Sometimes JWs wonder if the WT/JW is not the truth, 'then where else are we to go?' I say 'why not atheistic/scientific philosophical naturalism and why not a secular philosophy which teaches a way of life?' What do you folks say?
If JWs were to look up the quoted sources of atheists and other nontheists quoted (or at least referred to) in the WT's publications and research the secular philosophies referred to in the WT's publications, they might find that they agree with those nontheists and philosophies. I know that I do in regards to many of them. I wish I had studied them prior to becoming a baptized JW. The following are some examples:
Volume V of the 1915 edition of Studies in the Scriptures (see http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/atonement/atonetitle.html ) says at the beginning of the book the following:
"Christian people are becoming more and more awake to the fact that a
great tidal wave of unbelief is sweeping over Christendom; — not the
blasphemous atheism voiced by Thomas Paine and Robert Ingersoll, but the
cultured kind represented in the scholarship of our day, which makes
the danger all the more insidious.
Not only are the great Colleges and Seminaries undermining the faith of
the better educated, but the Common School books, and especially those
used in the High Schools, are similarly inculcating a distrust in the
Bible, a contradiction of its teachings. For a college graduate of
to-day to declare his faith in the inspiration of the Scriptures would
bring upon him the scorn of his companions — a scorn which few would
court, or could endure. At very best, a few will be found to claim that
they believe that Jesus and his Apostles were sincere, though they
blundered in quoting from the Old Testament as inspired.
Such a belief in Jesus and his Apostles is no belief at all; for if
present-day "higher critics" are wise enough to know when and where our
Lord and his Apostles! erred in their quotations from the Old Testament,
then these wise men of our day are our proper guides, — more inspired
than Jesus and his Apostles."
Prior to getting baptized I knew nothing or virtually nothing about Thomas Paine's deist ideas and his book (in three parts) called The Age of Reason. If I had read it when wondering if there is no god and if Christianity is false, that book would have made a huge difference. If I had read the section quoted above from the Studies in the Scriptures it might would have led to me seeking out the religious writings of Thomas Paine. Likewise back then (and not even for some 20 years later) I knew nothing of Robert Ingersoll. If I had I read the WT's book which mentioned him I might would have sought out a book containing his irreverent teachings about religion, so I could learn if there are good reasons to reject Christianity and the Bible. I might would have found an excellent (in my opinion) book by atheist Joseph Lewis (the leading spokesperson for atheism in his day in the USA) called Ingersoll the Magnificent: To which Has Been Added a Special Arrangement of Some Gems from Ingersoll for Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage. That book could have a made a huge difference for me back then if I had read it.
If I had read the beginning to the 1915 edition of Volume V of Studies in the Scriptures and noticed what it said about "higher critics" of the Bible I might would have sought out the writing of those critics. If I had done so it could have made a difference in my life.
By the way, despite what Russell said about Paine and Ingersoll they were not atheists in the sense of believing there is no god, though they were in the sense of not believing in the existence of a personal god. Paine was a deist and Ingersoll was an agnostic.