A couple of sad stories wafted across my conciousness this week, in New York we had a baby boy dying of herpes contracted when he was ritually circumcised. For those not familiar with this particular religious rite it involves the removal of the foreskin followed by the "sucking" of the blood from the wound (yes by mouth!); all this of course performed by some strange bloke in a frock. Then closer to home in London we had the trial and conviction of a couple who tortured and killed a 15 year old boy who they accused of being a "witch" and who they beat, stabbed and finally drowned.
Clearly sick people tend to do sick things, peer pressure and indoctrination are very powerful forces in the lives of some, but I reckon if you could give the bereaved relatives of these children the choice right now between adherence to ancient superstitions or being able to get their dead loved ones back I'm pretty sure I know which way they'd go.
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