Kids have been getting shafted by disputes between their parents since the first caveman hired an attorney to protect his rock collection after breaking it off with the cavewoman. Or at least since the 70s--same difference. But there's a kid down in Oly who's about to suffer above and beyond what most casualties of divorce go through. His father has converted to Judaism (we're picturing Goodman in The Big Lebowski) and wants his son to convert as well. The son has agreed--although maybe "agreed" should have quotes around it because a twelve-year-old can't really disagree with much that his legal care-giver decides--to also convert to Judaism, even though one of the stipulations is that he gets circumcised.

From the AP:

"You're talking about not just religious instruction or whether you're going to send the child to parochial school or public school," said Lawrence Gorin, a Portland attorney. "This is a matter of permanent change of bodily structure. And it's irreversible."

Wow, let us guess: the ex-wife is a devout Protestant or something? Sure, people convert to Judaism, even divorced people who have custody of their sons, even sons who are in the custody of their father, John Goodman. Maybe they should hold off on the chop-chop for a while, though, like until he's 30 or so. The couple divorced in 1998. In 1999 the man started studying Judaism. The circumcision appointment was first made in 2004 which the mother responded to by initiating a custody claim in court. Etc, etc.