Steve2:
I tend to agree with your post, especially the part about religions turing hypocrisy into an art form when criticizing other religions. It is a joke really and is like the pot calling the kettle black. They are all wrong in varying degrees, some more than others and some older than others. They all stink as far as I am concerned.
On more than one occasion I heard the Catholic church criticized from the podium and once it "stumbled" a visitor that we brought to the hall. So, all that criticism cost them a potential convert. It was my opinion that the JW religion was jealous of the Catholic church as a rival and I feel it emulates them as much as it can without "selling out" and seeming pagan.
I also feel that the religions of the world were in direct competition with existing monarchies. Maybe in today's world this is not as applicable as there are fewer monarchies, but it was and is about greedy power over people.