John Aquila

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Posts by John Aquila

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  78

  I believe that the greater percentage of JWs-You Will Not Be Able to Help, no Matter What Facts You Show Them.

  by John Aquila in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i ran into this brother whom ive known for a while and the conversation led into me being invited to come back to the kingdom hall.

  we talked for about an hour during which time i explained to him 607 being the wrong date and a lot of other stuff including the child abuse cases in australia.

  but what i wanted to relate was the last few minutes of our conversation.

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  John Aquila

  breakfast of champions
  

  Yeah, that is a pretty disheartening conversation, JOHN AQUILA.

  But in the end if someone wants that crap, by all means they can have at it.

  I agree, I think I've had it trying to help these people.
  
• 
  78

  I believe that the greater percentage of JWs-You Will Not Be Able to Help, no Matter What Facts You Show Them.

  by John Aquila in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so i ran into this brother whom ive known for a while and the conversation led into me being invited to come back to the kingdom hall.

  we talked for about an hour during which time i explained to him 607 being the wrong date and a lot of other stuff including the child abuse cases in australia.

  but what i wanted to relate was the last few minutes of our conversation.

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  John Aquila

  So I ran into this brother whom I’ve known for a while and the conversation led into me being invited to come back to the Kingdom Hall. We talked for about an hour during which time I explained to him 607 being the wrong date and a lot of other stuff including the child abuse cases in Australia. But what I wanted to relate was the last few minutes of our conversation. I will write as best as I can remember.

  So these were his final words to me:

  I’ve seen many apostates’ sites, don’t think we are not aware, but I want you to know that other families in the Kingdom Hall that we know are very much aware of several ex-jw sites. And we've gotten together and talked about it and have considered our options. You can't help but see them on the internet.
  

  Let’s say you are right. Let’s say 607 BC is the wrong date and let’s say the child abuse stuff in Australia is right and we leave the Watchtower, then what, what do you or any apostates have to offer. Do you have an answer why there is so much wickedness? Do you have a solution to stop sickness, suffering, and most of all death?

  You and all apostates have nothing to offer. You have no answer as to why we were put on this earth and where we are headed. Most of you think this life is all there is. You debate among yourselves whether humans evolved or if they are in some type of computer simulation.

  So when your parents or children die, all you have is these great memories for a short while. Then a few years will pass and those memories will die, because most of you believe this life is all there is. That is the saddest thing a human can believe.

  It’s true that the WT doesn’t have all the answers, but neither do you. Perhaps they speculate, but so do you. And yes there are bad people in the organization, but show me an organization that doesn’t have bad people. It’s not just the WT that has bad people but all religious organization have bad people that exploit others. But that’s not all, you have Universities like Penn State, you have corrupt policemen, dirty politicians, and why don’t you google “fraud charities,” and see how many corrupt charities you get.

  On top of this the Bible shows very plainly that there was bad people causing heartache and suffering to individuals within the nation of Israel? Saul was bad, David was bad, Solomon died bad, in fact there were probably only one or two good kings in the entire Bible. Weren’t we told in the Bible that there would be lots of people having a form of godly devotion but proving false to it power? Well that's what's happening.
  

  And if the end doesn’t come in my time and I die, how do you think I will feel if the last few moments of my life I see my wife and children and Know in my heart that I will see them again. Do you know the comfort that I will feel on my death bed knowing this? Or if I see one of my children or my wife dying before my eyes, do you even understand the comfort that I will have knowing that I will see them again. It’s a big deal to die with a wonderful hope rather than dying believing this life is all there is.

  So don’t try to convince me to leave the Organization. If I want to leave, I will leave on my own; I don’t need anyone to help me. And it won’t matter how many facts you put in front of me because facts won’t change my mind. I mean if someone brought you facts that your son killed someone and your son denied it, only to be found out later that he was lying, would those facts that were brought to your attention stop you from believing in your son if he told you he was sorry and wanted to right the wrong and needed your help. Would facts make you turn on him?

  So you can show me facts about 607 and you can show me all the failed prophesies, and point to all those covering child abuse but it’s not going to change what I believe. What I believe has a ring of truth. Me and my family are happy where we’re at and we don’t need to investigate or research anything anymore. I met my wife in the organization, been married 15 years and she’s great. I have two great kids, have a job, home, -----what else do I need? Why would I want to disrupt that?

  And if we are wrong and you are right, we will never know- will we? Because once we die, neither of us will be able to gloat that we were right.

  So listen, if you want to stay out---- then stay out. I won’t invite you again to come back. But at the same time don’t try to get me or any one in my family out of the WT because all you will do is disrupt the peace we have.

  We talked a little more and he shook my hand and we both parted.
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  20

  Do you think the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime or a terrible act of war ?

  by truthseeker100 in

  1. social
  2. current

  i believe that the bombings shortened the war in the pacific and probably saved countless lives.

  i am not an expert on this subject but given the times it was probably the correct and moral thing to do.. what say you all?.

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  John Aquila

  the correct and moral thing to do.

  Not sure!

  But the bigger question is, Will it happen again within our life time? The probability is very high that it will.
  

  Nine countries together possess more than 15,000 nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia maintain roughly 1,800 of their nuclear weapons on high-alert status – ready to be launched within minutes of a warning. Most are many times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.
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  24

  The Romans did not crucify robbers

  by purrpurr in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've been reading a book called nonsense from the bible.

  in it it makes the point that the romans did not crucify robbers.

  having since researched this it seems this is true.

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  John Aquila

  CalebInFloroda

  While I don't believe Jesus was the Messiah, of course, as a Jew I can attest that the details of the crucifixion attributed to this case do suggest he was crucified with theives

  So why do Jehovah's witnesses "Swear" that Jesus did not die on a cross but instead a Tree or stake with no crossbeams.
  
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  21

  What are JWs saying about the Royal Commission?

  by LexIsFree in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i am wondering if there are any pro-jw blogs/sites that any of you visit and whether or not jws are aware of what is going on in australia.

  also, what is there reaction to it?

  (i may already know the answer to that last question.

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  John Aquila

  In my area no one has a clue. I mentioned to some JWs if they had heard what was happening in Australia and went on to elaborate. They told me not to believe anything coming from Australia because it's an undeveloped country like Africa.

  What else can I say?
  
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  30

  Prophecy in Daniel: A last Fierce-looking King

  by Kosonen in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  there is an unfulfilled prophecy in daniel about the last king that will be broken without human hand.

  the prophecy says he will be fierce-looking, deceptive, efficent in his doings, smart and causing ruin to many.

  and he will exalt himself.

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  John Aquila

  There is an unfulfilled prophecy in Daniel

  It's amazing that so many people still believe that a dream or vision that some person had over 2,500 years ago is going to be fulfilled NOW.
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  11

  Why don't they just lie about the numbers?

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why doesn't the wtbts just lie and increase the published amount of people who attend the memorial?

  who would know the difference?

  the same with the amount munching on the crackers and sipping the wine.

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  John Aquila

  Why doesn't the WTBTS just lie and increase the published amount of people who attend the Memorial?

  
  How do we know they aren't lying about the amount of publishers they have now? What if in reality they only have 5 million publishers world wide and are fudging the yearly increase in publishers and Memorial attendance? They lie about everything, why not the increases in publishers every year? would it be far-fetch to believe they are lying about increases in publishers world wide?
  

  You just never know what's true anymore with the WT.

  
  
  
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  85

  "And what happened next was simply unbelievable!"

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i always sit in the same spot, just outside starbucks in a vestibule area with a table in the air-conditioned space.

  i say "always," but not today.. somebody with two laptops and a table filled with business ledgers was in "my" favorite spot!.

  so, i took a tiny wooden table inside the coffee shop on a long padded bench next to 3 other identical tables.. as the clickbait banner ads like to say: "and what happened next was simply unbelievable!".

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  John Aquila

  It's been an hour since the incident. I now feel a letdown.

  I hurt those guys. I hurt them deeply. I don't feel so good about that.

  It took something shocking like that to start waking me up, so NO you should not feel bad about the way you handled it. I bet this will start the waking up for those two jws. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sooner or later they will start searching for more information. You planted the seed, there's no turning back for them.
  
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  7

  Neither writers nor translators believe Scriptures are inspired of God

  by iconoclastic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in most of the scriptures, the supreme father figure is originally presented as upholder of the law that every action has equal and opposite reaction.

  later writers would come presenting a son of god who would exhibit a soft approach towards consequences of action.

  one of the best examples is john 7:53 to 8:11 which is now accepted as one of the most famous forgeries in the bible..

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  John Aquila

  I know the Watchtower has never believed that the Bible was inspired and have said so many times in their publications.

  *** watchtower 1996 4/15 p. 19 Why True Worship Receives God’s Blessing ***

  Bible translations themselves are not inspired by God. Translations, by their very nature, may reflect variations of the understanding of the original tongues in which the Bible was recorded.
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  11

  Crisis of Conscience

  by FreeGirl2006 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  do you think that any of the clueless, amnesiacs that appeared before the rc will have a crisis of conscience over the abuse situation?

  seriously, with the grilling they received from our new heroes, they would have to be sociopaths not to do some long hard thinking about the lack of empathy and compassion the borg displays as a top down policy towards abuse victims.

  i can understand these idiots not having an awakening within the confines of their daily lives since they stay cloistered in their belief system, but the rc forced them into the real world with their questions and one would hope, made them think.

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  John Aquila

  one would hope, made them think.

  Those that wake up have a sense of justice and compassion in them. That's why many of us are here because we just couldn't take it anymore.

  If any of those persons have any sense of decency, they will start waking up.