating thing is to appreciate how man has viewed the creator. In this case, we have a strange perhaps barbaric ancient ritual that a tribe decided was mandated by the creator. I'm astonished by two things. (1) This weird ritual is still nearly universally observed by the tribe 4000 years later even though most ignore the majority of ancient tribal rules that are clearly much easier to observe and (2) that this strange ritual has turned out to be very healthy (not just with regards to AIDS, but a variety of illnesses).
Almost all Iranians, even those who are not religious or are athiests, get circumcised as well. Even though they don't follow any other religious rules. Indeed, I find athiest and agnostic Jews still far more connected culturally to their religious practices than athiest or agnostic (Moslem born) Iranians. Hence, why this one practice (and a few others) is more practiced than others is an interesting question? I assume it is because, even before AIDS, there were some idea that the practice had some useful health reasons behind it. Or perhaps because it is easier to do this "once a lifetime thing" than to keep up with all the religious rituals, especially if that "thing" is something you do for your kids who don't have much of a choice in the matter?