It seems to me that a head on discussion about how the doctrines may not make sense wouldn't always work, in fact it would seem that it's an exceptional JW who sits down logically and concludes "Hmm, yes I see my beliefs were incorrect, therefore I will change them today. Thank you for that very informative information." While it may sound trite, I think the key is to appeal to people's hearts.
I guess this often happens spontaneously and can't be planned, after all it depends on the state of mind of both parties involved. But I think it would be productive to talk about certain points which can be made so as to have them in mind. Perhaps one of the more typical arguments is "The end is so close!" Well it occurs to me that regardless of the belief of that nearness, even JWs has to acknowledge that you wouldn't want to serve God or be a loving person just to get into the new system, I mean that is really a selfish motive, and frankly it wouldn't be love then. I guess this is a small point which is unlikely to make them leave the organization, but even this may cause them to think and see that statement in a different light when they hear it from others in the congregation or from the platform. Does anyone have other thoughts which might be useful from this perspective?
"It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Well, I think what this in fact implies is that you are trying to appeal to them spiritually rather than cognitively, not to be confused with trying to appeal to them religiously. What I'm proposing is to make very simple points based on basic, self-evident truths that most people will agree with regardless of religious beliefs or lack of them. (with some use of the bible since we have that background, for example the scripture that says he that seeks to save his soul will lose it) I would guess that someone who I would consider very spiritual might come up with these without trying in the course of conversation, so maybe others out there will have more ideas or different ones, and we can kind of get a little list going..
"It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
One other thing to keep in mind, whether you yourself is considered moral or spiritual by the other person is irrelevant, because that goes back to an ad hominem argument. There would be no need to be intimidated by that. In fact, if you can it might be helpful to acknowledge faults you might have personally but then point out that it really doesn't speak to the reasoning at hand - if the person has an appreciation of humility they might be impressed.
"It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Well it occurs to me that regardless of the belief of that nearness, even JWs has to acknowledge that you wouldn't want to serve God or be a loving person just to get into the new system, I mean that is really a selfish motive, and frankly it wouldn't be love then. I guess this is a small point which is unlikely to make them leave the organization, but even this may cause them to think and see that statement in a different light when they hear it from others in the congregation or from the platform.
I think you make an interesting point here. It's like asking WHAT is the GOAL or PURPOSE of being a witness. One would probably get a lot of lofty answers like "serving Jehovah" and "sharing the good news", etc. However, what is the GOAL or PURPOSE of doing that? I suppose it could be pleasing Jehovah. Which, of course, gets one a better chance of securing a ticket to paradise. That, it seems to me, is the big payoff.
I did say something similiar to one of my witness relatives recently. After some discussion I posed the question.."Paradise, that is the goal, isn't it"? She didn't answer, but I could tell she was thinking about it.
