Strangely enough, both a mezuzah and a brit milah (or Jewish circumcision ceremony) are part of a series of legal initiatives that—unintentionally or otherwise—could hamper freedom of religion. At issue are these two efforts of note:

• In California, several local ballot initiatives to ban circumcision of males under age 18 have persuaded Los Angeles-area Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) to ask the U.S. Congress to prevent such measures. (A similar drive in Santa Monica, Cal. was dropped last week.)

• In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry has signed a law that would require homeowner associations to permit religious displays on residents’ doors, such as mezuzot.

In the first case, everything began when San Francisco activists gained enough signatures for a November election initiative to make circumcisions for males under age 18 illegal; if approved, performing such acts would be punished with a $1,000 fine and up to one year in prison. That would deny freedom of religious practice to both Jews and Muslims, as well as others. The bill, the Religious and Parental Rights Defense Act of 2011, would end such challenges.

Interestingly, one positive outcome of this is that battling the measure has become an interfaith initiative. Sherman’s first – and at presstime only – co-sponsor is Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress. (Gee, I guess the Muslim hordes aren’t trying to take over America after all!)

Meanwhile, in Texas a Conservative Jewish couple was told to remove a mezuzah from the door of their rental apartment. They refused, sued and lost. They moved from the building when their lease was up, but asked State Rep. Garnet Coleman to push a bill through the state legislature enabling people to have such a religious item on their door.

Both such initiatives are absurd. Circumcision is time-honored, voluntary, deeply meaningful to many families and performed by trained professionals. Likewise, putting up a mezuzah is an important statement for so many Jews; in no way does it infringe negatively upon others. Both acts pass the common sense test, one that their opponents seem to have resolutely failed. 

So much for “freedom of belief” when you’re imposing your beliefs onto a child’s body with a knife.