John Aquila

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Posts by John Aquila

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  20

  How many of us are 'perfectionists'?

  by FayeDunaway in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i made a medium level mistake at work today, and when i make mistakes it really shakes me up and takes me a long time to recover.

  it completely rattles me, makes me feel awful about myself.

  my mind keeps going back to the mistake reliving how i could have let it happen.

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  John Aquila

  Faye, I was just thinking about that recently. I used to be a perfectionist big time, I mean everything had to be just right, otherwise I would go crazy thinking about it.

  I'm not so much anymore and I was trying to figure out WHY. What happened to me that I'm not like that anymore? What did I do to change that part of my personality?

  I have a hypothesis. Since I woke up two years ago, I've read tons of books on all kinds of subjects. Books on Psychology, Anthropology, Biology, criminal behavior, history, culture, and I think it has slowly changed my thinking without me being aware of it.I started noticing that Non-jw perfection is totally different from WT perfection.
  

  The WT focuses a lot on striving for perfection not just in this life but during the 1000 year reign. Remember the illustration that all humans MISS the MARK of PERFECTION. How did that make you feel? I know for me, it made me feel like I had to do better and I had to try harder to get closer to the Bullseye.It was never ending.
  

  This has a major effect on the members. As a former elder, you would be surprise how many times I heard the words, "But I'm Imperfect, I'm a sinner, I missed the mark. This was for little things. Like a sister would confess that she had bad thoughts when she saw a handsome man, or a brother who confessed that he had a dream about another woman. A lot of the friends wanted to be "Perfect" according to the WT definition of perfection. That idea was ingrained in us in a very subtly way and I think a lot of us don't realize the powerful effects the idea of WT perfection had on our lives.

  They really messed us up didn't they.
  
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  28

  Is the end of Watchtowers hated No Blood doctrine in sight?

  by nicolaou in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  i won't pretend to know things that i don't but just look at the incredible rate of change we've witnessed recently.

  it seems that since candace conti and the australian royal commission the watchtower are scrabbling around to shore up their finances in the face of unprecedented legal action against them.. abuse settlement claims are one thing but what happens when children die as a result of your religious teachings?!

  you can bet wt legal are arguing for a complete rewrite of policy to protect the organisation from litigation.. do you think their religious privilege will protect them forever?

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  John Aquila

  They will "Never" come out and change it in a straight forward manner. They will put some type of spin to it. For example they might say;

  A blood transfusion is acceptable if the Blood has been fractionated in a sterilized container to recognize its use as something holy to Jehovah. If such is the case, then the conscience of some--- might allow them to accept a blood transfusion with the understanding that blood belongs to Jehovah and just like the Israelites shared a burnt offering with the priest, a dedicated member will share the blood sacrifice with the Great High Priest, Jesus.

  New Light
  
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  101

  My mom passed away yesterday....

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thank you all for your sincere encouragement during these last few weeks.

  finally, she is at peace.

  i was with her , holding her hand when she died.

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  John Aquila

  My condolences, sorry for your loss.
  
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  19

  If you were ‘God’, what would you do?

  by JWchange in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this post is not meant to be blasphemous to non-atheists on this forum , just philosophical.

  i refer to a god rather than the creator.

  it;s 10,000 years in the future and you are a phd student with a brain the size of a planet, that has incredible technology at your fingertips to create life, similar to humans living today or better, intelligently and physically.

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  John Aquila

  Finkelstein

  They were also created to give specific power and prominence over select individuals (ie.Hebrews) who were said to be connecting seers to these supernatural beings.

  The other reasons are tolerable, but this one just pisses me off.

  If I were God I would appear at set times to hear to resolve any problems that humanity had to deal with, stop animals from killing one anther for food and made sure all beer and pizza were free.

  Where do I sign for worship.
  
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  19

  If you were ‘God’, what would you do?

  by JWchange in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this post is not meant to be blasphemous to non-atheists on this forum , just philosophical.

  i refer to a god rather than the creator.

  it;s 10,000 years in the future and you are a phd student with a brain the size of a planet, that has incredible technology at your fingertips to create life, similar to humans living today or better, intelligently and physically.

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  John Aquila

  Hmmmn, which one of those best describes the biblical god?

  If you were a cruel "god" you would torture them for your twisted entertainment.

  
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  21

  All 144,000 are on earth while the Great Multitude is in heaven

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  why do the 144,000 need sealing?.

  what does it mean that the angels hold back the winds so that the sealing can take place?.

  where is the great multitude?.

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  John Aquila

  Thanks Jan, I didn't know that.

  Doug Mason; No, it was not Paul who said women could not teach. That was written by a misogynist at the end of the first century who pretended to be Paul.

  So I guess what your saying Doug is that although Paul wrote 1 Timothy, someone else inserted these words into Paul's letter;

  1 Tim 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
  

  That wouldn't be far-fetch since the WT has inserted Jehovah into the NT about 300 time I believe.
  
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  21

  All 144,000 are on earth while the Great Multitude is in heaven

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  why do the 144,000 need sealing?.

  what does it mean that the angels hold back the winds so that the sealing can take place?.

  where is the great multitude?.

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  John Aquila

  Hey Doug, what was the deal with women back then in the Jewish nation? Why was having sex with women a bad thing. The other nations didn't have a problem with it. The whole Bible seems to either blame women-EVE, see them as unclean - Babylon the harlot, and they couldn't even teach according to Paul.
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  12

  EITHER or NEITHER or BOTH? FORGIVENESS vs ATONEMENT

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  on (new testament scholar) bart ehrman's blog, the topic of luke's view of the purpose of jesus'.

  death has been discussed.. in that discussion, ehrman points out how luke did not set forth the idea of atonement, rather luke set forth the idea of forgiveness.. on the other hand, mark and paul teach atonement.. these two points of view have been "mashed together" into a package deal, apparently, throughout history by theologians.. _________________________.

  someone pays a debt owed by another.

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  John Aquila

  I could never wrap around the idea of forgiveness. Forgiveness for what, what did I do??

  Atonement = pay my debt. I never borrowed anything from God.

  But your right, I always noticed that Luke talks about a preaching work that is different from the preaching work that Matthew talks about.

  (Luke 24:47) . . .and on the basis of his name repentance for forgiveness of sins would be preached in all the nations. . .

  
  (Matthew 24:14) 14 And this good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; . . .
  

  Luke preaches forgiveness while Matthew preaches the Kingdom.
  

  Paul was good at tying in the sacrifices of Jewish Law with the death of Jesus and Mark evidently adopted Paul's views since they hung around quit a bit.

  (Acts 12:25) . . .As for Bar′na·bas and Saul, after having fully carried out the relief ministration in Jerusalem, they returned and took along with them John, the one surnamed Mark.
  
  
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  71

  Call For Children To Get Baptised From CO

  by freemindfade in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i've been pretty good at not going to meetings lately.

  yesterday i went for the co's last talks.

  older co. his last talk was absolutely shocking.

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  John Aquila

  Well at one one point he mentioned how he was Baptised at 11.

  That explains a lot!

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFmFHr1W9M
  
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  44

  Who Qualifies for TTATT?

  by John Aquila in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when i first learn ttatt i started telling every one.

  ttatt will not help him, it will destroy him.

  all his family are jws.

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  John Aquila

  Diogenesister

  This is what kills me about loosing my faith, the pain of knowing the universe is profoundly indifferent to us, faced with such suffering

  Yea, ,me to!