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Captain Israel! of couse…

Comment by Daniel on 8/04/11 at 10:11 am

Mr. Schumer, I was really taken back by your article. There are a lot of grey areas out there but the test is how the message effects one. You are, for certain, a bigot.

Comment by Robert Ganley on 8/04/11 at 2:36 pm

Mr. Ganley: How exactly am I bigot? Please explain—I dare you. And Daniel? What were you inferring with your “...of course”?

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/04/11 at 10:16 pm

Beautiful, Arlen. These people are all fruits, nuts and flakes. To be called a bigot by one of them is a compliment.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 8/07/11 at 12:44 am

Either Schumer is stupid and ignorant, or he pretends to be. His comic is basically a straw man demolition. Hess criticizes ALL circumcision, and he has NEVER questioned the legitimacy of the State of Israel. I’ve got news for Schumer; circumcision isn’t exclusive to Jews. Only 3% of circumcised Americans are Jewish. Those that hate Israel, the Iranians, Palestinians and KKK members are all circumcised and proud of it. Schumer is trying to act like Jews and Israel are being singled out and it’s pathetic. He couldn’t even come up with his own original character to do so. He basically took Captain America and gave him a star of David for a shield. What a complete rip off.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 4:40 am

Hess is an irrational screwball, and does very obviously single out Jews. Let’s prove it.

I have pointed out elsewhere that Jews are a tiny percentage of those circumcised;
1) Jews are a 1/5% of the world population
2) 30% of males in the world are circumcised,
3) Therefore Jews are 2/3% of circumcised males worldwide.

Make whatever adjustment you want about America. Jews, God, Moses, the Bible, the Rabbis etc. cannot be blamed even by a non-antisemitic fruitcake for the 97% circumcised Americans or the more than 99% of circumcised males worldwide.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 8/07/11 at 8:05 am

So why is the villain of his hate literature called ‘Monster Mohel’, aided by Jewish Hasidic henchmen with machine guns? It’s a rhetorical question, because anything you say will make you look like a moron (but don’t let that discourage you). My answer - Hess is a Jew hater, inspired by other Jew haters.

Comment by Ben Plonie on 8/07/11 at 8:05 am

You’re not “proving” anything. You’re basically making our point. Jewish brissim constitute only a fraction of circumcision, of which Hess criticizes ALL of. That Hess is blaming all of circumcision on Jews is a straw-man claim that you and Schumer seem to be hell-bent on.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 8:25 am

I know that anything I say, YOU will try to construe as “moronic,” but I won’t be surprised; historically ALL criticism of circumcision is dismissed as “anti-Semitic.” That is, up until now. “Monster Mohel” is not “the” villain of this “hate-filled literature.” (If you can call criticism of cutting off part of a child’s genitals “hate.”) He is called “Monster Mohel” because well, he is a monster, and he’s a mohel. And aren’t all comic book villains attended by henchmen?

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 8:32 am

I’ll admit, Hess should have given this more thought. But even without Monster Mohel, wouldn’t you have called him a “Jew hater” anyway? I think that challenging this idea that we shouldn’t ever criticize circumcision for fear of the anti-Semite card was precisely what Hess had in mind. There IS a silence on the circumcision debate in this country, and whether you like it or not, it IS because people are afraid to speak out because they don’t want to be equated to Hitler.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 8:36 am

The REAL problem is that Hess challenges a long-revered sacred cow. He breaks the rule of “speak not about circumcision lest you rouse the wrath of the Jews.” People are daring to speak out, and THAT’S the real problem here, isn’t it. We goyim aren’t staying in our place. I won’t fully endorse Hess’ comic, but I do think that it’s ridiculous that challenging cutting off parts of children’s genitals is equivalent to being Nazi Germans who challenge the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Challengers of circumcision have been historically silenced by accusations of anti-Semitism, and you were going to call us “Jew haters” anyway. The time has come for that to STOP.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 8:42 am

The come-back comics written in response to Foreskin Man are pathetic. They’re attacking straw-man claims that simply aren’t true. Circumcision is NOT exclusive to Jews. I’ll admit Hess’ villain was ill-conceived, but not all Jews in his comic are portrayed this way, just this particular villain. He attacks ALL of circumcision, and he has NEVER, EVER challenged the legitimacy of the state of Israel. The way Schumer is trying to make Hess’ comic an attack on Israel and the Jews is absolutely pathetic. I’m afraid the anti-Semite card is getting older and more worn with each use. The story of the boy who cried wolf comes to mind.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 8:55 am

Joseph4GI: if you’re going to criticize, stick to the specific points raised: stereotypes in issue #2 were classically anti-semitic; FM himself’s an aryan stereotype; Hess wants to make a 4,000-yr religious rite (by both Jews & non-Jews) illegal; he used the equivalent of a KKK cross-burning to celebrate FM’s victory. Where in that is “an attack on Israel”? I did NOT “single him out” for his “attack on “Jews,” as i gave him a pass on FM #1’s “Dr. Mutilator” as being within the bounds of his “so-called argument.” Both Hess and you—and those “goyim” like you—don’t want to own up to their own inbred anti-semitism that unfortunately is built into the very Gospels themselves.

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 9:53 am

Now, as I’ve said; it’s not like the circumcision debate began yesterday. Jews have been calling anybody that challenges them, especially circumcision, “anti-Semites.” So I’m not expecting anything different from you. Let’s stick to the subject of criticism on this article; YOUR COMIC BOOK. It looks like it’s mostly a huge debacle on the defense of the legitimacy of Israel. What’s WITH that? When did Hess ever say that Israel as a country shouldn’t exist? When did he say all Jews were evil?

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:04 am

I will give you this; his villain was questionably drawn. But how do you draw a Jewish villain “right?” There are simply not ANY Jewish villains, is that it? And what about other Jews in the story? Aren’t you going to talk about them?

I think you’re looking for connections that simply aren’t there. FM happens to be Aryan. Would you have said anything about the comic if he weren’t? How is the burning of circumstraints in any way equivalent to a cross burning?

And you seem to be forgetting this, but you ARE aware that despite being a 4,000 Jewish ritual, the majority of circumcised men in the US aren’t Jewish right? The greater half aren’t even Christians.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:07 am

hey joseph—stick to the subject,if you can. Expect different from me, and you got it—except you STILL can’t address the points I raised in my image! If you want to criticize my Cap Isr comic book, that’s different. What’s “WITH” what? You then return to your Hess point? Make up your befuddled mind before I lose my patience with you!

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 10:08 am

Look, for better or for worse, Hess criticizes ALL of circumcision, not just Jewish. And I do too. Just because something is “old” doesn’t make it right. Slavery, the subversion of women and stoning gays to death was also “age-old tradition.”

I do not challenge the legitimacy of the state of Israel, and think that beliefs should be respected, inasmuch as they respect the rights of others, esp. the rights of children. For better or for worse female “sunat” is also religious practice, yet nobody thinks it’s a problem that there’s a law against that.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:11 am

Joseph—the fact that you just wrote, “How is the burning of circumstraints in any way equivalent to a cross burning?” proves you’re even MORE of a blind idiot than i already thought you were! And “How do you draw a Jewish villain ‘right’?” Oy vey, I don’t even know where to begin answering THAT bon mot; you’re pathetic.

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 10:11 am

Hey Schumer; follow your own advice. Don’t change the subject whenever it’s looking like I’m hitting it on the nail.

Obviously you’re using your comic to counter Hess on claims he never made. Obviously you’re trying to make this about Hess singling out Jews, when all along he’s been against circumcision. ALL of it, no matter who performs it and for whatever reasons.

Sorry, circumcision isn’t exclusive to Jews.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:14 am

“Obviously you’re using your comic to counter Hess on claims he never made”? Where did you pull this one out of? Yes, “circumcision isn’t exclusive to jews,” thanx for pointing that out, einstein; now, for the 3rd time, ADDRESS THE 4 SPECIFIC POINTS I RAISED ABOUT ISSUE #2, that Hess did indeed use to “single out the Jews.”

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 10:19 am

Schumer, burning circumstraints is burning circumstraints. And I think that is another one of your false associations; just as circumcision is not limited to Jews, the KKK isn’t the only group of people that practiced the burning of bonfires. All of these associations you’re trying to force are in your head. Maybe it’s all those years at Yeshiva?

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:21 am

Schumer, I think I’ve addressed your points, if I haven’t lay them out for me again.

I’ll reiterate, Hess is not making any exceptions. He is against circumcision. Jews circumcised, and it is a ritual carried out by mohels. If Jews didn’t circumcise, I don’t think he’d be making a comic book criticising them.

Hess criticizes Jewish circumcision, yes. He paints the villain Monster Mohel evil, yes. But most comic book villains are painted this way; as a comic book historian you should know this.

Hess did what he did because he is criticizing circumcision. ALL of it. That does NOT make him an anti-Semite.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:25 am

Never went to Yeshiva, but I’m sure you’re proud of your unconcscious/subconscious/unacknowledged anti-semitism. Not to mention your simplistic, naive ignorance in claiming quite disingenuously, “burning circumstraints is burning circumstraints”; that’s like saying the Klan’s cross-burnings were nothing more than family barbeques! I’m done wasting my time sparring with someone so beneath me; have a nice life—thank god i ahve more important things to do with my time than try to enlighten a barbarian like yourself.

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 10:25 am

“Both Hess and you—and those “goyim” like you—don’t want to own up to their own inbred anti-semitism that unfortunately is built into the very Gospels themselves.”

I’m not sure about Hess, but as for me, I’m currently considering Buddhism. Please don’t assume that all those who challenge circumcision are Christians.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:28 am

If you’re “considering” Buddhism then I’d warn all other Buddhists, “There goes the neighborhood!” You’re about as far from “enlightenment” as the Buddha was enlightened. Good luck on your “journey”; you’re gonna need it!

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 10:32 am

Uh, no, sorry Schumer, burning circumstraints is burning circumstraints. It is symbolic of burning those tools that are used in circumcision. One used in a SECULAR setting at that.

You’re done “wasting time” because you know that you cannot win against me. The points you address are all straw man arguments that only make sense to someone that paranoid about “anti-Semitism.” You’re either paranoid, or knowingly trying to play into this Jewish paranoia.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:34 am

If you have better things to do with your time, then go do them. If this is such a “non-issue” to you, you wouldn’t have drawn up an entire comic book that a demolishes an entire slew of straw man arguments.

Let it be clear; Hess NEVER singled out Jews. He is clearly attacking circumcision. ALL of it, and Jewish circumcision is no exception. Circumcision is NOT exclusive to Jews, and criticizing circumcision does NOT make you an enemy of Israel. Your comic is nothing but anti-Semite paranoia that you are using to attack those of us who oppose circumcision.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:36 am

What does someone obssessed with “age old tradition” know about “enlightenment?” Buddhism, at least ideally, is supposed to be about thinking OUTSIDE the box. CHANGE. NOT keeping things the same. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you Schumer.

If you’ve got better things to do, you’d better go do them. Time’s a wastin’!

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 10:40 am

The moniker “blissful ignorance” applies to you,“Joeseph4GI” (I dare you to use your real name, coward); trying to get you to address 4 plain facts I raised about FM #2—the issue that Hess indeed “singled out Jews (how you can keep ignoring that is the “blissful” side of your ignorance)—is tiring, because you’ve masturbated enough on this thread to keep you believing your own BS; congrats, o enlightened one!

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 11:01 am

Readers will read this long thread of huff and fluff and will decide for themselves who is living in blissful (or shall I say desparate?) ignorance.

Regarding the use of my name, I fail to see how using a real or pen name is of any relevance to the points that I make.

I think I’ve addressed the “facts” you concoct about FM2. They’re basically a product of your own paranoia. Either you’re paranoid, or you simply know how to play to anti-Semite paranoia.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 11:43 am

Well, you’re the ignorant one who spelled desperate “desparate”; you have NOT actually addressed the, yes, “facts” that your hero Hess, not I, “concocted” in FM #2; the only “paranoia” expressed here is that of Hess, you, and all the other anti-semites who have been “paranoid” about jews for the past 2,000 years—and backed up your paranoia with very real hate, force and death.

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 11:48 am

No, circumcision is not exclusive to Jews. Insinuating that Hess is singling out Jews, and furthermore, that he is questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel is a strawman tactic.

So FM happens to have blond hair. Now that you mention it, maybe, MAYBE you could see it as “the Aryan vs. the Jew.” But I never made that connection; I think you’ve got to be ultra racist to see it. Sorry if that makes me “ignorant.”

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 11:50 am

Monster Mohel is very grotesquely drawn isn’t he… but he is the villain after all. Why don’t you bring attention to the way other Jews in the story are drawn?

The circumstraint thing is just ridiculous. You see a burning cross, I see burning torture devices. I think it’s obvious to most anyone that the story is depicting the destruction of tools that are used to carry out the forced circumcision of children.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 11:51 am

“Well, you’re the ignorant one who spelled desperate “desparate.”

First you attack my name, and now my spelling? Wow. You MUST be “desperate.”

“..you have NOT actually addressed the, yes, “facts” that your hero Hess, not I, “concocted” in FM #2.”

Yes I have. And what you present IS concocted. It is not at all what Hess is portraying.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 11:55 am

For the umpteenth time, you moron, Hess did indeed SINGLE out Jews in FM #2; and I NEVER accused him of “questioning the legitimacy of the state of Israel”! And the fact that you didn’t make the FM/aryan connection, or the giant burning circumstraints to the KKK, exposes your gross myopia, denseness, stupidity and ignorance of history for all the readers of this thread to see and judge for themselves.

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 11:55 am

“...the only “paranoia” expressed here is that of Hess, you, and all the other anti-semites who have been “paranoid” about jews for the past 2,000 years…”

Not really. The paranoia is yours. Hess and I, and others, are against circumcision, no matter who performs it. You’re trying to make this about a hate for a particular people. STOP IT.

“—and backed up your paranoia with very real hate, force and death.”

Hess portrays nothing of the sort. You’re smoking crack.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 11:55 am

I thought you said you had better things to do with your time.

I will agree with you; FM #2 focuses on particularly Jewish circumcision. But it would be disingenuous to pick and choose only this comic as representative of Hess and what he’s about. And it would be disingenuous to say that all Jews drawn in the comic = Monster Mohel. MM is but ONE character in the story.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 11:58 am

hey “Joseph”—the fact that you’ve now ignored multiple times my specifically singling out issue #2, not issue #1, for my objections to hess proves you’ve got blinders on like a horse, with about the same intelligence. Your excusing the anti-semitic caricature of MM as OK because he’s “but ONE character” is kinda like being “a little bit pregnant.” Or, in your & Hess’s case, a “little” anti-semitic! You’re a joke, Joseph!

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 12:04 pm

Your character clearly is trying to accuse FM and Hess directly of anti-Semitism and challenging the existence of Israel. CaptIsrael was invented for this purpose.

I’m sorry that I’m not a racist that separates people by hair or skin color and that you are. WHY I’m supposed to make the burning of circumstraints to the KKK is beyond me. You’re looking for something that simply isn’t there.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 12:06 pm

Did you know that Buddhists also burn bonfires? Especially around this year to welcome and dismiss their dead? (Ullambana Sutra)

You are accusing Hess of engaging in activity that YOU FEAR. I supposed you’re entitled to your creativity.

It’s still clearly WRONG, and clearly pathetic.

Yes. Let’s let readers judge for themselves. I have full confidence that it will be perfectly clear who is the rational thinker here.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 12:07 pm

You’re beating a dead horse (again, your intelligence level) with your claim that I’m accusing Hess of “challenging the existence of Israel”; and I love how you can claim you “know” that Cap israel was “invented for this purpose.” And I finally agree with you on 1 thing only: that you’re indeed “beyond” the analogy of the burning circumstraints to a KKK cross—it’s “beyond” your limited ability to grasp such a simple analogy!

Comment by Arlen Schumer on 8/07/11 at 12:11 pm

Hey Arlen, can I trust this is your real name? I think I address, multiple times, your objections to FM2. It doesn’t look like we’re getting anywhere. If I’ve got blinders, then you’ve got ear plugs.

I’m excusing the MM charicature in FM2 because it’s not as “anti-Semitic” as it is the depiction of a specific character in a story.

Hess is clearly directing his anger at anybody and everybody who performs circumcisions. In his first comic, he attacked doctors. In his second, he is attacking mohels. In his third, he attacks tribal shamans. I’m sure sometime down the line he’s going to target imams.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 12:14 pm

Uh, Arlen? I think everybody knows that you invented CaptIsrael because FM pissed you off. And then I open your book and it’s this long chatty diatribe about the survival of Israel? Really?

About the circumstraints and the KKK cross burning, maybe if you tried really hard, maybe if the KKK and their rituals was something you have been taugth to fear, maybe, with a vivid imagination, I can see your analogy.

As an avid hater of child circumcision, however, all I see is the symbolic destruction of that which is used to hold down children for their torture. They’re not even Jewish mogen devices for crying out loud.

Comment by Joseph4GI on 8/07/11 at 12:22 pm

Arlen, you are aware that circumstraints aren’t even used in traditional Jewish circumcisions? Circumstaints are used in hospital circumcisions.

Cross-burnings were used by the KKK to intimidate blacks—the crosses were often burned at or near the people they were trying to intimidate.

Foreskin Man, which, btw, is a completely tactless & inflammatory comic book, shows a bunch of burning circumstraints in a remote location used to symbolize the fight against circumcision.

A little background information might help you here: this was based on an actual event. A guy named Michael “Warrior of Love” symbolically burned a circumstraint at a Burning Man a few years back.

Comment by Barefoot Intactivist on 8/07/11 at 1:00 pm

You can watch the video of the ACTUAL circumstraint burning here. “Burn, Circumstraint, Burn”, 2008: http://youtu.be/mpdzh_VBxbM and Part 2: http://youtu.be/DYWFVkor2Ws

Foreskin Man, which again I reiterate is a completely tactless & inflammatory comic, has 3 issues. Issue 1 involves “Dr. Mutilator,” a secular doctor. Issue 2 involves “Monster Mohel,” a Jewish ritual genital cutter. Issue 3 features an African tribal genital cutting ritual for both boys & girls. As far as I can tell, Hess is an equal opportunity offender—he’s targeting ALL genital cutters.

Comment by Barefoot Intactivist on 8/07/11 at 1:00 pm

The Genital Integrity movement is very real and has been growing in the US for more than 40 years. The more you research Intactivism, the more you will come to find that it has nothing to do with Anti-Semitism, and everything to do with human rights.

Here is a great interview with one of the founders of American Intactivism, Dr. James Peron, who became an Intactivist after a doctor intentionally circumcised his twin boys against Dr. Peron’s wishes. “Human Rights Pioneer - James Peron, MS, Ed.”, 2010 http://youtu.be/t_wO0ZkR7ng

~Barefoot Intactivist
A Jew Against Genital Cutting

Comment by Barefoot Intactivist on 8/07/11 at 1:01 pm

As a Jew who was circumcised as an unconsenting infant and who resents the fact that religious nuts cut up my genitals, Monster Mohel is a pretty accurate representation of how I view mohelim. They are monsters. Every single one of them. The *only* thing that Hess is “guilty” of is calling a spade a spade and depicting perverted religious freaks who spend their days cutting babies’ penises for the predators they are. I spared my sons the indignity of being cut and I am heartened by the fact that other Jews are doing likewise.

Comment by Kelev on 8/07/11 at 10:20 pm

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