Theists say the darndest things.

[Warren Stupidity]

Recently in the religion forum there was a discussion of the Exodus fairy tale. After many assertions by theists that "There are people much smarter and more informed on this than either of us and they don't agree." - that is that the experts disagree on the historicity of this myth, a link to supporting evidence for one of these so called experts was provided.

Enter our guest theist of the week, Roger D. Issacs author of the failed publication "Talking With God".

Here is an example of the vapid nonsense the esteemed Mr. Issacs emits:

Incense Protected Biblical Israelites From Radiation Burn.

I shit you not.

In Talking with God: The Radioactive Ark Of The Testimony, I explore several key biblical terms and items associated with the Ark that have either been mistranslated or not clearly understood over time. One such item found in several verses of the Old Testament is "incense" (Hebrew, k'toret). My study uncovered a startling use for incense.

Throughout history consumers of incense have used the sweet, smoky fragrance for mystical rites -- but not the ancient Israelites. For them incense had a very practical, protective function relative to the Ark of the Testimony. The Israelite priests were trained to manufacture and use the Lord's specified mixture, not to propitiate the gods, not to make a nice smell, not to drive away demons or please kings and pharaohs.

Incense was used to protect the priests and people from radiation burn. The resinous material had to be burned to become activated. It was the protective smoke, not the fragrance, that made incense effective.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-isaacs/incense-protected-biblica_b_3432008.html


So who is this bone-head?

Well it seems he comes from a long line of biblical bone heads:

Mr. Isaacs is an independent researcher specializing in Hebrew Bible studies. Beginning in the early 1950s, Isaacs worked with his father, the noted hematologist and biblical scholar Dr. Raphael Isaacs, on the early makings of the theory propounded in Talking With God: The Radioactive Ark of the Testimony. Their collaboration culminated in a monograph entitled “Puzzling Biblical Laws”

Lest you think I am cutting his c.v. short, really I'm not. That is it.

But what about this book? It is after all "Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122,403 in Books"

It does have 5 reviews! And all of them are 5 stars! It has got to be great!

Finally lets take a look at what wiki has to say about Mr. Issacs:

The page "Roger D. Isaacs" does not exist. You can ask for it to be created, but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Roger+D.+Issacs&title=Special%3ASearch&go=Go

Oh. Maybe I'm being too narrow.

The page "Roger Issacs" does not exist. You can ask for it to be created, but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Roger+Issacs&title=Special%3ASearch&go=Go

Hmmm...

[Curmudgeoness]

1. I always knew that incense had special powers.

Well, maybe it was the incense.

Are you seriously saying that this guy was used as a reference in a discussion, and was used as an example of an expert? I am not sure what to say about that.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. I provided the links to the conversations.

I know. I am BAD! AHTSIETS!!1!!!

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Yeah, I know.

I saw the links. I just didn't want to bother going there. But I believe you......it just seems amazing.

[JDDavis]

2. Thanks for the Friday night, (pre-Hebrew Sabbath) chuckles, W.S.

Many Old Testament laws were designed to protect the Israelite priests and people from radioactivity emanating from a cloud through which the Lord spoke when it descended onto the Ark. People died or became ill if they came too near or touched the Ark. Thus, the incense, uniforms of the priests, sacrifices, and strict safety regulations were all designed to protect priests, people, animals, buildings, clothing, and the environment from the radioactive danger emanating from the cloud.

This, in the Huffington Post!! NOT "The Onion"

I wonder what the half-life of a radioactive god would be.

The half-life of uranium-238 is about 4.47 billion years and that of uranium-235 is 704 million years,[5] making them useful in dating the age of the Earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium

That Judao-Christian God must be well above that, or maybe well below, since he created all the heavens and Earth in just 6 days and was too pooped to do much else on day 7, (or much time thereafter, other than the first few of the 6000 years since he created it all, when he was spotted in clouds emanating his good ole radioactive self.

You just can't make stuff like this up, so they say... but this Roger Isaacs sure did!

You can even like him and follow him on Facebook and Twitter!! And, he's got his own web page, too!

Roger Isaacs Become a fan
Author, 'Talking With God: The Radioactive Ark of the Testimony'; www.talkingwithgod.net

[deucemagnet]

12. Well thank God the Nazis didn't know about incence.

Not to broad-brush all theists, but there's certainly a large sub-population that is not worth wasting your time on.

[Lordquinton]

13. But the Nazi's had incense, they followed the "uncomfortable Jewish rituals" exactily

Jones and Miriam survived because they closed their eyes, kinda blows a hole in this guys argument.

[deucemagnet]

15. It's been many years since my last viewing of that movie and I stand corrected.

Indy and Miriam used the most tried and true method in the religionists' handbook for confronting an uncomfortable reality.

[JDDavis]

3. Ah, I think I figured out who he is, a professional con-man...

this from his own web page:

Isaacs was an executive with The Public Relations Board, an international public relations agency, from 1948 until his retirement in 1992. He served as Chairman and President until he sold the company to the communications conglomerate Omnicom.

He ran an international public relations firm, professional society of con-artists. That's what "public relations" firms do, make up stuff to make their clients look good and godly.

[Lordquinton]

6. Top. Men.

[bvf]

7. This guy has got to be a troll.

Last edited Sat Dec 13, 2014, 02:53 PM - Edit history (1)

A respectable- and grandfatherly-looking troll who can strike an appropriately academic pose.

Apparently self-published, too. I couldn't connect any other title to "Sacred Closet Books," his "publisher."

No one is that goofy by accident.

[edhopper]

8. I know

[img][/img]

[onager]

9. Sacred Closet Books?!?

Wonder if that's also the publisher for Ted Haggard, Lindsey Graham, et. al.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. I think Isaacs is the only person they publish.

[Warren Stupidity]

16. I'm pretty sure it is a Mormon outfit.

They mostly sell magic underwear but every now and then a great book like this.

[AlbertCat]

10. Well.... In Mr. (Dr.?) Isaac's defense....

..... I've always thought religion was radioactive.

[JDDavis]

18. It's toxicity when spread among groups of humans can be deadly

Very true, much like many other radioactive elements.

[An Atheist]

14. Hi Everybody!

First time poster, long-time reader. Great article, Warren! Great to be here

[Curmudgeoness]

17. Welcome to DU and A&A.

Hope you hang around.

[An Atheist]

28. Hi! Thanks!

I plan on hanging around. I hate that I have to wait 3 minutes between posts until I get 10 or something. Nice to meet you

[mr blur]

19. Welcome on board!

You're not one of them there New Atheists, are you?

[An Atheist]

29. What the hell is a New Atheist anyway?

These labels others give us are ridiculous. Is there any Atheist that calls themselves a "new atheist?" I think it's a term employed by people who just can't get over the fact that the only thing Atheists have in common is a disbelief in a deity. I've read a few Carl Sagan books, but I've never read anything by Dawkins or Hitchens or anyone else. I don't have to have my non-belief defined by someone else. I don't need a guidebook to disbelief.

Is the idea that Atheists can look at someone, say, like Penn Jillette, and say "you know, I agree with him on this but I don't agree with him on that and I think he's an insufferable fool politically" just too much for believers to handle? The idea that a person can agree with someone on some points, and disagree with them on others seems so foreign to so many of them. I guess when you live a life where you do have a guidebook for your belief and you are expected to kind of agree top to bottom with people, regardless of their views that you may find repugnant, I can see how it would be confusing to people.

It's like the idea of "atheist churches." Does anyone here know anyone who goes to an Atheist church? My church is in my living room or in the back yard around the chimena, having a beer. My fellowship is with my buddies we meet with at the bar we go to. My salvation is through the knowledge that I am what I am here, and I have no delusions or fears regarding what will happen to me when I'm dust in the ground.

Sorry for ranting, but thanks for listening (reading).

[AlbertCat]

32. I've never read anything by Dawkins

Well, most of his books are about science...evolution usually.

I really liked:

The Selfish Gene
Unweaving the Rainbow (particularly good)
The Blind Watchmaker
The Greatest Show on Earth

Oh....and that one book...what is it? Oh yeah.... The God Delusion.... tho' it certainly doesn't define Dawkins' output.

I'm in the middle of "The Ancestor's Tale"... for the 2nd time. (I got distracted and had to put it down. When I came back to it, I found I had better re-read what I had already covered. It's not an easy book, but the whole idea of it is interesting)

[AlbertCat]

33. These labels others give us are ridiculous.

Well, we can cross one of the list.


Are you now or have you ever been a...

[s]New Atheist[/s]
Radical Atheist
Rabid Atheist
Militant Atheist
Pie Loving Atheist

[edhopper]

20. Welcome

If you are interested, that thread in the Religion Forum is intriguing (over 250 posts).
People actually defending the Exodus story absent any evidence, cause, ya know, it might be somehow true.

But I wouldn't post there if you don't enjoy full contact sport. It gets a little rough.

[An Atheist]

30. Been there, done that.

Thanks for the welcome, ed. Nice to be here.

Read enough before signing up. I have to deal with these jokers in real life. The anonymity of the internet only hides their names, not their true feelings about non-believers. I get it at work, through family, and in the community. I have learned how to skirt the "what church do you go to" question, but sometimes those folks are persistent and want to know WHERE THE HELL YOU GO TO CHURCH. I've been invited to church by coworkers, invited to prayers by coworkers, prayed over by coworkers. It makes no difference what I tell them. Their beliefs take precedence and since my non-belief isn't a protected class like theirs is, I just shut my mouth, draw my paycheck, and count down until I can leave that place of employment and find another (where I will be asked, prodded, prayed to and prayed over, ad nauseum)

[edhopper]

31. You should talk to Heidi

Sounds like kindred spirits.

[Curmudgeoness]

35. Sadly, this is a story told by many of us.

I also have to face the "I know that you really do believe in God, everyone does deep down" all the time, as if I would deny it just to be nasty or something.

[Arugula Latte]

21. Great to have you!

[Gelliebeans]

22. Welcome

Glad to have you

[onager]

23. Welcome, and remember...

[bvf]

24. Welcome!

I'm lighting another candle at my Richard Dawkins shrine to wish you the best!

[edhopper]

25. The Moses existed thread is winning over

the Jesus was real thread. Around 360 posts to 190!

Who'd have thought more people would defend the Moses story than the Jesus tale.

[Warren Stupidity]

26. It has got me wondering which other fairy tales in the bibble our friends,

all of whom claim that the bibble is babble that should be seen as metaphor and not interpreted literally, will defend as "could have happened".

Sodom and Gomorrah?
Noah?
The Sun screeching to a halt?

[edhopper]

27. Well,

Sodom and Gomorrah and the Noah stories were both defended as having "an element of truth" already.

And then there is the new, "How do you know the nativity didn't happen exactly like the bible says?" thread.

[AlbertCat]

34. "How do you know the nativity didn't happen exactly like the bible says?" thread.

I so want to go over there and start a:

"What if Jesus is just another avatar of Vishnu" thread.










But I won't.

[Cartoonist]

36. Radiation proof

So that's why God told Noah to build his Ark out of gopher wood. That stuff must act like a shield against radiation. I want to build my house out of gopher wood in order to survive the End Times.