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Anti-Circumcision Comic Hero’s Anti-Semitic Undertones do Disservice to Noble Cause
Moral Low Ground believes that the practice of circumcising newborn baby boys is barbaric and will, like the debilitating foot binding in old China or the savage clitoridectomies in parts of Africa today, eventually come to be seen as baseless and uncivilized cruelty. We also back San Francisco’s ballot initiative to ban the unwarranted procedure within city limits, and being that we’re based in the City by the Bay, look forward to voting against circumcision this November.
The man behind the drive to ban the tip snip, however, has done his cause a great disservice with the introduction of a comic book titled Foreskin Man, which stars an eponymous hero who crusades against evil Orthodox Jews led by Monster Mohel (a mohel performs ritual Jewish circumcision on eight-day old infants).
Whereas Foreskin Man is a strapping blonde with bulging muscles, Monster Mohel is a blood-thirsty, hooked-nose creature with a claws for hands and a sinister grin whose mouth positively waters at the prospect of wrapping his gomco clamp around some poor unsuspecting newborn’s tender knob.
You see the problem with this.
Nancy Appel, associate director of the Anti-Defamation League, sees a “direct parallel” between the Foreskin Man comic and the Nazi propaganda of the 1930s.
Matthew Hess, the activist who conceived Foreskin Man, told the Associated Press that he did so to raise awareness of his national effort to ban circumcision. Hess, who founded MGMbill (for male genital mutilation), is responsible for getting the proposed ban on San Francisco’s ballot. That measure would make it a misdemeanor to circumcise males younger than 18 years old when there is no medical necessity for the procedure.
Hess’ efforts began back in 2003, but he had great difficulty getting people to pay attention until he created Foreskin Man. “This is generating a lot of attention that is pushing people to look into this a little bit more,” Hess told the Associated Press. “The more you look into it, the worse it gets. It is a serious human rights violation. Now a lot of people are going to learn about circumcision and be thinking about it before the November ballot.”
Monster Mohel…
… an uncanny resemblance?
Yes, but at what cost? One look at the Aryanesque hero (his caped suit is even blue and yellow, the national colors of Sweden, a country that Hitler greatly admired), or even more so, the evil Monster Mohel (who bears an uncanny resemblance to the “evil” Jews depicted in the propaganda cartoons of the Third Reich) is enough to send shivers down the spine of any Holocaust survivor. That alone should tell you everything you need to know about Foreskin Man. That alone is enough to compel condemnation.
Hess, who coincidentally also shares the surname of Hitler’s right-hand man, insists he is “not a Nazi,” pointing to the fact that Foreskin Man saves Jewish babies from the horrors of genital mutilation. And we don’t doubt that he’s not an anti-Semite. But in Hess’ zeal to raise awareness of his noble cause he has clearly crossed an uncrossable line, and in doing so may have done more harm than good to his effort.
There are those who defend the barbarism of male genital mutilation on religious grounds, arguing that banning it would amount to an attack on their First Amendment rights. But slavery and the stoning of adulterers are also sanctioned in the Old Testament, and if someone tried to defend the buying and selling of human chattel or the execution of cheating spouses on Biblical grounds, they’d surely be run out of town (at least this town). The religious contention, therefore, is morally bankrupt.
But those who say the attack on circumcision is born from the sinister recesses of anti-Semitism now have themselves quite the poster child to point to, thanks to Hess’s reprehensible Foreskin Man comics. You can be assured that more than one San Franciscan will remember this come November, and cast their vote accordingly. In his quest for publicity, Hess has shot himself– and potentially, every baby boy born within the 49 square miles of heaven known as San Francisco– squarely in the dick.
Tagged anti-circumcision comic, Anti-Defamation League, anti-semitic circumcision comic, anti-semitic comic book, anti-semitism, circumcision, evil jews, foreskin man, foreskin man anti-semitic, foreskin man monster mohel, jewish circumcision, male genital mutilation, matthew hess, matthew hess foreskin man, matthew hess mgmbill, mgmbill, monster mohel, nancy appel, nazi propaganda, old testament, orthodox jews, san francisco circumcision ban, stop male genital mutilation
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GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:25 pm
“In the 613 mitzvos, we are commanded to:
(N 41) Not imprinting any marks on our bodies (Lev. 19:28)
(N 45) Not making cuttings in our flesh (Deut. 16:1)”
“It is a violation of Torah commandments to physically assault or harm another person (Exodus 21:18-27). Yet that is exactly what circumcision is! Thus, it is against the most fundamental concept of Jewish law.”
Jews Against Genital Mutilation Sites:
http://www.JewsAgainstCircumcision.org
http://www.BeyondTheBris.com
Bris Shalom/brit shalom = No Genital Mutilation. All My Jewish Friends have Bris Shaolmed and kept their babies intact.
Jewish Genital Integrity/Human Rights Links:
My Son: The Little Jew with a Foreskin: http://www.mothering.com/health/my-son-the-little-jew-with-a-foreskin
Jewish Mother Against Circumcision: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfnqN3YgTd8
Jewish American Scholar Leonard Glick – Circumcision: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4UEbsg-k5Y
Our Son’s Bris Shalom: Welcoming Covenant: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/08/our-sons-bris-shalom-welcoming-covenant.html
I’m a Physician, a Jew, a Father & Grandfather: My position on Circumcision: http://www.drmomma.org/2009/08/im-doctor-jew-father-grandfather-my.html
Brit Shalom Celebrants: http://www.circumstitions.com/Jewish-shalom.html
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:28 pm
I am a Male genitally mutilated and hate it like 200,000 other men restoring their foreskin to undo some of the damage and sexual diminishment of genital mutilation: http://www.tlctugger.com We would have said NO to having our penises being genitally mutilated against our will.
Keep your kids whole all the info you need: http://www.WholeNetwork.org Doctors Oppose it: http://www.DoctorsOpposingCircumcision.org Jews oppose it http://www.JewsAgainstCircumcision.org
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Your religious freedom ends where my body and my human rights begin under constitution, UN, and the 14th amendment of equal protection whereas Female genital mutilation is banned so boys are equally protected . There is no religious exemption for female circumcision. Genital mutilation is already illegal: http://www.drmomma.org/2010/04/circumcision-already-illegal.html
Jews Against Circ Bris shalom requires no cutting and my Jewish friends kept their kids intact: http://www.JewsAgainstCircumcision.org
Muslims against circ: http://www.quranicpath.com/misconceptions/circumcision.html
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:28 pm
There are no medical benefits to sexually and genitally mutilating a person male, female, or intersex
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:29 pm
-No medical organization in the WORLD recommends routine infant genital cutting of males and females
-80% of the world’s men are intact, happy, and healthy and do not elect to get genitally cut.
Keep your kids intact all the info you need: http://www.wholenetwork.org
and tell me how he sounds and how it makes you feel
michaelJuly 28, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Funny thing though Greg, despite the insistence of all you anti-circ types, there is also no documented medical agency in the world who has specifically rejected circumcision. I dare you to name one!!!
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Watch this video of a baby boy being genitally mutilated. Hear the screams, see his face? This is mutilation. This is torture.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRIT5IdTpgY
michaelJuly 28, 2011 at 11:34 pm
watch this video of a baby receiving vaccinations, is this something the baby asked for, are we denying the baby’s right to consent for such an action. Hear the screams, see the baby’s face. Is this torture??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAiO_Dvs6qk
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Complications of male genital cutting include:
Bleeding
Infection
Insufficient foreskin removed
Excessive foreskin removed
Adhesions/ Skin bridges
Inclusion cysts
Abnormal healing
Meatitis
Meatal stenosis
Urinary retention
Phimosis
Chordee
Hypospadias
Epispadias
Urethrocutaneous fistula
Necrosis of the penis
Amputation of the glans
Death
- Source: http://newborns.stanford.edu/CircComplications.html#inclusion
All avoided by keeping your kids whole and normal
GregJune 19, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Everything lost to genital cutting and what’s restorable: http://www.norm.org/lost.html
Study on how genital cutting is sexually diminishing: http://www.livescience.com/1624-study-circumcision-removes-sensitive-parts.html
http://www.examiner.com/family-health-in-washington-dc/new-study-male-circumcision-and-sexual-difficulties-for-men-and-female-partners?fb_comment=34449916
http://nocirc.org/touch-test/touchtest.php
And aesthetically(visually) it is mutilation a cut v intact penis picture to visually to show the damage: (*NSFW Graphic Nudity*) http://hphotos-snc6.fbcdn.net/175106_10150117141913024_502498023_6417515_3672720_o.jpg http://www.cutedaveyboy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/1240942124311.jpg http://www.circumstraint.com/gallery_images.html
CynDaVazJune 19, 2011 at 8:32 pm
It’s time for those who circumcise in the name of religion to emerge from the dark ages of that tradition.
Many Jewish people and Muslims are upset (but not all – http://www.jewishcircumcision.org , http://www.jewsagainstcircumcision.org, http://www.quranicpath.com/misconceptions/circumcision.html, http://www.quran.org/khatne.htm, http://www.noharmm.org/persreligion.htm#islam). They believe this ban would be a threat to their freedom of religion. To which we counter: Muslims are legally prohibited from having the genitalia of their baby girls cut for cultural/religious reasons. Males are being denied equal protection under the law, and this is unconstitutional.
Religion really shouldn’t be allowed any more as an excuse for inflicting physical alterations on the body of a non-consenting human being. Besides, babies don’t have a religion. They don’t even understand the concept. And circumcising a child in the name of religion actually infringes upon the child’s individual freedom of religion.
Barefoot IntactivistJune 19, 2011 at 9:03 pm
The woman Abby Porth works for JCRC, and from the outset has called the ban on circumcision “Anti-Semitic.” Don’t be fooled by her feigned outrage over Foreskin Man.
Also, a correction — you said that Foreskin Man “crusades against evil Orthodox Jews.” Actually, he crusades against circumcisers. In Issue #1, he fought “Dr. Mutilator,” a secular circumcising doctor. In Issue #2, he went after a “Monster Mohel,” aka ritual circumciser. Issue #3 isn’t even out yet.
And can you please show me where this supposed “hook nose” is and how this is even remotely related to the picture you’ve copied from the Nazi propaganda, other than the fact that they are both cartoons? The picture you copied of “Monster Mohel” actually makes him look kind of like a badass.
What you fail to recognize is that, while the comic is tasteless at best, without it people like you probably wouldn’t even be writing about this cause.
Let’s stick to the argument at hand — genital mutilation forced on non-consenting children. You are buying into the JCRC hype. They have put a $500,000+ campaign in place called “The Committee for Parental and Religious Freedom” designed expressly to smear Intactivists as Anti-Semitic. You are buying right into their story without even doing the proper due diligence.
~Barefoot Intactivist
Darron SJune 28, 2011 at 11:43 pm
If a comic book made black characters with HUGE red lips and picininny features everyone would call them out on it. I’m calling Hess out on imagery that is akin to anti-semetic posters that nazis give out.
If you’re the best Intactivism can do, then I don’t want to be part of this movement. I don’t like hatred nor ignorance. We should call out BS when we see it.