TGA Podcast: Episode 182

Summary: This week, Ryan joins me as we tackle the problem of Orthodox Jews giving herpes to poor little babies, and a scumbag Imam tries to frame a disabled Christian girl for blasphemy in Pakistan. SHOW NOTES Topics New York Rabbis to defy circumcision law, Pakistan Imam accused of planting burnt Qur’an as evidence to prosecute disabled girl Introduction: 2 day vacation in Banff, Alberta and why I understand why people thought the gods lived in mountains. Fossils for sale make it a poor destination for creationists. Part 1: Scumbag Rabbis won’t stop dangerous practice despite law. In New York, many Ultra-Orthodox Jews engage in the practice of metzitzah b’peh, where the Mohel is instructed to place the infant’s penis in his mouth to suck the blood. It comes from a passage in the Torah, that claims this helps prevent infection. However, the exact opposite tends to happen, resulting in serious infections, including herpes. Less than a year after a Brooklyn tot died following an ancient circumcision ritual, the rabbis say they will ignore a proposed law that would mandate parental-consent forms before performing the dangerous procedure…Over the past decade, at least one other newborn died after contracting herpes from the rite, in which the rabbi draws blood from the penis with his mouth.[1] Because Jews are weird, since the 18th century man may use a glass tube to perform this ceremony, however, to accommodate the fact that the government was threatening to ban circumcision, and so many orthodox Jews seized on Talmudic interpretations that allowed them to stop this practice. [2] New York City and federal health authorities issued a public advisory Thursday cautioning against the sucking practice because it has been linked to 11 infants becoming infected with the herpes simplex virus type 1 since 2000. Ten of the infected newborns were hospitalized, two developed brain damage and two died, the health officials said. The city had tried to prosecute  Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer for infecting 3 infants (one of them eventually died), but somehow failed to conclusively prove his guilt. When the city was thinking of suing him to enforce a ban on him performing the ritual, to avoid political fallout Bloomberg allowed the matter to move on to rabbinical court. As expected, he continues to do operate today. [4] In 2006 Mayor Bloomberg held a meeting with rabbinical leaders which proved to be pointless:[3] “The Orthodox Jewish community will continue the practice that has been practiced for over 5,000 years,” said Rabbi David Niederman of the United Jewish Organization in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, after the meeting with the mayor. “We do not change. And we will not change.” Part 2: Imam accused of fabricating evidence to accuse Christian girl of blasphemy Part of this law also makes it clear that it is intended to persecute an offshoot of Islam called the Ahmadiyya [5], who believe that their 19th century prophet was the legendary Mujaddid (a man said to appear every century to ‘revive’ Islam) [6]. who came back on earth to spread his religion peacefully. Muslims in Pakistan consider them using the label Muslim to be offensive enough to make a law against it. Since 1987, almost 700 people have been arrested, and 20 died while in custody. Back in 2009, a woman named Asia Bibi was accused of insulting Muhammad and sentenced to death by hanging. Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was shot and killed by despite the man being one of his bodyguards, his murderer managed to pump over 40 bullets in his body. Government officials went on the record to say he deserved it and celebrated the killer. [7][8] He was sentenced to death, which pleased him greatly. [9] The latest story is of this type of persecution involves a 14 year old disabled Christian girl called Rimsha Masih. After allegedly hanging around a dump site, her accusers claim she was carrying the burnt remains of the Qur’an in her bag. Barnabas Fund reporte[...]