When I first got on H20 a couple of years ago, someone made the comment that Jehovah's witnesses was "Judaism with a little Christianity and a dash of Freemasonary". I think that is very good observation, and since then I have been studying Judaism to get a little insight on the origins of the Watchtower. I am not talking about the Jews as a "race", I am talking about the Jewish religion. Pick up any Watchtower and you will notice that the Society quotes the Hebrew Bible many more times than they quote the Christian Bible.
We worshipped the Jewish G-d "Yahweh" and we got offended when anyone put too much emphasis on Jesus. And we got the judgemental attitude from Judaism. From Judaism? Yes. Have you ever read the "Talmud"? It reads like a Watchtower written by Fred Franz when he was having his hemmoroids cut out.
The Talmud is Judaism's holiest book(actually a collection of books). Its authority takes precedence over the Old Testament in Judaism. Evidence of this may be found in the Talmud itself, Erubin 21b(Soncino edition):"My son, be more careful in the observance of the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah(Old Testament)".
The Jewish Scribes claim the Talmud is partly a collection of traditions Moses gave them in oral form. These had not yet been written down in Jesus time. Christ condemned the traditions of the Mishnah(early Talmud) and those who taught it(Scribes and Pharisees), because the Talmud nullifies the teachings of the Holy Bible.
Well, what does the Talmud teach? You know what happens to a witness who disobeys an elder, right? Look what happens to a Jew who disobeys a rabbi. At Eurbin 21b it states:"Whoever disobeys the rabbis deserves death and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in Hell".
At Sanhedrin 58b it says:"If a heathen(Gentile) hits a Jew, the Gentile must be killed."
Remember, Jesus said to turn the other cheek!
It says at Sanhedrin 57a that " a Jew need not pay a Gentile(Cuthean) the wages owed him for work.
Check out what it says at Yebamoth 98a:"All Gentile children are animals".
Abodah Zarah 36b.:"Gentile girls are in a state of "niddah"(filth) from birth".
Abodah Zarah 22a-22b.:"Gentiles prefer sex with cows".
I have never had sex with a cow.
Gittin 57a says: "Jesus is in Hell, being boiled in 'hot excrement'".
Do you wonder where the Watchtower got it's policy on pedophiles?
Sanhedrin 54b states:"A Jew may have sex with a child as long as the child is less than nine years old."
Kethuboth 11b says:"When a grown-up man has intercourse with a little girl it is nothing."
Sanhedrin 55b also says that:"A Jew may marry a three year old girl(specifically, three years "and a day" old).
Yebamoth 63a plainly states that:"Adam had sexual intercourse with all the animals in the Garden of Eden".
No wonder Fred Franz had nothing against bestiality!
Another real zinger is at Yebamoth 59b:"A woman who had intercource with a beast is eligible to marry a priest. A woman who has had sex with a demon is also eligible to marry a Jewish priest."
My favorite? Menahoth 43b-44a:"A Jewish man is obligated to say the following prayer every day: Thank you God for not making me a Gentile, a woman or slave."
You gotta love that Talmud!!