Shocker: Semen Isn’t Holy

Despite what some men may want to think, there’s nothing holy about their semen.

Here’s what’s disturbing. Someone claimed just that. Some women fell for it.

Nissim Aharon, a former employee at the Israeli defence ministry, was convicted of rape, sodomy, indecent acts and aggravated fraudulent acquisition.

Women paid him large sums of money, believing he was a holy rabbi who could heal body and soul, the court said.

…

He would claim to be a rabbi, and impersonate figures in authority who would then refer women and teenage girls to himself, the ministry said.

“He would give these people different explanations: among others, that a holy scent comes from him, and that his semen is a holy fluid, which by contact could heal body and soul,” the statement said.

He would also claim that his “holiness” could be passed to those who touched him physically, cleansing their bodies, it said.

At least Aharon is going to jail now.

I wonder how they caught him… did a woman finally realize the semen-bandage wasn’t working and decide to tell officials?

Anyway, this is no different from how the rapists in the Catholic Church operate. They gain your trust, manipulate you, and then take advantage of you.

It’s easy to ask how these women could’ve fallen for such an obvious lie, but when you’re convinced the person you’re with is not just trustworthy but powerful and connected to god, you’re more likely to believe what they say.

(Thanks to Matt for the link)

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Beth

ICK.

What a horrible man. I’m glad that his assaults of those women are being taken seriously and that he is facing punishment.

Also, thanks Hemant for making the point that it’s not the fault of the women.
Richard Wade

…and that his semen is a holy fluid, which by contact could heal body and soul,”

Uh, did he try to cure a lot of sore throats?
Mel

Oh please! I don’t buy the idea that they were so convinced and trusting. If they can’t think their steps through and accept the consequences of their actions, they are just plain stupid and I don’t feel the least bit sorry for them. If he had forced himself upon them, I get it… but it seems that they voluntarily went along for the ride. It’s no different from any guy or gal who lies and manipulates to get sex from another person. It happens every day in every part of the world, just walk into your local bar.
Alice

Great. Now I have “Every Sperm is Sacred” stuck in my head.
a-hem

Seems like this type of manipulation exists all over the place.

Here in the Middle East, stories of Quran teachers (Mualims, usually home tutors) who molest their students are not uncommon.
Story 1
Story 2
Most incidents like these go unreported, though. Since the perps are considered to be trustworthy “men of god” or religious scholars who devote their lives to teaching, the immediate response is denial. Or disbelief.

I know of one girl whose parents went and spoke to the Imam that recommended the teacher in the first place and were told (albeit too late) that other families had had similar complaints.

Now here’s the bit I don’t get: The rest of us would lose our jobs over a single incident like that. This chap was forbidden from home tutoring, but still permitted to teach groups of kids in the mosque itself. The first instinct of these institutions always seems to be “cover your ass and don’t make a scene,” doesn’t it?
No Guy in the Sky

Give me a break. That guy is clever.

Prove he is not Holy. Prove his semen is not Holy. OMG what a clever scam. Religious are so stupid. It is there own fault for not being non-thinkers.

Imagine being in a bar going, “Hey baby! Drink my semen and you will look younger.”

I know my super white stuff fixes all sorts of ailments. Just ask No Gal in the Sky. lol 🙂

Yes he should go to jail for any acts with underage girls. I just thought the concept is hilarious. Yes I am a grown 12 yr old boy at heart.
L.Long

One has to admit that there aint too much sympathy for the religious nutball female. Unlike rape NO ONE forced anything. She was feed BS and she was accepting BS her whole life she went for it. BoHo I drip a tear for her. THINK!!! you idiot and people wont be able to take advantage!!! Anyone who would even think sperm was holey shows they aint too bright. I guess we could make a case of the con-man taking advantage of the mentally retarded.
Good Reason News

Ah, but is it kosher?
Xena

@Mel, L. Long:

Aren’t we here (on this site) to exercise good judgement rather than bias? Ethnocentrism is just as damaging a bias as any excuse for proseletysing. Yes, poor women in developing and second world countries can become so desperate and so enslaved to religion that they will believe lies like this. In Nigeria right now, American exorcism peddlers have some of the population so afraid of demons that women are trying to murder their own children.

Consider yourselves lucky that you have the privilege of a 3rd grade(and 4th thru 12th grade and maybe postsecondary) education. I’ve never met an atheist who hadn’t finished the 10th grade. Consider yourselves lucky to have the luxury of disbelief.

Now imagine that disadvantage of credulity magnified by a different worldview. Let me demonstrate the power of culture. Would you drink your own urine? In terms of health and digestibility, etc.; i.e. scientific reasoning, urine is actually safer to drink than cola. But you wouldn’t drink it. Nor would I. I don’t drink cola either, btw. Do you attack a famine victim for not drinking her own urine to stay alive a few more days? No, because you’d have to be Dachau starving and battered to consider it yourself.

To practitioners of some religions, their taboos do run that deep. In Yanomami culture, it’s an insult to NOT drink the soup made from the bones of a dead relative. And I could go on for pages with examples.

If these women were willing to pay this man to do these things, it’s not the same scenario as an American doing his version of That’s What HE Said: The check’s in the mail, sure I really love you and 12 inches is this big . I suspect that these women were taught to NEVER question their religious leaders, just like the Catholic choirboys that have been all over the news lately.

Aharon abused his power just as Brady and his crew did. Kindly don’t blame the victims for what was done to them.
Michael (SQFreak)

I remember reading a case in my law school torts class about some doctor who convinced a patient that she was sick and could be treated by an expensive injection or inexpensive sex with the doctor. She chose sex, and later sued (and won if I recall correctly). This case reminds me of that one.
No Guy in the Sky

OMG Liken up Xena. Really. Can we fix how retarded the world is right now at this exact second? No. Can we even fix the self delusioned/intentionally retard Christians with an education in the States? No. Does everything have to be serious. You must be a bowl of laughs. Just the life of the party.

I would love it if all people on this planet had an education. If religion was just something ancient people followed. Imagine if they were all civilized. What would we be interested in then? Until then, every once in a while a little humor is good.

Even if you are indoctrinated into a set of beliefs. Your are still responsible for your actions. Those women fell for it. Are you telling me men over there don’t try to get laid? Come on. Yep the guy is a jerk, but… he will go to jail for trumped up charges. And … sex with minors. So get over it.
Angie

I’m deeply disappointed in all the victim-blaming going on here. What this man did was unethical, period, and he needs to be held accountable for his unethical behavior.
Beth

Thank you, Xena. Victim blaming isn’t funny.
Alice

This reminded me of that Mormon dentist in Woodland, CA, who convinced his female patients that massaging their breasts was a good way to cure their TMJ.
No Guy in the Sky

OMG That is too funny! Thanks for the laugh.
Brian C Posey

I wouldn’t blame the victims. Simply because a person is gullible enough to fall for something doesn’t make the deceit okay.

That being said, I have doubt as to whether what this man did should be considered a criminal act.

People lie for sex all the time. At what point is the lie a crime?
parv

Last comment reminds me of Goldman Sachs “shitty” deals.

A lie would be crime if it results in threat to life|health, crying “FIRE” when there is none in a theater, etc. Or, Brian C P, was your question a rhetorical kind?
hoverfrog

Yet another reason why critical thinking is so important and magical thinking can be so dangerous.
Xena

So, No Guy, are you saying you would rape a mentally challenged person for the same reason a dog would lick its own arse and call it funny?

You must be American. It’s all your fault for living in the Land of Pushy Assholes and refusing to live somewhere where the people are more civilized. Ha ha, do you have an extra chromosome?

Even if you’re indoctrinated into an ego-centric misogynistic culture you still need to take responsibility for your own actions. Even though you no longer worship your impotent god or the churches that sell his lies, his fuck it or kill it ideology still hangs on you like a case of halitosis that everybody else can smell and you can’t.

And we’re going to keep reminding you. So get over it.
JJ

The concept behind this story isn’t exactly original–see classic works by people like Bogaccio and you will see near identical accounts of this theme of deception (in fiction, mainly, from what I can tell–but the idea appears to have been widely disseminated as early as many, many centuries ago).

Also, I am totally on board with Xena. Thank you for calling out the victim blaming on this board sooner than some of us had a chance to. It’s statements like these that make me cringe as I am reminded of the metaperception atheists, agnostics, free thinkers, etc. have as people who lack a moral compass simply because they are without God.

I am disgusted by the ignorance commonly displayed in the comments on this website in regard to females and religion. I think explicit coverage of a more feminist perspective on cases like this in particular (and atheism, etc., in general) is a much-needed perspective currently lacking in the content of this website. I’m not advocating that we express overt sympathy for the religious at all times, but for a group of people (atheist, agnostics, etc., like us) who should know a thing or two about religious pressures, abuse, etc., some of you sure seem to forget about it when reading stories like this.

(But, to be clear: I really, really love this blog, Hemant, and understand there is simply no way to cover the needs of every subdemographic relevant to atheism. However, this particular issue seems to always be a huge problem and it makes it so difficult to continue returning to your blog when female readers can’t even find a comfortable environment in which to discuss women’s issues and religion/atheism–which is disappointing, since women’s issues and atheism in particular are, from what I can tell, NEVER integrated as discussion points. You and the other contributors cannot change or control the actions of those who choose to make comments like this, to be sure, but I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to suggest that these comments evidence a severe lack of perspective that this blog has the potential to address. I just never see trends like this on LGBT themed entries, for example–unless, of course, a religious troll happens to drop by…in contrast, it seems a lot of the victim blaming comments come from users I recognize as regularly contributing atheist readers.)

Finally, Richard: I think I am going to be laughing all night about your sore throat comment!
Xena

Thanks, JJ. You just reminded me of another very good reason for male commenters to be respectful of women when presenting their secular views.

Xtians enjoy spewing propaganda that paints the non-religious as cumbuckets and baby eaters who never stop partying. If their quivers aren’t full of JC, well they must be full of something else. And atheist men are supposed to be the incubi that are putting the spawn in those apocalyptic buckets.

Let’s not give them any more excuses to believe this. They’ve already designed enough for themselves.
Hint for No Guy: In any “joke” depicting a schlameel and a schlamazel, if you can picture yourself as both and still laugh, the joke is funny. If you don’t find forcing/being forced into an act of sodomy funny, then you’re like the rest of us. If you find the thought of your dentist grabbing your balls funny, you need help.
Carlie

I agree with the posters saying that the victim-blaming here is troublesome. Here’s a summary:

Post: Here’s one way that religion is bad, because it trains women into being submissive and unquestioning, and people who have been trained that way can end up being abused by those in power.

Majority of thread: Ha ha women are stupid! And it’s funny when they get forced into having sex with someone who has power over them!

So….yeah. What Xena said.
No Guy in the Sky

You want to feel bad for someone. Here is a good one for that in Pakistan. That is sad. She is a victim.
No Guy in the Sky

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=22279
J. J. Ramsey

No Guy in the Sky:

Xena – You are a retarded bitch. How is that for being respectful.

Stay classy, No Guy in the Sky. Stay classy.
No Guy in the Sky

Classy like saying I would rape a a mentally challenged person. That was classy.

In a world full of Xtians, why can’t we laugh? Even you JJ made a joke about this guy sticking his penis down these womens throats. “Finally, Richard: I think I am going to be laughing all night about your sore throat comment!” That was funny.

The whole thing is ridiculous. These women paid for this. I am sorry but there is not a corner of this planet. Rich or poor where women are paying for sex.(Except for those Female sex tourists to Africa, and maybe a few others.)

Show me a victim(male or female), I will show sympathy. These women are embarrassed by their ignorance. Its not the same. They walked in, paid the cash and did what ever he asked.

It would be like a prostitute paying the John to do what ever he wants. Just dumb.
No Guy in the Sky

You want my version of sympathy. I just wrote this, this week. http://www.noguyinthesky.com/2010/04/islam-is-such-peaceful-kind-loving.html
The Godless Monster

@noguyinthesky,
I’m willing to bet that what was going on with these victims is that they had been groomed over a period of time before the really weird shit took place.
If these acts were NOT a result of psychological grooming by an authority figure, then I would have to say that this creep happened to have come across a statistically improbable (if not impossible) group of girls and women.
To talk someone into this type of activity takes authority, time and some amount of psychological grooming.
They’re victims if my guess is right. If the scenario unfolded in the way you probably imagined, then yes, they’d be silly. Honestly, I don’t see that this is probable or likely.
No Guy in the Sky

I can go along with that to a point. As long as they are some what responsible for their own actions. They have to take some if not most of the responsibility. You are responsible for yourself.

I also see nothing wrong with interjecting humor. Does any here think my laughing at their situation was some how worse than any they are surely going to get in their town? Was it worse because I was laughing at women? I laugh at lots of people, from all over, any color or race, or age. I almost forgot sex. Men and women are fair game. I do not discriminate. Funny is funny. You do something stupid, not just me, but most of the world will laugh.
The Godless Monster

@noguyinthesky,
I don’t use the rest of the world as a standard by which I measure my behavior.
Hemant Mehta

@NoGuy Watch the language/tone or be banned.
Xena

You’re really brave when you can hide on the internet NO BALLS! Keep choking on your holy semen because your imaginary No Gal–YOUR HAND–is the only thing that gives a rat’s ass about you.

My little social psychology test just proved you homophobic too. Do you even grasp the significance of being asked if you have an extra chromosome?

Google Darwin Awards for an explanation, and good luck with your reading comprehension. Religions are not the only belief systems that turn some people into fools.
No Guy in the Sky

I am sorry. I was a little over the top. I do not take kindly to the assertion Xena said. I would rape a a mentally challenged person. Was that OK? I would like this clarified. Comparing a laugh about women who pay to service a man to me raping a mentally challenged person. Was that OK? You did not put this just because “Oh how horrible this was!” Because you did not sat that. This is a mix of shocking(as in how dumb people are) and funny(as in how dumb people are)

Xena said this “You must be American. It’s all your fault for living in the Land of Pushy Assholes and refusing to live somewhere where the people are more civilized. Ha ha, do you have an extra chromosome?” Was that acceptable?

What about her next one? “Even if you’re indoctrinated into an ego-centric misogynistic culture you still need to take responsibility for your own actions. Even though you no longer worship your impotent god or the churches that sell his lies, his fuck it or kill it ideology still hangs on you like a case of halitosis that everybody else can smell and you can’t.”

I think it is fair if you let some pretend to be PC commenters have it for their words too. Was it OK because a woman said it?

If this was too much, please feel free to ban me. I saw humor. Others did too(Richard, Mel, Long, JJ, and Good). Some on here want to stiffle(CENSOR) humor. Is that right?
Xena

@Hemant Mehta 10:23. My apologies to the site administrators and other guests–but NOT to No Guy– if my last comment was offensive.

I hit submit before you deleted NG’s most obnoxious statements. I know I came close to the line. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if I was over the line, and if my last comment needs to be deleted as well. Thank you.
No Guy in the Sky

Hemant – Why not just say I banned you? Be fair to your readers. You didn’t post my response to you which was nice.

Xena – Really?

Hemant – What she said? Really that is OK? lol
Mel

To Xena and everyone else:

I was raised a Catholic and raised to believe in religion no questions asked, because priests were good and loving people who loved God and would never harm a soul (yeah, right!) That still doesn’t mean that I am innocent and should not take responsibility for my actions! It’s like if you kill someone by driving drunk, just because you don’t know the drinking and driving is illegal, doesn’t mean you aren’t accountable.

No means no, as a woman I firmly believe that and would never justify rape. This sex however was consensual, unless the women were minors. There is no justification for that.

Just because you don’t have an education, doesn’t mean you don’t have street smarts, or never watched tv, or read a newspaper, or gossiped about what happens behind closed doors. Even my cousins, being raised as good little Muslim girls in a middle eastern country know about what’s right and wrong where sex is concerned, and their books and movies are censored!

Level of education isn’t a justification. Israel is not a hole-in-the-wall 3rd world country! I work every day with Jewish people, many of them Israeli, and they would take offense at the idea that their men and women are too ignorant to know better. If anything, even the most ignorant but devout person knows that premarital sex or adultery is bad, no matter where you come from and no matter what religion you practice. These women paid for spiritual counsel and ended up having sex, where is that condoned in any religion?

Yes, I am an educated atheist. I have had the chance to travel the world and see many different things. My family is multi-cultural and multi-religion and multi-educated. I stick to my guns when I say these women were not faultless, unless they were minors, because they had enough smarts to procure money and seek this spiritual guidance in the first place, and went ahead with the plan voluntarily.

Enough said.
JJ

No. I was not “making” a joke—I was responding to a joke Richard made (read things in context, much?). Not because I think forced or coerced oral sex is sooooooo hilarious LOLz, but because his joke was completely unexpected and caught me offguard. He is also not being overtly condescending towards these women but, rather, mocking the claims of this authority figure.

Mel, I see your point but at the same time there is such a class of sexual misconduct known as reproductive/sexual coercion, which I feel this case falls under. It involves consensual sexual activity but under the guise of feeling one has all the information necessary to warrant consent when one, in fact, does not (i.e., a male damages his female partner’s birth control as a means to get her pregnant against her will, or a minor withholds their age from the much older–legal–person they are sleeping with, putting that person at risk for statutory rape charges)—and it is -not- okay. And I do not classify all religious women as stupid and uneducated—I am more inclined to make the argument for completely twisted socialization, cognitive dissonance and charismatic, forceful authority figures. And, as The Godless Monster discussed, the right degree and quality of psychological grooming. All of these things can make for the perfect storm.
Xena

I’ll take your argument, Mel, not because I agree, but because you argued well and stated your points politely.

I said second world–as in not third world, but not G8. I wasn’t calling all Israelis too ignorant to know better. Just saying that within a given nation, the most vulnerable–not the least vulnerable–tend to have fewer opportunities the further down the global GNP scale the nation places. Education costs money, unfortunately.

And I get my attitude toward other cultures from Michael Ignatieff’s rhetoric, not George W Bush’s, even when I have to turn somebody’s hate speech back on him to try to teach him some empathy.

I can agree to disagree with you, Mel. Nice chatting with you.
Mel

My pleasure Xena, it’s nice to debate like adults here, and though we all share a common bond which is atheism, we certainly can’t agree on everything!
Xena

You said it, Mel. I’m really more of an agnostic. My own eyes and ears have done away with every other excuse to worship fairy tales, but I still can’t seem to get past Aquinas’ argument from first cause. How’s that for absurd?
Mel

Dawkins dedicated a nice chunk to it in The God Delusion. The entire universe is an effect and therefore God is the only possible cause? That’s really grasping at straws. I’m sure Aquinas would have plenty to say about the chicken/egg debate 🙂 Another time, another world…we’ve come a long way, it’s evolution baby!
Xena

No, I was just referring to the premise, not the conclusion that Aquinas drew from it. The underlying premise is just that something doesn’t come from nothing. That premise is also the drive behind the quest for scientific knowledge.

Aquinas concluded that the chain of something from something could only be traced back so far before we get stuck with an unanswerable why–which he and Paley believed could only be explained with the belief that god is responsible for creating the cosmos. Islam, in this respect is closer to Catholicism than westerners care to admit.

In science, something from something goes back to the Big Bang and then an unanswerable why. I conclude from this that we simply need to keep asking why.
Beth

I see that No Guy in the Sky has been removed, but I would like to say thank you to those of you who have argued against the victim-blaming, or at very least the occasional disrespectful comment towards women. And that even if someone doesn’t meet your specific qualifications for being a victim (they weren’t raped hard enough or something) that doesn’t mean that they are not victims. I also didn’t find Richard’s joke funny (if it were in regards to consensual sex, I would have).
The Godless Monster

@Beth,
I was one of those coming down on the side of calling these people victims.
I can understand how you might not find Richard’s joke funny, but it was harmless tongue-in-cheek “gallows” or “black” humor. For me, it is a distracting/coping mechanism when dealing with uncomfortable or unpleasant subjects.
No Guy in the Sky

I will say looking for a reason for victim blaming, like a Christian looks to believe in his God does not help anyone in the long run.

Were those women victims? Maybe. Probably more from their own ignorance. Are people that stay up late at night buying crap off infomercials victims? maybe of their own ignorance. If you want to feel sorry for victims great! Try and pick better examples. I can give you links if needed.

If you don’t like humor. Joy! I can tell this to every person I know, and they could see humor. If you are sour, maybe you can’t. Humor isn’t the same as victim blaming. Trying to categorize humor as victim blaming is an attempt at censorship. I did not make up anything for this to be funny.(Which means I did not have to distort facts to make it funny) I am not being hateful towards women. The result of this doesn’t not make me think women are less intelligent. If it does you. Maybe that is a fault of your character.

I blog about religion and stupid. I fight for gay rights, womens rights and everyones right to be different.

Xena – Ya might want to look up homophobic. You might not want to continue giving tests. You failed. You might want to reread any part you read. Then have someone explain it to you. Asking if something is OK, is not the same as homophobic.

You are a bully. I do not play well with bullies. And yes Oh Queen of Censor, I would say anything I type here to your face. It is not the internet the protects me from your implied violence. lol I have said much worse to others over other issues.(To their face.)

JJ- Yes yours was not the joke. You were laughing at the joke. There was nothing wrong with that. You were not victim blaming.
Beth

@ TGM, thanks for your response. I don’t know that I call jokes in reference to (possibly) sexual assault harmless, but I understand that a lot of people use humor to make situations less uncomfortable. When it comes to sexual assault, I am not one to use or respond kindly to humor because I feel it can trivialize the matter, but to each hir own.