Another Interview

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The previous subject got me to wondering about god's opinion concerning AIDS and circumcision. Everybody knows that god instituted circumcision among Jewish men as a 'sign of the Covenant' between god and his Chosen People. Everybody knows that the practice of circumcision spread beyond the Chosen People to the Unchosen People around them: the Arabs who would later become Muslims. Everybody knows that. Few people know that circumcision would eventually spread to South Korea(!) But I digress.

I was interested in an interview with god. I summoned Him.

me: Thank You for showing up again.
god: Get to the point.
me: Have you read the African AIDS/Circumcision study? Do you know what I'm talking about?
god: I'm not exactly an idiot. Of course I've read it.
me: Then my question for You concerns the exact mechanism behind (lung gas) the observed effect. Does circumcision tend to increase abstinence?
god: Duhhhh...
me: You will be pleased to know that we agree on this.
god: Nothing you do pleases ME, mister Dogerty.
me: Be that as it may, is it reasonable for me to conclude that your insistence on circumcision for your Chosen People was designed to ultimately protect them from AIDS?
god: Nonsense. I sent AIDS to Earth as a punishment for fornication.
me: That seems reasonable. Is it also reasonable to suggest that Your hatred of fornication was behind the institution of circumcision?
god: I am beginning to warm up to you. Slightly.