“If little boys were supposed to have their penises ‘fixed,’ did that mean we were saying that God made the body imperfect?” That was the explanation actress Alicia Silverstone offered in her new book, The Kind Mama: A Simple Guide to Supercharged Fertility, a Radiant Pregnancy, a Sweeter Birth, and a Healthier, More Beautiful Beginning, for her decision not to circumcise her son, Bear.

“I was raised Jewish, so the second my parents found out that they had a male grandchild, they wanted to know when we’d be having a bris,” Silverstone writes. “When I said we weren’t having one, my dad got a bit worked up.” But the 37-year-old actress stuck to her guns. Besides the above mentioned explanation, she also rejects as outdated the notion that circumcision is a health precaution, and argues that sexual pleasure is increased when the foreskin remains intact.

Still, says Silverstone, Judaism was an important part of her childhood. Candles were lit on Friday nights, she attended Hebrew school and has fond memories of her bat mitzvah. “Judaism turned me into who I am today, and I definitely feel I live a very spiritual life. I got that from my parents,” she has said.

A bris isn’t the only thing Silverstone advises a parent to forego – she has also said she is against childhood vaccinations.