Proof the Nanny State exisits, and needs to be stopped.

Bear with me, I'm learning how to embed a little bit better than just links, but check out this article on Fox News:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/26/ban-male-circumcision-proposed-calif-city/?test=latestnews

Apparently, there is a movement in Santa Monica, California to make it illegal to circumcise male babies.  The claim is that because it can cause pain, the child’s rights are infringed because he can’t say no.  So…the great nanny will step in and take care of little Johnny’s rights because his mom and dad…I’ll stop before I say something really interesting!

Before considering the spiritual impacts of this, let’s start with the largest elephant in the room.  Does this government really belong telling parents whether or not they can circumcise their sons?  HELLO!  Can anyone please explain to me why I as a parent should no longer have the right to make a highly personal decision?  Wait - I know.  Because 6,000 people in an extremely liberal environment can sign a petition to say that I can't, and force a referendum.  I’m just glad I don’t live in that geographic location!  But once it hits the Federal court system it’s another attempt at legislation from the bench, and a First Amendment battle is sure to ensue.

Thankfully, the scripture is clear for Christians.  The Old Testament records circumcision as God’s covenant with Abraham.  With that covenant, the children of Israel were required to continue it for all generations.  After the promise of eternal life and salvation from sin was extended the gentiles, the apostles decided that gentiles did not have to be circumcised, as their covenant was not under the law, but by grace through the Cross.  So, while Christians are biblically excluded from the requirement of circumcision, it still remains a covenant requirement for Jewish believers.  The nanny state doesn’t seem to be very considerate of this, as there is no language in the bill for religious exemptions.

As a parent, my wife and I weighed and balanced the decision to circumcise our boys very carefully.  We made sure there anesthetics were used, and that any pain or suffering that could have occurred was minimized.  But frankly – I can’t say any of them, or myself, remembers the procedure.

I think this leans on a couple of bigger issues.  First, the government’s desire to replace individual liberty with centralized control.  (Anyone remember a guy named Joseph Stalin?)  The other is a seemingly growing cultural shift from anything traditional to something new.  It’s a slow moving, quiet adjustment that has been working through the thoughts of Western society for about the last century or so.  The idea seems to be that traditional thought should be replaced with modern thought. 

It’s a pervasive idea that mankind is inherently good, and that through physical and social evolution, we are getting better.  This is completely contradictory to what the Bible tells us about mankind, and about society in general.  While Christians are not required to circumcise our sons, we should realize the spiritual battle here.  It’s not a question of circumcision, but of capitulating to new age thinking which seeks to continue to remove God from our daily lives.

Your thoughts and comments are invited!